Meet the players

The Protectorate is a super hero team formed in early 2001 and made up of a number of former members of the disbanded team Protectors. The current lineup is as follows.


Black Cat (Cassandra Katz, formerly Cheshire Cat): Founding member of Protectors. Teleporter, Olympic level gymnast and superb martial artist.
Chrome (Donna Hernandez): Has metallic 'skin'. Virtually invulenerable, flight, various uses of
skin'. Former Protectors reserve member.
Mentor (Paul Berghart): Possessed by spirit that gives him magical powers. Boyfriend of Psi.
Static (Brent Desmond): Paralyzed human body that can turn into a being of electrical energy. Flight, electric energy blast.Lunaar (Lars Olafson): from Sweden. Puglist, expert combatist.
Luminus (Jean-Paul Barlait) Ivory Coast. Flight, super strong, invulnerable, super speed, heat vision.
Psi (Jerry Wembley): Mentalist. Boyfriend of Mentor.
Afriel: Angel given mortal form. Wings that provide flight, flaming sword, very tough.


The team operates out of an orbiting Aylaynerroh intelligent, nearly cognisent spaceship. They are sanction by the United Nations, but operate under what is called the Protectorate Protocols: they can only enter a nation when that nation's leader calls for their aid. They have no inherent jurisdiction in any nation. The administration of President Bush has declared that the Protectorate Protocals infringe on the nation's sovreignty. Therefore, he has ordered that any appearance by the Protectorate on the soil of USA is an illegal action and they are to be arrested on sight.


The team's ship can form stable wormholes between itself and anywhere on Earth. It does so upon request from a member of the Protectorate. Sam Watanabe is the Protectorate's liason from the United Nations.

And without further adu...away we go...

POLT

Empty halls

Well, I don't suppose anyone's been here in quite some time. In fact, I Haven't been here in quite some time...2 and a half years to be exact. BUt Im going to attempt to change all that.

I'll be adding more posts here...or so I hope. Instead of retyping what I wrote 25 years ago, however, I'll try just typing new stuff. New stories. I haven't really written anything on the Protectors since July of 2006, again 2.5 years. But I'll try, as I said, to rectify that. We'll see how long my attention stays on this idea.

Just remember, these will be first drafts, things written directly from my head through my fingers onto the screen. Don't expect great literature...or even, actually, mediocre literature.

POLT

Chapter 5

Chapter V (March 31 - April1, 1984):

Between two ruined buildings a puff of smoke appeared. As the smoke disapated, five people were there. Cheshire Cat, Poltergeist, WHite-Out, Lord Scarlet, and Unknown walked to the edge of the buildings. On the other side of the buildings, was a fifteen foot walkway, riddled with potholes and bomb craters. And beyond that was the river Thames. And on the other side of the Thames, where Big Ben should have been standing, was just a bombed out skeleton. And next to it, instead of the Houses Of Parliment, stood a large sprawling mansion, in some architechtrual design most of the gropu there had never seen before.

"we're not in Kansas anymore." Cheshire Cat said.

"That," Lord Scarlet said pointing "Is Rudolf's London Mansion."

"Mansion?" Cheshire Cat said. "That place is big enough ot have it's own zip code."

"Look!" Lord Scarlet said excitedly. "Isn't that Rudolf? On the balcony there?" Unknown strained his eyes, squinting to see, but agreed that it was. "By God, man, get us over there!" In another puff of smoke, they were gone again.

The next instant, they were on the balcony. A brown haired man in a black business suit, black shirt and tie stood there. he wore a cloak over his shoulders. Lord Scarlet pointed his sword at the man. "Now, Rudolf, you DIE!" A red ray of crackling energy shot from the end of the sword. I expanded as it moved so when it reached the man, it engulfed him completely.

Lord Scarlet expected the man to be burnt to a crisp...or at least smoldering. The only thing that happened was the disguise worn by someone else burnt away. beneath it the man wore a blue costume, with white boots and gloves and a black cape.

"Thunderstorm?" Lord Scarlet was shocked. The man called THunderstorm raised his hands. Winds, rain, lightning, everything in a thunderstorm shot from his hands. He kept it all in a tight naroow line, so that when they hit Lord Scarlet, it was as if he had been hit by a truck. He went sailing backwards, over the railing and into the river. Poltergiest went to the air and approached Thunderstorm, but he didn't get far. He washit from above by a blast of heat and fire. He was knocked back down into the balcony, scorched, smoldering and unconscious. A man inside an aura of flames landed next to Thunderstorm. WHite-Out fired his rays of ice at both of them, but the Flamester shot his heat and fire at the ice, and they canceled eahc other oout. They both kept firing, if one would stop, the other wouold overcome the first.

"We've got to do something!" Cheshire Cat exclaimed.

"I'm thinking!" Unknown said, his panic not nearly contained. He knew if these two were here, then others of the FOrce would not be far behind. He didn't notice the snake-like object slithering up behind him. The thing wrapped itself around Unknown. It jerked him into the air. From the roof, a head came up to Unknown, its neck stretched back to its body on the roof. The thing was a man's arm, a stretching man!

"Oooh" the stretching man said. "Caught a big one, didn't i?"

Cheshire Cat knew this was a hopeless scene now. She blinked out, re-appeareing behind White-Oout. She wrapped her arms around his waist quickly and blinked out again. Flamester stopped his fire, and Elastico dropped Unknown, after ensuring he squeezed him into unconsciousness. The door tot he balcony opened and the real Rudolf stepped out. "Good work, my Force. I'm glad we took these death threats seriously." He looke daround the balcony. "Who's that?" he indicated Poltergiest.

"Probably one of thier new recruits." Elastico said, strentching his whole body down to the baloncy. He looked towards the river. "Should I retrieve Scarlet's body?"

"Let him drown." Rudolf said. "Take these two to the dungeons." The Force members followed thier orders.
*****
"They're leaving." Cheshire Cate told WHite-Out.

"There's nothing more we can do here." White-out said, peering between the ruined buildings. Cheshire Cat had blinked them to the same spot Unknown had arrived at. "I wish we could get back to New York."

"We can.{" Cheshire cat said. "I'll just have to take the trip in shorter jumps." She took WHite-Outs hands and then blinked them both out.
*****
The area around the mansion had returned to normal. Suddenly, the water erupted upswards into a small column of water, before crashing back down. A man crawled up the wall and over the railing. He lay on the ground on the bank opposite the mansion and regained his strength. "Rudolf will die. And THunderstorm too. So swears Lord Scarlet!"

Chapter 4

Chapter IV (March 28-31, 1984)

Bolt, Red Squirrel, Force and SHield followed Disintergrator as he led them up darkened alleys. Disintegrator suddenly stopped. "Get into the shadows!" They all squeezed themselves into crevices betwenn buildins and behind debris. Ten feet ahead of them, there was an intersections of alleys. A garrison of green unifromed soldiers marched through.

After they passed, Bolt walked out and said, "Should we-"

"Shhh!" Disintergrator whispered as loud as he could. "Get back!" Bolt quickly resumed his previous positions. The alleyw as totally silent. Disintegrator waited five minutes before he walked out and called the others out. "First rule of survival here: Always wait a good amount of time after a patrol leaves before you show yourself."

"I'll remember." Bolt said. Disintergrator nodded and led the other four through the alleyways. he was two blocks from Central Park. The park burnt, scorched and brown. In the cneter of the park was a large building, fifty stories high.

"What is that?" Force asked.

"That is our destination, The North AMerican Governor's Building." Patrols and garrisons coudl be seen leaving Central Park. A fifteen foor high metal fence surrounded this section of the park.

"HOw are we gonna get past the fence, the guards and into the building?" Bolt asked.

"Simple." Disintergrator said. He waved the others back into the shadows and whispered his paln to them. "Everyone know what to do?" he asked. They nodded. "Good, get ready." They stood by and waited. They didn't have to wait long. A patrol of eight soldiers approached the area they were in. When Disintegrator gave the word, they ambushed the soldiers.

Shield flung his shield at the first two. It smashed into thier faces and then, boomerang like, arced back to him. Force created too round cyclinder forcefields and rammed them intot he sides of the last two soldiers heads. The soldiers' heads collided with each other. Both of them fell to the ground. Bolt ran intot he center of the remaining four and alomst simultaniously knocked them all unconscious. The whole attack took four seconds.

"Very impressive," Disintegrator said. "Now, quick, let's go." They drug the soldiers intot he dark alleyways. Shield put his shield over his shoulders. ALl of them, save Disintegrator, removed thier masks and put on the green uniforms. Disintergrator took a pair of hexigonal cuffs off one of the uniforms and put them on. he then instructed Red Suirrel to put a metal neckband on his neck. "This is a dampener. It cancels our powers. the soldiers wouldn't let us get near the gates without one on. We justwon't turn it on." He checked them out, making sure they were clothed properly. "Okay, everybody, jsut stay calm and things will be fine."

Bolt and Red Squirrel walked in front of Disintegrator. Force and Shield followed, weapons drawn and held at Disintegrator's head. They walked across what was fifth avenue and approached an guarded opening in th fence. As they walked past, one of the guards there spat at Disintegrator. "Traitorous freak."

Disintegrator stopped. Force saw raw anger building in him, so with the end of his weapon, he nudged Distinegrator on. After they were outof range of the guards, Disintegrator said, through clenched teeth, "Thanks. " but he was still angry. They passed garrisons of twelve men, patrols of eight, and smaller groups of guards. This part of Central Park was like a bee hive with uniformed men all around.

When they reached the building, one of the guards by the door stopped them. he quickly glanced at Disintergrator's cuffs and neckband. Another guard snapped, "Where you taking him?"

"To see Mr. Hapsbourg." Bolt said. The guards stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

"High Marshall Hapsbourg wants to see this runt? Why?"

Bolt shrugged. "Perhaps he wants to interrogate him himself. We didn't ask. Perhaps you'd like to ask the High Marshall yourself?" The guard paled.

A third guard spoke. "Go ahead, I'll radio ahead and tell the High Marshall you're coming." Bolt nodded and led the group through the doorway. INside, the whole ground floor was one giant room. Guards stepped from multitudes of elevators, scurrying here and there, coming and going through various doors to the outside. Again, the beehive analogy came to mind.

"um..." Bolt, only loud enough for those in his group to hear. "WHich way to Hapsbourg's office?"

Trying to not be obvious about speaking, Disintergrator said, "Over there. The guarded elevator. The one with the swastika painted on it." Near the center of the room, an elevator stood with guards all around it. On the door was indeed a red swastika. They approached it.

When they reached it, a guard looked at them. "Ah, youv'e arrived. High Marshall Hapsbourg is waiting for you." Taking a card from his belt, the guard slipped in into a slot next to the elevator doors. They slid open, and the group walked in. Inside, there were simply two buttons, one with an arrow pointing up, the other with an arrow pointing down. Bolt pushed the button with the up arrow, and the doors slid shut and the elevator began to rise.

"I don't like this," Shield said. "This is coming off much too easily."

"Ah, don't worry, we're pulling the wool over thier eyes." Bolt said, although, in truth, he had some similar feelings. No one spoke for the rest of the trip. When the elevator slowed to a stop, an eerie feeling filled Bolt. Pictures of the doors opening and many weapons being fired in filled his mind. He preapred for an attack, but when the doors opened, none came. Beyond the doors was a wide, high hallway. Guards were stationed at even intervals along the walls. At the end of the hallway was a set of ten foot hig, wooden double doors.

The group left the elevator and walked past the guards, towards the doors, expecting an ambush or attack. Again, none came. When they reached the doors, Bolt and Force pushed them open. They were awestruck.

Beyond was a gigantic room, perhaps a fifty foot cube. The opposite wall was completely glass, looking out on the ruins of New York. The Empire State Building was only half as tall as it should have been. there was debris and large bomb craters all around. A really depressing sight. Four large columns held up the ceiling. They were each of solid silver. The floor and remaining walls were polished marble.

The room was otherwise empty, except for a large fifteen foot long, four foot high, four foot wide desk, and a large high backed chair behidn the desk. The chair was facing the window. From the other side of the chair, a voice spoke. "Enter. And close the doors." THe voice was strong, echoing around the room. It spoke English, but with a diserable German accent.

The group walked in, SHiled and Red Squirrel shut the doors behind them. They stood just inside the doors. The chair swiveled around. In it, sat Martun Hapsbourg. He looked relatively young, in his 30's maybe, to hold sucha high position. He had blond short hair and ice blue eyes. he looked more like a fashion model than a ruthless Nazi. He wore a black jumpsuit, with red boots, gloves and belt. The focal point was a large red swastika on his chest.

He rose from hsi seat and walked around the desk. His heels tapped on the floor, his hands clasped behidn his back. He stopped in the center of the desk and leaned against it. "Bring him to me."

Disintergrator was escorted towards the man. Bolt and Force stopped five feet from the German. They nudged Disintergrator forward. They could see the cuffs that held his hands behind his back were crumbling. Martun Hapsbourg straightened. "I told you I would get all of you. None can escape me." He put his hand on Disntergrator's shoulder and spoke harshly. "your cohorts will be captured, soon, and when all are prisoners, I'll take great pleasure in kill-"

Disintergrator swung his right hand from behind him, and grabbed Hapsbourg's forearm. "Oh, DO shut up!" He made a fist with his left hand.

Hapsbourg gasped. "You're FREE!"

"Nothing gets by you, does it?" Disintergrator said. He punched Hapsbourg's jaw. The blow sent his up onto the desk top. Papers flew everywhere as Hapsbourg rolled over the other edge.

Bolt took charge. "Force, cover the doors!" Force turned and threw a forcefield up over the doors. In spite of hte guards pushign from the other side, the forcefiled held. Sheld pulled off the top of the guard's uniform and grabbed his shield from his back. He held it in front of him. Red Squirrel ripped off his uniform and prepared for anything. Bolt remained still, but ready to move.

"What's wong, Hapsbourg?" Disintergrator taunted. "Can't take a punch from a midget? A traitorous freak?" SUddenly, the desk shot forward. Bolt sped out of the way and saw Hapsbourg had pushed it. The desk was incredibly heavy, and for him to have pushed it made Bolt realize this wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought. Red Squirrel jumped up and over the desk. Disintergrator, however was struck and slammed back and onto the floor. He skidded across the polished marble until he stopped, unconscious. The desk stopped moving before it endangered Force or Shield.

Hapsbourg stood. " I don't know who you people are, or where these rebels dug you up, but if you give yourselves up, I promise a lesser punishment than for the dwarf."

There was a few seconds of quiet in the room, save for the pounding on the outer doors. But then Bolt yelled, "I htink we'll take the option of NO punishment at all!" and he fired two lightning bolts from his hands. Red Squirrel jumped at the man. WHen the lightning bolts struck him, Bolt was surpirsed to see no damage to Hapsbourg. In fact it looked like the bolts might have been absorbed somehow, which caused Bolt to worry even more. Hapsbourg simply smirked. He pointed his hand at the oncominc Red Squirrel, and a lightning bolt shot out of it, striking him. Squirrel was knocked back onto the floor near Disintergrator, unconscious as well.

"He's got lightning powers too!" Shield shouted.

"Not usually." Hapsbourg smiled. He threw back his head and laughed. Shield hurled his shiled at him. Hapsbourg easily ducked beneath it, and it went sailing out throught he window-wall. "how foolish. You've lost your weapon AND broken my window. You'll pay for both." Hapsbourg took a step closer, but then there was another crash of glass behind him. He jerked around in time to see the shield returning. It smacked him sqaure in the face and ricocheted off to return towards its owner. The hit though barely fazed him. Hapsbourg turned back and ran towards, and then jumped up and over the desk. He didn't land. he was caught in one of Force's forcefields, and levitiated off the floor.

Bolt and Shiled both looked towards Force. His face was contorted in concentration. It was quite a strain to maintain both the forcefields. Hapsbourg saw this too, and put his hands together and with all his strength, swung them both against the forcefield. Force yelled and staggered back before falling to the floor. Hapsbourg dropped to the floor, but he was up and scrambling towards Force. He reached him and grabbed Force on either side of his head. And moments later, he dropped him to the floor. Hapsbourg straightened up and declared. "I absorb things. I absorbed your lightning and now I've absorbed this guy's power."

"we are definately in trouble." SHiled murmured.

"You are both definately dead." Hapsbourg said, smiling.

THen, suddenly, the doors burst open. Guards jumped in, weapons ready. Everyone in the room was surprised at thier entry. bolt, because of his heightened reflexes, recovered first. he ran, at full speed, grabbing Shield and then making a 180 degree turn and running for the window. By the time anyone else knew what was going on, the two Protectors had already smashed through the window and were falling.

"What are you DOING?" Shield yelled as the ground gflew up at them.

"I'm gonna try something, hold on. This'll be rough!" Bolt shouted. Shield locked his arms around Bolt's neck and right arm. he closed his eyes and mumbled, "a little rough he says."

Bolt began moving his legs up and down, as fast as he could. In doing so, he createdan updraft. it slowed their descent, but didn't stop it. They hit the ground, and hard, but they were uninjured. "I NEVER want to do that again!" Shield said. "Neverevereverevereverever again."

Botl saw the the guards in the Park coming their way. he reached over and grabbed Shield at the back of his costume. "Hang on." Shield couldn't even mutter a syllable before they were whizzing past guards. They were out of the park and heading south.

Hapsbourg stood in front of the browkn glass wall and watched the blur that was the two intruders. He turned to the line of guards that filled the room. "Take these three to the pits." Red Squirrel, Disintergrator and Force were dragged out, and Hapsbourg turned back and looked out at the ruins.

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.

At the same time that I was witing the Protectors, a friend of mine decided to start writing his own team. he called them the Vindicators, but I presume they went nowhere, as I never got to read a single story he wrote about them. However, because we were doing them at the same time, I decided to have my first "crossover" event in the second chapter. So the Vindicators mentioned there is his team. I just have them join up with the Protectors on a mission.

CHAPTER 2 (March 16-24, 1984): Prologue

Four hours ago, a man in a ripped costume appreared in a cloud of smoke on the Protectors meeting table. He was battered and bruised and he begged for help. The Protectors couldn't ignore his plea. They took him to Infirmary and let the medical computers deal with him. The Medi-docs stitched his cuts, lowered swelling on bruises and gave the man some painkillers. The whoel procedure took an hour. The remaining three hours, the man rested.
Bolt had posted two guards in the Infirmary on two hour watches. At the present time, Shield and Cheshire Cat were on duty. "Shield," she whispered to her teammate. "I don't think I like this guy."
"Why not? He didn't do anything yet."
"Look at his costume! That shade of red DEFinately does NOT go with black!" she said around a smile.
"Ya know, Chez, you're wit never fails to amaze me." Shield replied, humorless.
"Spoilsport."
"He...hello?" Shield and Cheshire Cat turned quickly, both startled. The man was sitting up on the medical table with his legs dangling over the edge. "Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you. I am-"
Shield threw his hand up." Stop." he turned to Cheshire Cat. "Go get the others."
"On my way..." she paused. "...spoilsport." And she blinked away. Sheild and the stranger just stared at each in silence, until a few moments later, Bolt entered. He looked as stoic as Shield, so the stranger didn't bother to start talking. He figured to just wait until someone more conversant arrived. Cheshire Cat blinked back in. 'Everybody's on thier way." She saw Bolt and added, "Hello, fearless leader."
"Hello, Chez." Bolt's tone was one of even more seriousness than Shield's, if that was possible. Cheshire Cat knew it had to be the situation, cause Bolt was usually more fun than this. Jewelie and Dreadnaut walked in, stern as the other two members.
"Ye gods, people," the stranger said. " I don't have an incurable, highly contagious disease that guy by talking to me. I'm not going to hurt you." When there was no immediate reply, he sighed. "It's no wonder th Americans lost the war."
Poltergeist entered and said, "PROFESSOR is watching the monitor board."
Bolt finally spoke. "Since we're all here, you can tell us what you're doing here."
"It's about time." The stranger was exasperated. "I am called The Unknown. I must ask you to not interrupt me until I am done. I realize mys tory will sound far-fetched, but nonetheless, it is true.
"I come from another dimension, a dimension parallel to your, that houses and earth like this one. Both earths' histories, as far as I can determine, are identical up until the early 1940's. On your earth, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as I recall. That cause the United States to enter what you call World War II. This happened in 1941, correct?"
"So far." Bolt replied.
"Well, things didn't happen that way on my earth. In 1941, the Japanese attacked the Soviet Union instead of the UNited States. While the American government tittered and tottered about, unsure of what to do, the Germans crossed the Channel and invaded England, overrunning London after a pitched battle, and from there, eventually all the the British Isles. ANd by March 1942, the Germans had free reign throughout all of Europe. The United States remained neutral, although they did allow the British Royal Family asylum. The Sovier Union was being attacked fropm both ends, the Germans from the west and teh Japanese from the east. And they couldnt' sustain a two front war. In early 1943 Moscow was bombed and burned into submission, and by August 1943, Stalin was dead of 'suicide' in the hands of the Germans.
"The Germans ran through Africa, taking what the pleased. And they captured the oil fields of the Middle East. Japan overran Asia, with only India still fighting. And then they invaded Australia, but they weren't an easy target either. Finally, in November 1943, The United States declared war on both Germany and Japan. But German U-Boats ruled the Atlantic and the Japanese Navy was more than a match for the United States Navy. Despite all it's military and industrial might, the USA had simply waited too long, allowing the Axis to become too powerful. And the USA's help was too little too late. ANd then the Axis turned their eyes to the AMericans continents.
"With Japan tied up in India and Australia, they didn't advance much beyond the west coast states. But Germany turned all her might against the East Coast of th United States. And they had developed long range bombers and rockets they could fire from Iceland, both of which could reach virtually the entire eastern seaboard of the USA. And they did. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, even Charlotte, and Montreal in Canada, were particularly hard hit. The government moved to Chicago, for all the good it did them.
"IN June 1944, the largest amphibious assault ever took place when the Germans landed on the DelMarVa penisula and had quick and easy routes to all the major burned out cities. And once the Germans had established the beachhead...well it was only a matter of time. The American government and the resistance fought admirably, and couragously, but, after the Nazis developed nuclear weapons, the end was nigh. They dropped a nuclear bomb on Kansas City, and a few days later on St. Louis and that was it. America surrendered soon thereafter. With the nuclear weapons in the hands of thier enemies, India and Australia sued for peace.
"Despite the fact the Japanese were thier nominal allies, and the Argentinians had allied themselves with the Nazis as well and had free reign in South America, Nazi Germany effectively ruled the world by the end of 1945. And Adolf Hitler went from Furher to Emperor of the known world. He was the absolute, uncontested ruler of the world until his death in September 1969. He was succeeded by his twenty one year old son, Rudolf, who took the title Supreme Emporer Rudolf the First.
"Because of all the nuclear radiation in the atmosphere from the rather liberal use of nuclear bombs, many mutations started showing up in children. Most were phyiscal, some minor, some truly horrible. Some mutations took the form of super powers or abilites. If the World Government discovered any of these, they immediately took them and placed them government training schools. Graduates joined The Force, a group of super powered beings that augmented any military actions taken, including holding down the populace and rooting out the Resistance. The Resistance, when it found children with super powered mutations, it recruited them into thier movement. Several heated dangerous battles between The Force and the super powered Resistance fighters have taken place. I am a member of the Resistance. The Resistance has also managed to get a man high up in the World government, but I won't say anything more about him, I don't want to endanger his position or safety.
"The leaders of the Resistance used strange scientific devices, and I'm personally convinced some sort of mystic items, to scower the multi-verse. And they discovered your dimension. We saw all the super powered types you have. And how much better your world is.
"It was decided a group of us would come here, using my powers of teleportation, augmented by their devices, to ask you, beg you if necessary, to come to our aid. But as we were preparing to do so, The Force attacked us. It was a pitched battle, and we weren't doing very well. And then, our group's leader managed to get me aside and told me I had to leave and come alone. The rest of them would provide a distraction. And, with much reluctance, I did. And I arrived here, as you all saw.
"So, I'm asking you, beggin you, if necessary, please help us free our world."
Everyone was silent as they digested the information, all in their own way. Finally, Shield asked, "I don't really want to sound callous, but arent there enough problems and criminals here we have to deal with? Do we really need to be delving into another world's problems?"
"Good point," Unknown conceded. "However, our problem likely will soon be your problem as well.We've discovered the World Government and Rudolf have found out about your earth, and are planning an invasion. I don't know their timetable for this, but wouldn't you rather fight them before they're prepared to invade? And wouldn't you rather fight them there, rather than here, where there's so much to destroy?"
"He does have a point." Jewelie stated.
"We can protect our earth by freeing theirs." Poltergeist added. Shield nodded.
"If we did do this, how would we help?" bolt asked.
"If we can get rid of Rudolf and his deputy Martun Hapsbourg, our...mole could get into power and hopefully keep it, and reorganize. Even if he can't taking out the top two men in the World Government would do wonders."
"The seven of us are going to take on a World Government and take out it's leaders? Is that realistic?" Dreadnaut cautioned.
"Well, the seven of us,"Unknown replied. "And any remaining members of The Resistance...if there are any...."
"We'll need more help..." Bolt said.
"Hey," Cheshire Cat exclaimed. "the Vindicators! Dreadnaut and I just met them a last week, during that bank robbery. They're setting up headquarters here in DC too. I'm sure they'd help!" She had gotten a number to contact them at, and gave it to Bolt. he called it and spoke to one of them called Laserfire. Explaining the situation as quickly as he could, and detailing the potential invasion, Bolt persuaded them to come to the mansion. They arrived soon at the mansion: Laserfire, an aura of fire around him; Red Squirrel, agile combatant like his namesake; Force, master of forcefields; and White-Out, ice and snow was his pervue.
After some quick greetings, and some more detailed plans and explanation, Unknown had all eleven heroes forma circle around him. And without a further word, he raised his arms and the Protectors, Vindicators, and Unknown himself were surrounded by dark smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the room was empty.

For Christmas this year, I got Hero Machine, character portrait creator (thanks, George). I've been playing around with it, and then I thought I might just want to show the Protectors. So I made a portrait for each of the team. And I've posted them below.

Chapter 1

Chapter I (Battle by Numbers) March 4 - March 16, 1984

Nestled in the Northern Virginia hills is a mansion. This is not just your normal mansion, this is the Protectors Mansion!

The Protectors are the third superhero group in as many years. the first group to be formed was the Guardians. They are comprised of the first modern superhero's known: Superior Man, Wonderous Woman, Waterman, Speedy, Emerald Ring, and The Bat. They were formed in New York near the end of 1981.

The second group was the Masked Marvels. They were comprised of Armor Man, Colonel America, the Bee, Man-Giant, The Crimson Sorceress, Animal, and Bullseye. The Protectors Mansion was originally built for the Marvels headquarters, but because of internal problems, the Marvels disbanded, so their headquarters was unoccupied.

In July 1983, six superheros from New York joined together as the Protectors. they were Bolt, Cheshire Cat, Crawler, Jewelie, Poltergiest, and Shield. In September 1983, President Reagan asked the Protectors to move to Washington DC and to become the city's superhero group. They would operate out of the abandoned Marvels headquarters. Every member moved, except for Crawler, he remained in New York, unwilling to relocate. Upon moving into Washington DC, the Protectors brought Dreadnaut, a local hero, into their membership.

They had been in Washington for seven months before they got thier first important mission.

It was early March, and for five months, the Protectors were doing menial tasks, such as stopping bank robbers, bodyguarding foreign dipolmats, endorsing products, making public appearances, and they were expecting any of it to change.

The Protectors were scattered througout the city. Bolt, alias Dennis Desmond, was up in New York visiting Crawler, his best friend Andrew Lowery. Cheshire Cat aka Cassandra Katz was in her bedroom in Protectors Mansion. Dreadnaut, also known as Steve Gallant, was visiting his parents in Georgetown. Jewelie, whos secret identity was Julie SMith, had just returned from flying a private jet in from Chicago and was in Dulles airport. Poltergiest, whose secret identity was Chris Shakeley, was on monitor duty in the monitor room. Pete Keebler, known to most people as Shield, was in a studio in Silver Springs, doing his modeling job, a part time gig.

Poltergeist was engrossed in "War And Peace" when suddenly a red light, signaling an emergency, began blinking. He jumped up and grabbd the red phone below the light, pressing a button next to the phone. A monitor above the light flickered on. The worried face of Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger appeared on the screen.

"Yes, Mr. Secretary?" Poltergeist asked into the phone.

"Poltergiest, " Scretary Weinberger replied. "We've got a problem. T here are three super-types holding the Washington Monumnet, and the people within, hostage."

"We'll handle it, Mr. Secretary."

"I knew you would." and with that, the secretary hung up, breaking the connection.

Poltergeist hung up the phone and pushed another button, the emergency alert. The alert ring possessed by all Protectors responded tot he signal sent to it and began to slowly vibrate. Poltergiest felt his own ring as he ran for the private elevator.

Cassandra Katz felt it. She dropped the book she wsa reading and began to change into her uniform, her Cheshire Cat uniform. Steve Gallant felt it. he quickly excused himself, and ran into the alley behind the house. he pulled off his clothes, revealing Dreadnaut's costume beneath. He grew to his comfortabel 12 foot tall size. Julie Smith felt it. She ran intoa lady's room, which luckilyw as empty. She willed her jeweled belt to become visible, and it did. She touched the large diamond at the front of the belt and concentrated. Instantly, her pilot uniform changed into Jewelie's costume. She concentrated ont he topaz in the belt, and with the super speed it granted her, she sped out the door and towards Protectors Mansion. Pete Keebler was modeling bikini underwear, and that's all he was wearing. his ring was back in the dressing room. Shield didn't recieve the signal. Dennis Desmond was taking a shower int he hotel he was staying in. His ring was on the counter int he bathroom, he too, didn't get the signal.

Poltergiest emerged fromt he elevator into the Protectors Meeting Hall, from there he ran out through a door and into a hall. As he rant owards the door leading to the gargae, he caught the smell of a delicious mean being cooked by Simon, the butler/cook of the Protectors. Poltergiest noted the scent and tucked it away in his mind. he would want to remember the smellwhen he returned and tasted the meal.

Poltergeist ran into the gargae. he used his teleknesis to push the door at the far end open, adn he flew through it. Beyond was another large room, containing the hovercycles. They looked like motorcycles, but in place of wheels, they had anti-grav units.

WIth a soft, almost inaudible "blink", Cheshire Cat appeared beside Poltergeist. "Chez," Poltergeist said to her. "Blink on over to the Washignton Monument. There's a hostage situation. Assess it, but wait for the rest of us to get there."

"Gotcha!" she said with a wink and a wave. Adn then she teleported away.

Jewelie had reached Washington City limits when she heard Poltergeist, using his telepathy, talk to her in her mind. "Jewel? WHere are you?"

"Not far from the Mansion." came her reply, as she stopped running.

"Hostage situation at the Washington Monument." He told her as he jumped on a hovercycle, to conserve his energy for whatever may be upcoming. He remotely opened the roof doors, and the hovercylce flew out towards the Potoamc River and the city on the other side. "I've already sent Chez, but both of you stay out of sight until we all get there." he heard her respond affirmatively.

As he flew towards the Monument, he telepathically sought out Dreadnaut. But, the rookie spoke to him first through the mental connection. "Hey, did you know there's a couple of costumed dudes around the Washington-"

Poltergiest cut him off. "Yes, that's what the emergency call was about. Are you at the monument?"

"No, I'm behind the nearest Smithsonian museam. I can see a guy flying around the top. What should I do?"

"Poltergeist," Jewelie said over theri telepathic bond. "I'm with the police. Chez is here too. We're at the cordon near the monument. Meet us here, we'll coordinate with the police."

"That's a good idea. Dreadnaut,. you get over there. I'm gonna land nearby and do some aerial surveillance." Poltergeist flew the hovercycle between two of hte buildings and landed it there. He jumped off the cycle and pulled the key out of it. And invisible forcefield flew over the cycle as he stepped away from it. Putting the key in his costume, Poltergiest concentrated and turned invisible. Then, with a thought, he flew into the air.

As he approached the Washington Monument, Poltergeist coudl see two persons walking around the base of the monument, and one flying around the top. The ones on the ground were both dressed in black jumpsuits with the Roman numeral VI, or 6, on the chest. The one flying had birdlike wings on his back.

Poltergeist was about to look in on the hostages when his ring began vibrating. he pulled off his communicator from his belt, and whispered into it, "Shhh, tell me quietly."

A mechanical voice answered, "Poltergeist, I am under attack." the voice was that of the Mansion's near-sentient computer, PROFESSOR.

"By who?"

"They are not in my memory banks. I need assistance. My shields are holding, but my generators are ready to overload."

:Okay, PROFESSOR, we'll get you help." Poltergeist put the communicater back in his belt. He then spke telepathicaly to his teammates. "We've got problems. PROFESSOR says the mansion is under attack. Jewelie, Chez, you two get back there, you can move the fastest."

"we're on our way." Jewelie said, as she swtiched back on her superspeed, and CHeshire Cat blinked away to appear the next instant in the woods behind the Mansion. Jewelie ran up beside her. A s one, they peered between the trees.
*****
Poltergeist flew over behidn the winged villain and prepared to knock him unconscious, when the villians landed on top of the monument. The villiams rolled back his glove to reveal a wrsit watch communicator. Poltergiest stopped and listened.

Pressing a button onthe watch, he said, "Numebr I this is Numebr VI. How are things going?"

"NUmber VI, this is Number I. The mansions's shields are still up, but if we keep hammering away at them, they'll fall. How are things over there?"

"The fools think there are three of us. They don't know the other two are fakes. your illusion device works perfectly."

"Keep them there, Number VI. Number I out."

"Fakes?" The sound was out of Poltergeist's lips before he knew it.

"Wha-?" Number VI swung around. he saw nothing. Suddenly, Poltergiest threw his fist into Number VI's chin. The villian was knocked off the monument. He only fell a few feet before he regained himself, flapped his wings, and began to hover. "I don't know who you are, but I ain't stickin around to find out!" with that, a little red glowing circle appeared on Nu,ber VI's forehead. Instantly, the circle flew five feet in front of him, and grew to a ten foot radius. NUmber VI flew into it and it disappeared.

Poltergeist turned visible, and flew to the police cordoned area. "what's going on?" Dreadnaut asked. Poltergiest tossed him to key to the hovercycle.

"The cycle's that way. Get going back to the mansion. I'll explain soon." Dreadnaut took the keys and ran off in the direction indicated. Poltergeist quickly explained everything to the police, and then took off again. He caught up to the hovercycle, and together they flew towards to mansion. Dreadnaut landedthe hovercycle at the outer edge of the woods, Poltergeist landed beside him.

"We'll go through the woods and come up on the Mansion from behind, "Poltergeist told Dreadnaut. HTey began to move through the woods. Poltergeist telepathically contacted Jewelie and asked where she and Cheshire Cat were. Jewelie gave thier location, and before long, all four Protectors were together.

"Look." Jewelie whispered, pointing towards the mansion. There, they saw four people, all dressed in black jumpsuits. They each had a different Roman numeral on thier chest. Number I was hurling what looked like lightning bolts at the Mansion's shields. Number II was about 30 feet tall, and she was pounding her fists on the shields from above. Number IV was shooting some type of energy blasts at the shields. And Number V was firing waves of sheer force at the shields.

"If there'a a two and a four, " Jewelie wandered aloud quietly. "Where is number three?"

"And where is Number VI? He was the winged guy flying around the monument, but he disappeared through some wormhole or something." Poltergeist explained.

"Now what?" Dreadnaut asked, frustrated at thier inaction.

Poltergeist thought for a second and said, "We are possibly overpowered here, but definately outnumbered. We need help." Turning to CHeshire Cat, he added, "Could you make a single jump to New York to get Bolt?"

"A single jump to New York? I never tried a single jump that far. I might have to make a few shorter jumps."

"Okay, get going." Poltergeist said as Cheshire Cat blinked away. Turning to his remaining teammates, Poltergeist said, "Okay, guys, it's up to us to delay these guys until help can arrive. First, Jewelie and I can use hit and run tactics, and once their disttracted, Dreadnaut, you grow and take on the big girl." Dreadnaut nodded. "Jewelie, you take NUmber V, I'll try to take down Number I."

"Take outthe girl" thought Dreadnaut." He's giving orders without even asking. What if I don't want to take out the girl? He's not our leader." But he only thought it, Dreadnaut said nothing.

"Ready?" Poltergeist asked.

"Ready." Jewelie responded.

"Then let's go." Poltergeist saidflew out at Number I and Jewelie ran towards Number V.

Suddenly, Number ! jerked around and yelled, "Number V, behind you!" Nuymber V turned. Jewelie ignored him and kept running. WIthin two seconds, she was swinging her fist at Numebr V. At the last possbile instant, Jewelie switched the magic energy of her belt fromt he topaz, to the emerald, which endoweled her with super strenght. Her fist smashed NUmber V square in the face, hurling him back into the shields. he slid down the forcefield and crumpled intoa pile.

Number IV turned towards Jewelie and began to chant, making strange motions in the air with his hand.

Poltergeist, using a bit more subtlety, telepathically scanned Number I, thinking he might be able to mind blast him. BUt he found instead that Number ! was an android or a robot or something like that. NUmber I must have detected the scan, because it turned in Poltergeist's direction. With surprising speed, Number I hurled a lightning bolt at Poltergeist. The Protector barely dodged it, flying to the side a bit. Number I threw another one, again barely missing Poltergiest. "How can he see me?" Poltergist mumbled, as he was invisible.

Dreadnaut watched the fighting from the edge of the woods. He saw Number I throwing lightning bolts off away from the shields. The Poltergist became visible. Dreadnaut also saw Jewelie watching Number IV. But she didn't see Number II was reaching for her.

"This is not going as planned." Dreadnaut said to no one in particular. Growing to his full thirty foot height, he thought, " I gotta help Jewelie." Numbers I and II and Jewelie all saw him rising out of the trees. They stopped and stared at the sight.

Poltergiest took advantage of the distraction and flew at full speed into NUmber I. Upon hitting him, Poltergeist made a ninety degree turn straight up, knocking Numebr I back and into the ground. After ascending for a few seconds, Poltergeist made a u-turn and flew straight down at Numebr I, with a wedge of teleknetic force in front of him. Number I recovered quickly than Poltergeist thought, and shot up in to the air at Poltergesit. They were like two trains on the same track running head on.

Number II let Jewelie alone and took a step towards Dreadnaut. "Finally, a challenge." she said.

A bright orange fireball flew from Number IV's hands, towards Jewelie, but she was watching the two giants engage. She did hear a noise, and looked back in the other direction and saw the fireball almost upon her. Before she move, it engulfed her. Number IV turned to help NUmber II and began chanting again. But then he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He was startled and as he turned, Jewelie's pink gloved fist smacked into him. And then he was unconscious. She looked down at him. "Magic belt. Sapphire. Invulnerability. Good thing to have, huh?" But of course, he didn't respond.

Numebr II stopped just out of reach of Dreadnaut and the two assessed each other. With nothing happening, Dreadnaut grew impatient, and took a step, swinging his fist. Number II saw it coming, easily blocked it, and swung her other fist into Dreadnaut's midsection. As the air shot out of him, Dreadnaut grasped his stomach, and dropped to his knees, shaking the ground in the immediate vacinity. "Weakling." NUmber II spat in disgust. She clutched the top of Dreadnaut's cowl, and was going to pull him to his feet. But, suddenly, Dreadnaut reached up and grabbed Number II's wrist with his left hand and clutched her shoulder with his right. He pulled her towards him, while lurching upwards. Her gut and his shoulder met with great force. Theis time, it was NUmber II who lost her breath.

Dreadnaut gave her no time to recover. he stood up and flipped Number II over him. She crashed into the ground, crushing a good portion of the trees underneath her and making a noise heard several miles away. She was also unconscious.

Dreadnaut smiled, but before he coudl celebreate, he felt something in his mind. he could no longer control his body. He knew he was walking abck towards the fight, but he couldn't stop himself.

Poltergeist knew he couldn't survive a collision with an android. He flew aside, Number I's momentum carrying him passed the Protector. Poltergist turned to look upwards, keeping hte wedge of teleknetic force in front of him. he expected an attack. And was not disappointed.

A lighting bolt came flying down at him. The wedge absorbed the lightning, but is collapsed, leaving him defenseless. He braced himself for the hit. None came. "Why isn't he attacking me?" Poltergeist thought. Suddnely, a giant hand grabbed him. He was held so tightly he coudl barely breathe. he turned his head and was shocked to see it was Dreadnaut. HIs eyes were glowing. Poltergeist saw Dreadnaut grab Jewelie as well. ANd he began to squeeze them both.

Dreadnaut knew he was killing his friends, but he could do nothing about it. he coudl see NUmber I land beside a woman in the black jumpsuit with a III across the chest. He knew she was the one making him do this, but he couldn't stop himself, or her.

"That;s it, Number III, make him kill them both!" Number I exclaimed. He heard Number V moan, and he walked over to help him up.

Suddnely, there was a yell. Dreadnaut regained control of his body. he opened his hand, Jewelie and Poltergeist were still breathing, just unconscious. Everyone that could looked in Number III's direction, where the scream had come from. There, NUmber III lay on the ground. Standing over her was a man in ayellow and orange costume: Bolt.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Bolt shouted, smiling.

"Just one of you? I doubt it." NUmber V mocked. He raised his arms, and waves of force shot from them so quickly Bolt couldn't dodge it. He was levitated two feet off the ground. "My magnetic powers will rip you apart!"

Number I stood next to Number V laughing. Unexpectedly, there was a thud and Number V fell face first onto the grass. Number I turned around and saw a shield flying back towards it's owner: Shield.

Dreadnaut, Bolt, and SHield closed in on him. "You're all alone, you're all that's left. Give it up." Bolt offered.

"I still have an ally..." Number I said. Just that instant, Cheshire Cat blinked in holding Number VI, the man with the wings. "...Number VI...?" Number I finished perplexed. "Okay, Protectors, you win this one. But yours is a hollow victory. I shall, in the end, be triumphant." There was a flash of light from NUmber I, temporarily blinding all the heroes. When they recovered thier sight, Number I was flying, almost out of sight.

"Should we go after him?" Cheshire Cat asked her leader, Bolt.

"No," he answered. "We've got to round up our enemies." They gathered up Numbers III, IV, V, and VI. Evidently, NUmber II recovered, shrunk down and escaped through the woods. Dreadnaut picked up Jewelie and Poltergeist and carried them to the infirmary. Two hours later, they pair had recovered.

Bolt called a meeting. Jewelie and Poltergeist were the last to arrive. They took thier seats. Bolt sat at the end of the octagonal table, in the leader's chair. To his left say Shield, the Deputy Leader.

Bolt rose to speak. "I'd first like to say I'm glad to hear Julie and Chris weren't seriously hurt."

"Just a few bruises." Poltergeist said.

"Now, I would like to congratulate Chris on the way he led the group in Shield's and my absense. In spite of getting yourselves in the predicatment you were in." There were a few chuckles around the table. "Okay, onto other business. Julie-"

Dreadnaut interrupted him. "Excuse me, may I say something?" Bolt nodded, so Dreadnaut continued. "I've made a decision. For months now, I've been trying to get my life in order. I wasn't sure whether I should be a superhero or go to college as my parents, and I guess I, have always wanted. I just didn't know what to do. Well, I've finally made up my mind. I'm-"

Suddenly, he was cut off but a pillar of murky black smoke that appeared in the center of the table. As it began to clear, a man could b seen inside. His ebony and crimson costume and cape were cut and torn. His thick grey hair was all messes up. he held his right arm in his left hand. Blood ran from a cut on his forehead and a long slash on his thigh.

"H...help me..." he mummbled and then collapsed to the table.

Prologue

Back on March 6, 1984, I began to write story about a group of superheroes. I continue to write that story even today, 21 years and some 50 coupel notebooks later. The writing is not professional by any standard, and I've slowed down writing it as I've grown older, due to work, and paying of bills, and that sort of thing. But I continue it still.

I will be retyping the chapters here, in this blog.

Originally, the idea for the team, The Protectors, came about by a role playing group I was in. We were playing Villains & Vigilantes, and all of the male team members were drawn from that group. BUt I'd like to dedicate this to all the other guys playing in that group: Dennis Diamond, Andy Lowry, Pete Keubler, Steve Gulla, and I believe Jim Sawicki might even had been there.

At any rate, the Protectors begin with a team of 6 members: the speedster Bolt; the mentalist Poltergiest; the shield-bearing Shield; the multi-powered, but only one at a time, Jewelie; The teleporting, acrobatic Cheshire Cat; and the growing to 30 feet Dreadnaut.

And so it begins...

POLT