The Masked Family

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1977As the Nuclear Family (except Father Law, who was on a separate mission) hunkered down in the trees behind the firehouse, they faced their most dangerous mission yet.

The four of them were ready for action, dressed in the colorful super-hero costumes that struck fear in the hearts of their enemies. Musclebot, the senior member of the team at twelve years old, wore bluejeans and a navy blue T-shirt with a foot-high foil letter "M" on the chest (stitched on by Maxi-Mom, the team's seamstress). Musclebot also wore a bright red cape, tucked into the neck of his shirt and hanging down to the backs of his knees.

Eleven-year-old Moon Girl wore a black leotard with another giant letter "M" on the chest, this one stitched on in sparkling, multi-colored sequins. Her cape was bright yellow and stitched to the leotard's neckline; her shorts and sneakers were yellow, too. Her domino mask was as black as her short, bobbed hair.

Ten-year-old Spellerina's leotard was pink, with the letter "S" glued on the chest in glitter; her ballerina tutu skirt was pink, too. Over her eyes and nose, she wore a glittery Mardi Gras-style mask flocked with little white feathers around the top and sides. Pink and white ribbons streamed through her long, blonde hair.

Then there was The Hurry, nine years old. The "H" on his red T-shirt was painted on in lightning bolts like the ones that streaked the sides of his red shorts. He wore plastic goggles (from Father Law's tool bench) to protect his eyes when he ran faster than the speed of sound (which happened during every adventure). The natural blond streaks in his red hair were like racing stripes on either side of his head.

Costumed as they were, the four heroes left no doubt that they meant business. Elsewhere, they might be dressed like ordinary kids, and no one would give them a second look...but when they broke out the Nuclear Family costumes, all who saw them knew that danger was near and the four heroes would save the day.

Even today, when they faced their most dangerous mission yet.

"There it is!" whispered Spellerina, pointing her magic wand (disguised as an ordinary stick) at what looked like a barbeque grill beside the back door of the brick firehouse. "I see it!"

"Yes," said Musclebot, the oldest, watching the back of the place through his invisible binoculars. (His fingers were looped around the invisible lenses in front of his dark-framed eyeglasses.) "Simon Says was right."

"Simon Says," who was as invisible as Musclebot's binoculars and communicated in code through their super walkie talkies--even when they didn't have batteries in them--assigned the Nuclear Family to missions when Father Law wasn't around.

"Space diamonds," Moon Girl said in a hushed and angry voice. "Stolen from my people, the Star Angels. Enough space diamonds to make a hundred Starbeam Rings."

Musclebot lowered the invisible binoculars and patted Moon Girl on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get them back before the Puke-a-zoids can use them to take over the world."

Moon Girl clenched her teeth and nodded.

Musclebot smiled. "Now let's get to work," he said. "First, we need to know what kind of defenses they have. Moon Girl, use your starsight to scan the area for alarms and weapons."

Stepping out of the tree line to the edge of the gravel parking lot, Moon Girl turned slowly from left to right, staring hard at the lot and building. Then, she raised her eyes to the firehouse roof and turned from right to left.

"There are gravel bombs everywhere," said Moon Girl, pointing down at the parking lot and sweeping her arm from side to side. "If you step on one, it'll blow you up."

"Good thing three of us can fly," said Musclebot.

"And I can run faster than explosions," said The Hurry.

"Plus, there are disintegrator rays all over the roof." Moon Girl pointed upward. "You can't see them 'cause they're invisible."

"They'll bounce right off my super-steel body," said Musclebot. "The Puke-a-zoids think the space diamonds are safe, but they can't stop the Nuclear Family, can they?"

"No one can stop the Nukelar Family!" said The Hurry, plunging his gloved fists in the air.

"Moon Girl and Spellerina, hold onto me," said Musclebot. "My super-steel body will shield you as we fly in. Hurry, run in a zigzag pattern to avoid the gravel bombs and disintegrator rays."

"I'll run so fast, you won't be able to see me," said The Hurry, "so don't worry I got blown up or somethin'."

Moon Girl and Spellerina stood on either side of Musclebot, and each wrapped an arm around him. "On the count of three," he said.

"One two three!" said The Hurry, and then he took off, kicking up dust as he zigzagged full-tilt over the gravel parking lot.

"I meant my count of three," shouted Musclebot. Then, he shrugged. "Oh well."

Musclebot extended his right fist in front of him so that the blue crystalline Starbeam Ring on his index finger was directed dead ahead. Sparks of reflected sunlight danced on the central rectangular facet on the face of the ring (which was disguised as a cheap plastic piece of toy jewelry). "Hold on, you two!"

With that, he took flight, the girls hanging on at his sides. Though it looked like their feet never left the ground, the three of them felt the wind rush past as they glided through the air, soaring safely over the field of explosive rocks.

"Watch out for the disintegrator rays!" said Moon Girl.

"My magic wand can't stop them!" said Spellerina.

In response, Musclebot followed a zigzag course like The Hurry's, weaving from side to side as the invisible ray guns filled the air with invisible blasts of energy.

"I made it!" said The Hurry, who had reached the target before them, the way he always did. "I'll use my super-fast vibrations to open the safe!"

"Be careful!" said Moon Girl. "It might be booby-trapped!"

The Hurry drummed both hands fast on the lid of the alien safe, which looked like an ordinary Earth barbeque grill. The vibrations, faster than the human eye could see, deactivated the Puke-a-zoid locks in seconds.

As Musclebot and the girls landed beside him, The Hurry raised the lid of the safe. The three taller heroes looked inside; Spellerina, the smallest, had to push to the front of the group and stand on tiptoe to share the view.

"The space diamonds," Moon Girl said reverently.

"Take as many as you can," said Musclebot, grabbing what looked like ordinary charcoal briquettes from inside the safe that looked like an ordinary barbeque grill. "Put them in your pockets."

As Musclebot stuffed the space diamonds in the pockets of his jeans, Moon Girl and The Hurry grabbed handfuls and did the same. Since Spellerina couldn't reach inside the safe, Moon Girl dug some out for her...two, just enough to fill her left hand, as Spellerina's right hand held tight to her magic wand.

Then, suddenly, Musclebot dropped a handful of diamonds back into the safe. His head spun left, and his eyes popped wide as baseballs.

"Oh no!" he said in a hushed voice. "Puke-a-zoid killbots! We must've set off an alarm!"

Everyone followed his gaze at once. Two Puke-a-zoid killbots--disguised as ordinary firemen in white uniform shirts and black trousers--walked around the far corner of the firehouse.

"We must return to headquarters immediately!" said Musclebot.

Just then, the killbots caught sight of the four young heroes.

"What the hell?" said the first killbot, who looked like an ordinary, dark-haired man smoking a cigarette.

"They're takin' the charcoal outta the grill!" said the second killbot, who looked younger than the first and had curly red hair and a mustache.

"Run!" shouted Musclebot.

The Hurry shouted back over his shoulder at the killbots as he bolted for the tree line. "Tell your leaders! No one can defeat the Nukelar Family!"