The man, also in his mid-forties, with sandy brown hair sitting next to her on the couch gave her a quizzical look. It was late in the evening, and they both had expected it was their teenage daughter calling. He checked his watch again, the third time in twenty minutes. It wasn’t like Clare to be out so late without calling home to let them know where she was. His lips mouthed the words who is it?

Beverly put her left hand over the mouth piece and said softly to her husband “It’s Sal!” She then uncovered the mouthpiece and said, “Yes, go on!” Her expression changed to deep concern and focus.

Sal? Kyle Harper thought for a second. Salvatore Bonilla was currently a captain for the Victoria police department, and one of their oldest friends. In fact, he was one of the few people with whom the couple had shared their deepest secret. They trusted the man with their lives, as he often did with them over the years. Kyle knew instantly that couldn’t be good that he was calling them, out of the blue, at this hour of the evening.

“Bev, give me the phone!” Kyle said.

His wife waved him off dismissively with her right hand and then grabbed for the remote on the coffee table in front of her. “I’m turning on the TV now,” she said into the phone. After a second, she punched in a few digits and changed the channel over to a local broadcast on WVIC channel 3.

On the screen was an image that was a bit static-filled but still clear enough to make out the situation. A man in his late forties with well-chiseled muscles and a receding hairline of black hair tied back into a ponytail filled the shot. He wore a black tank-top shirt, camouflage pants, and big black boots. To add to his already imposing appearance, he wore a bandolier with various armaments and had a large gun in one hand which he waved in the air as he bellowed “Bring me Magnet and Steel!”

Kyle let out an exclamation that was both of surprise and contempt. “Assault!” He turned to his wife again. “Beverly, the…”

The woman was already thrusting the phone at him before he could finish his sentence, as if she had read his thoughts. As soon as he barely grabbed it, she bolted up-right and ran for the stairs.

“Sal!” Kyle said into the phone. “It's Kyle! What’s going on?” There was a pause as he listened to his old friend explain the situation. Kyle peppered in the occasional “uh huh” as he listened, but his expression of anger increased. Finally he said, “He what…?!?” And then, “Hold tight! We’ll get there as fast as we can!”

Kyle Harper slammed down the phone and bolted for the stairs. “Beverly!” he called out.

Just that instance, his wife appeared at the top of the steps. Draped over one arm was a grey bodysuit with red trim, and over the other was draped one completely silver in color. “Kyle! Get up here and change!” Beverly said sternly. “Our little girl is in danger!”

***

Atop one of the buildings in downtown Victoria, Georgia, a WVIC cameraman tried to calm his nerves as he focused his camera on the men who had kidnapped him earlier. “I don’t know if this…this is getting through,” he stuttered a bit. The sweat was dripping down from his long blonde bangs, stinging his eyes and fogging up his viewing lens.

“It better be!” snapped Assault. “I want my old enemies to know that I am waiting for them for a final showdown!”

A figure dressed from head to toe in black spandex approached the man. The trim on the costume and the skull shaped facemask were gold, and a similar colored letter ‘B’ was figured across the left-breast area. “What if the cops decide to crash this little reunion party of yours first?” the young man who called himself Battery asked.

Assault smiled. “They wouldn’t dare!” he said. “Not as long as we have our little insurance there!” He turned to face a huge piece of equipment in the center of the rooftop.

It was a large clear cylinder with a control unit attached to one side. Another male figure, dressed similarly all in black but with silver trim, skull and a letter ‘A’ on his left-breast was monitoring the display reading.

“How is our ‘guest’ doing?” Assault called to him.

The other young man, who up until recently also went by the name of ‘Assault’, looked up from the monitors. “The needles are in the zones as you said they should be,” he said.

“Good, Attack!” Assault commended. “Make sure they don’t change then!”

The second young man winced. He hated that new moniker. Attack and Battery – that makes no damn sense! He tried to protest it earlier, but his twin told him to just let it go. This caper was going to put them on the map as super-villains, so it really didn’t matter if their egotistical ringleader wanted to keep the one name to himself. I’m changin’ it back just as soon as we blow this town!

Inside the cylinder, a blonde teenaged girl in a gray spandex bodysuit with red trim hovered near the edge of consciousness. Every time her eyes fluttered behind the red mask she wore as she stirred closer to waking, the device would shock her back out. And, at the same time, the machine tapped into her latent abilities. Her magnetic manipulative abilities combined with the machine was generating a magnetic dome of sorts over the building rooftop, one sufficient to keep any police helicopters a good distance away. Only a slight opening near the top of the dome remained clear, per Assault’s design. It was large enough to permit the television broadcast signal out to the media and to allow his enemies a way in – to their deaths!

Assault smiled broadly. He loved when a plan came together nicely. “All right, boys, it’ll be show-time soon enough!” he announced. “They’re not going to be expecting you two, so that gives us an extra edge! Plus, if my suspicions are right, they aren’t about to let any harm come to that little young lady in there! So, keep them away from her if they make any moves to try and free the girl!”

Assault then turned to the cameraman. “And, you,” he said, “I expect you to keep filming no matter what! You and your station are in for the scoop of the century, and no harm comes to you as long as you keep broadcasting! Got it?”

The cameraman nodded nervously. “Yes-ss…sir.”

The men did not have to wait too long. With binoculars, the trio of costumed criminals watched the skyline and were able to notice the approach of two figures in the air. “They’re coming!” Battery announced.

“Good!” Assault said. “Everyone ready!”

A red-masked blonde costumed woman approached the opening in the magnetic dome with a masked silver clad brown-haired man in tow behind her. “Ready?” she said.

“Go for it!” the man exclaimed. He was already exercising his fingers into tight fists, chomping at the bit for the altercation to come.

Magnet concentrated and hurled her husband ahead of her into the air as if he was shot forward by a giant, invisible rubber band. That was one of their signature moves, made possible by her ability to manipulate magnetic forces and by the metallic traces in his costume that further enhanced his extraordinary strength and toughness.

Steel rocketed through the opening like a guided-missile, his arms extended before him in tight fists. Magnet’s aim was impeccable, and he shot straight towards the devices attached to the field-generator that held Lodestone captive.

Just before Steel reached his impact point though, a blur in black intercepted him mid-air and knocked him to the side. “Uh uh,” Attack chastised him as the two crashed into the rooftop. The man in black made sure his opponent’s body took the brunt of the impact; the asphalt covered roof crunched as the duo hit. “Can’t have you messin’ with the pretty now, can we?”

Steel recovered quickly from the impact. “Fine!” he spat out a bit of black material as he brought his fist up and around. “I’ll mess with you first!” The punch connected to the man in black’s jaw.

The villain staggered to his feet, rubbing his jaw. He felt something beneath his skull faced mask pop. “You’ll pay for that!” Attack growled.

“Really?” Steel retorted. “How much? I might want to take another shot if the price is right!” He swung his fist around again.

Attack caught it in his own massive hand and forced it back. “You know what? I was thinkin’ this might be just some run-of-the-mill thing, allowin’ Assault his little revenge. But now, I think beatin’ you is gonna be worth it after all!” He brought his own fist around and clipped Steel in the shoulder.

Steel rolled with the blow, but it still stung. He smiled a bit through his intense expression. “Fine! You wanna play rough? We’ll play rough!” And with that he dove at his opponent once more.

Assault meanwhile stepped forward with the gun in his left hand pointed directly at Lodestone in the cylinder. “Come on down and join the party, Magnet!” he called. “Don’t stay floating up there like a wallflower – that isn’t your style!” He kept one eye on his target and the other on his old enemy. He saw the elder blonde woman focus towards his hand. “Ah, sweetie, you think I’d use metal guns so you could disarm me so quickly? Not likely! Now, get down here so we can get down to business!”

Realizing that the gun would not yield to her powers, Magnet simply descended to the rooftop and touched down gently. “All right, Tackett,” she said, trying to remain calm. She knew that if the gun wasn’t metal, the ammunition inside likely wasn’t either. She couldn’t risk him firing upon her unconscious daughter. “We’re here like you demanded. What do you want?”

“Revenge!” Assault said flatly. “Plan and simple!”

“Okay,” Magnet said as her mind raced through possible options. “First, you let the girl go.”

Assault had to laugh out loud. “You’re kidding me, right? Now why would I do that?”

“It’s Steel and I that you want,” she said. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“Ah,” Assault said with a raised eyebrow, “but she does.” With his free hand, he raised a finger. “First, she’s the reason I went back to jail earlier this year – so that means I do have a score to settle with her as well. However, we’ll deal with ‘age’ before ‘beauty’.” He raised another finger. “Second, she’s my insurance policy for the moment. After all, you and your partner aren’t going to do anything stupid as long as I have your daughter as a hostage.”

Magnet tried not to react to his statement, though in her mind she thought i>how does he know? Finally, she started to say, “She’s not…”

Assault cut her off. “Don’t give me that bull! I could see the resemblance from the first time I fought her! She’s got the same hair, the same eyes, the same profile! If she isn’t your daughter then she might as well be! In any case, you and she have a connection, otherwise why would you rush to her rescue! The way I see it, she’s your legacy!” He caressed the trigger of the gun. “And that legacy ends here!”

“No!” Magnet exclaimed. Concentrating, her magnetic abilities ripped the front panel off of one of the devices and sent it flying directly at Assault.

Instinctively, the man blasted the projectile with his gun and riddled it with holes.

Battery turned from the device he was currently monitoring, saw what was happening and vaulted over the equipment. “That’s enough out of you, lady!” he yelled as he thrust his arm forward. Electricity crackled about his finger tips and arced through the air. It struck Magnet, causing her to let out a scream.

Steel glanced up from pummeling Attack at the sound of his wife in pain. “Magnet!” he exclaimed as he bolted across the rooftop and charged the attacker. “You son of a…!”

Battery saw the intensity in the hero’s eyes and responded with the first thing he could think of: he invoked the power swap with his twin brother. As he did so, the trim on his costume went from gold to silver. When Steel hit him hard, he was able to take most of the blow. Still, both men went crashing into the rest of the machinery. Sparks flew everywhere as the metal crushed beneath them.

Assault recovered from the barrage to see Magnet on the ground trying to shake off the electric attack and to see Steel and Battery destroying his equipment. “No! Idiots!” he exclaimed. He fired off a number of shots into the air to get everyone’s attention.

Inside the cylinder, the sounds of her mother’s anguished cry and her father’s enraged yelling were enough to bring Lodestone back around. She braced for the sudden surge by the machine that had shocked her a number of times already but quickly, thankfully, realized it wasn’t coming. That small favor was no doubt due to the damage caused by her father and one of the men who ambushed her on the highway earlier.

She blinked again and looked beyond the battle. She could see her mother on the ground and a familiar figure standing over her, ranting and firing a weapon into the air. Assault! she thought. Now she knew who was behind all this, and she had a pretty good idea why seeing that her parents were here in costume – something they hadn’t done for many years.

Lodestone came to a quick realization. I have to help them!

Closing her eyes and concentrating, she reached out beyond the confines of the thick glass tube for something she could use to free herself. Her powers alone were not going to work on the tube itself; she was sure Assault planned it that way. Still, he hadn’t counted on her waking up completely either. She quickly felt the presence of metal from the smashed control panels. It’ll have to do!

Using her mind and summoning all the willpower she had, she brought the metal towards her quickly. The metal smashed into the outside of the cylinder, once and then again and then again. Lodestone pictured in her mind the metal slamming over and over against the cylinder like a bat, and the metal obeyed like a puppet on a string. Come on! Come on!

She watched the spot of impact and started to see cracks forming. That encouraged her to continue her hammering away at her prison from the outside.

Assault took aim with his weapon and fired it. The shot ended up glancing off the shoulder of Battery who was still slugging it out with Steel.

“What the hell?” Battery exclaimed. He turned to the man with the gun. “What are you doing, man?”

“What are you doing?” Assault countered back, angrily. “This is my operation! I call the shots!” He started to stalk the man in black, his gun still targeted on him. “I told you and that whiny brother of yours that Magnet and Steel were mine to kill! You’re both incompetent idiots! What was I thinking in springing you both from prison with me?”

Steel couldn’t help but smile at the turn of events. “Good help is so hard to find these days, eh Assault?” He wiped the trickle of blood from his lip. “Maybe next time you should try Kelly Services. A couple scantily glad gun-babes would so go better with your image that these boy-toys, or now, after all those years in prison, are you swinging for the other team?”

“Shut up, Steel!” the gun-toting criminal barked. “I’ll deal with you after I take care of this one!”

“Uh uh!” shouted someone from behind Assault. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit the man square in the back, causing him to scream out.

“My ‘incompetent’ brother and I have taken enough of your crap, old man!” the young man formerly called Assault said. Sparks crackled around his form and hands as he now wielded the electric abilities. “We’re going back to Tradewinds! And I’m takin’ back my name too!”

“You tell him, bro!” Battery said as he rubbed his grazed shoulder.

Assault closed his eyes, trying to focus after the shock he received. At the same time, his hand moved up to his bandolier and detached a pair of throwing stars. With a quick, fluid motion, he spun about and hurled the small, razor-sharp items at the one who had attacked him. “Traitor!” he shouted.

One throwing star missed the villain in black, but the other tagged his left arm. “Owwwww!” he screamed out in pain. “You’re crazy, old man!”

Just then, the huge cylinder behind them all shattered and glass rained down to the rooftop. Everyone spun around suddenly to see Lodestone hovering in the air, unharmed and looking quite irritated.

“No! No!” Assault exclaimed. “My carefully laid out plan!”

“Yes! Yes!” Steel replied in a mocking tone. He sprang forward on his powerful legs and tackled his old enemy. “Time to lay you out just like your plan!” Assault’s weapon went skittering across the rooftop as the silver-clad champion wrestled him to the ground. “Looks like the party’s over, Tackett!”

“I’ll kill you!” Assault threatened.

“With what?” Steel retorted. “You swapped out the metal in your weapons so Magnet couldn’t disarm you, so about the only thing you might have that can hurt me now is an explosive.” He grinned widely as his face looked down inches above Assault’s own angry expression. “I figure if you’ve got a bomb on you and you activate it now that only one of us is likely to survive the explosion. And I’m betting on me, the guy with the super-tough hide.”

Assault squirmed beneath the hero, trying to move out from the pinned position.

“Uh uh,” Steel said. “We’re ending this now!” He released one hand from Assault’s shoulder so that he could make a fist and punch the criminal in the side of the head. The pony-tailed gunman went out like a light.

Meanwhile, Battery started to bolt across the roof and grabbed his brother along the way. “Time to make tracks, brother!” he said. “This whole operation's blown!”

“I hear that!” the skull-masked Assault agreed.

“Not so fast, boys!” Lodestone called from above. “I think I owe you a little something from earlier today!”

As they spun around, a large portion of the control panel came crashing down hard upon them. Battery threw up his arms, taking the brunt of the blow with the duo’s enhanced strength. He pushed the rubble aside but then fell over, dazed and exhausted.

“You little witch!” the skull-masked Assault spat. Electricity started to spark from his finger tips. “This time I’ll fry you good! You don’t have that middle-aged psycho to stop me from doing it!” He let fly a barrage of lightning into the air.

Lodestone zipped backwards, barely getting out of the reach of the attack. “Missed me,” she taunted him.

The standing twin fumed. “This time I won’t!” He started to discharge another bolt.

A metal post slammed him upside the head, knocking him to the ground and into an unconscious heap next to his black-clad brother.

“Sorry, sonny,” Magnet walked up from behind him. She relaxed and let the metal post fall with a clang to the rooftop. “No one hits my girl while I’m around.”

Lodestone touched down next to her similarly costumed elder. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.

“You too,” Magnet said as she gave her daughter a huge hug. “You know you had us worried.”

Lodestone nodded. “I know. Sorry.”

Magnet smiled. “Let’s get these two bound up for the police. Captain Bonilla and his boys should be up here any moment now.”

And near the far end of the building, the WVIC cameraman breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the villains fell. “Say, heroes,” he called from behind the lens of his still-rolling camera. “Could I, maybe, get an exclusive interview to go with this footage?”

Before the other two could say a word, Magnet smiled and said “Yes, of course. But let’s get the police to take these criminals away first.”

Lodestone and Steel glanced at one another. The eighteen year old approached the costumed man and whispered in his ear, “Daddy, is that a good idea?”

He thought for a second and then whispered back to her as convincingly as he could. “I’m sure she knows what she’s doing, kiddo.” Despite all their years together, in his head Steel was wondering just what his wife was up to.