Saga of the Spectrum Force

The scene in uptown Langstrum Alps is utter chaos. A fancy restaurant is ablaze, and the LAFD has just arrived to try to quell the raging fires, as well as care for the people who were caught in the inferno. The people quake in terror and mumble about a dinosaur attacking the restaurant, but the police and the firemen don't know what to make of the situation. They do not realize that a battle rages only yards away, hidden in the darkness of night. It is a classic fight of good against evil, with the fate of the planet at stake. Only yards away, a faceoff has taken place. The monster lizard Deathwing stands before the Red Spectrum Enforcer, one of the six members of the newly formed Spectrum Force. Behind the Red Enforcer stands the rest of the team, and behind the monster lies the unconscious Yellow Enforcer.

"Keith," whispered Jocelyn, "what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm challenging Deathwing to a one-on-one face-off," he answered, "What does it look like I'm doing? Ordering a pizza?"

"Are you sure--"

"Look, I can hold him for a while. You guys just make sure Tammy's okay. Got it?"

Jocelyn nodded, and she, Matthew, Craig, and Rachel stepped back. Rachel turned to her three teammates as they watched Deathwing dive at their red companion, razor sharp claws extended.

"You guys check on Tamara," whispered Rachel, "Once she's safe and out of the way, come back and give me and Keith a hand. Keith may be a fantastic martial artist, but he can't destroy that thing alone."

Craig nodded, and he flew into the air, followed by the Orange and Green Spectrum Enforcers. Rachel watched them for a moment as they flew over the battle scene, and landed beside Tamara. Rachel then closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together.

Tamara's energy blast didn't have much of an effect against Deathwing, she mused, her entire body glowing with radiant purple light, Maybe a more potent blast will have more luck!

Once Rachel was glowing with blinding purple light, she unfolded her fingers, throwing a massive wave of purple energy directly at Deathwing. The energy struck the beast squarely on the bottom of his beak, throwing him off Keith and into a tree, reducing the tree to splinters. Rachel wavered a bit from over exertion, and Keith stood up and quickly checked himself for injuries.

"Good," he said, "Nothing penetrated my Spectrum Shield. Ray, you okay?"

"Just... gimme a minute to... catch my breath," she panted, "Get Deathwing now, while he's still down."

Keith nodded and threw himself like a cannonball at Deathwing. However, Deathwing had already recovered from the attack, and spit a stream of fire at Keith. Keith blocked the fire, but was thrown off course by the attack, knocking him into a bush. Rachel looked up and saw Deathwing approaching her menacingly.

"Nice try, Human," he weezed, "But, not good enough!"

Deathwing extended his razor claws and slowly moved towards Rachel. Rachel studied his movements carefully.

He looks like he's off balance. Maybe all we need is a greater energy beam to throw at him!"

Suddenly, Deathwing's claws began to glow black, and a shower of small energy beams flew at the Purple Enforcer. The first few made contact, hitting her on the arm and stomach. She managed to construct a shield of energy around her body, causing the other beams to be deflected. Meanwhile, Keith had collected his bearings, and Tamara had regained consciousness. The Yellow, Green, Blue, and Orange Enforcers regrouped with the Red Enforcer, and watched as Deathwing continued his energy onslaught.

"Anyone have any ideas?" asked Craig.

"We need help here!" yelled Keith frustratedly, "I mean, nothing we do hurts this thing!"

Instantly, the entire Spectrum Force vanished in a bright flash of white light, leaving Deathwing alone in the forest behind the charred remains of Mario's restaurant.

In a blink of the eye, the six members of the Spectrum Force appear in the golden throne room of Cloud Castle. They look around in confusion, and rise to their feet. They all approach Spectra's throne, with Rachel clutching her right arm painfully.

"You okay, Ray?" asked Craig.

"Just a scratch," she said weakly, "I'll be fine."

"What happened?" asked Jocelyn, "Why are we back here? Deathwing is still on the loose!"

"You asked for help, Spectrum Force," said Spectra, "so I responded."

"How do we defeat Deathwing?" asked Keith, stepping forward, "Every blast we hit him with has no effect. What do we do?"

"I believe you are incorrect," said Spectra, "Each energy blast that struck Deathwing's skin did indeed have an effect. But not the one you were expecting."

"How do you mean?" asked Matthew. Tamara snapped her fingers as it dawned on her.

"Of course! When I used my yellow energy against Deathwing, he struck me with an energy shock of the same magnitude, only it was black energy."

"Right," said Rachel, "and when I hit him with my purple beam, he retaliated by hitting me with a lot of smaller beams! He's somehow absorbing the energy we throw at him, and is using it against us!"

"But, how do we fight something like that?" asked Jocelyn, "If he just absorbs every attack we use, there's no way to hurt him."

"Once again, children, you are missing an important clue," said Spectra. Keith glared at her.

"Why don't you tell us how to beat Deathwing?!" he yelled angrily, "You're supposed to guide us, right?"

"I cannot think for you, Keith. I must make sure you can defend Earth against whatever Phaedra may throw at her. You can use this battle as a learning experience."

Jocelyn began pacing around, rubbing her chin in thought. Craig leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and looking downwards. Matthew closed his eyes tightly and mumbled something incomprehensible. Tamara looked at the floor with her hands clasped behind her back. Rachel was examining the cuts to her arm, and recalling the scene in which Deathwing inflicted that injury.

Deathwing was weezing after I hit him, and he was moving slowly. He was off balance. Maybe it takes a great deal of his own energy to use our attacks against us...

"Hey guys," she called, "I think I may have it! When I hit him with that really concentrated beam, he seemed a little off balance before he attacked me! Maybe there's a limit to the amount of energy he can convert at any given moment!"

"That's brilliant, Ray!" said Jocelyn, "If we can muster enough raw energy at once, we may be able to overload him! But, do we have enough power to do so? I mean, you really poured it on back there, and he managed to absorb it all."

"You must learn how to act as a team," said Spectra, standing up from her throne, "The rainbow is composed of six beams of colored light, acting as one. You are six parts of a greater whole, Spectrum Force. If you continue to act as six, you shall never prevail. Act as one."

The Spectrum Force remained quiet, taking Spectra's advice to heart. Then, Keith joined his friends, with a smile on his face.

"She's right," he said, "Each time we faced Deathwing, we fought one-on-one. He's strong enough to defeat any one of us, but there's no way he can take on all six of us at once. Let's get back to LA, before Deathwing does anymore damage!"

The rest of the Spectrum Force nodded in agreement, and flew out the window towards uptown Langstrum Alps. Spectra returned to her seat, and smiled with satisfaction.

"They are learning," she said to herself, "Soon, they will be a most formidible fighting force."

The Spectrum Force sailed down to the battle scene in six streaks of colored light. When they neared the ground, the beams of light converted into six humans, each dressed in one of the six colors of the rainbow. Deathwing smiled as he saw the six young men and women stand side by side, with their hands on their hips. He roared viciously, opening his beak and revealing his dangerous fangs.

"You have returned to the fight, I see," he roared, "I guess you are even dumber than I at first thought. There is no way you can defeat me, children."

Rachel nodded at her friends, and then she, Tamara, and Keith flew back into the air, leaving Craig, Jocelyn, and Matthew. The three departing Enforcers disappeared from view, and Deathwing stared at the remaining three in confusion.

"Well, I guess this cuts my workload in half!" he roared, baring his claws for the fight, "I don't know what you have planned, but by the time those three return, you shall be nothing but a memory!"

Deathwing dove at the three Enforcers, but they all leapt into the air before he made contact. Matthew landed on Deathwing's back, and held onto the monster's neck.

"Woo-hoo!" he cried, "Ride 'em, Cowboy!"

"Insolent whelp," squawked Deathwing, swinging his claws at Matthew, "I shall tear you limb from limb!"

But when Deathwing's claws struck their target, they did not touch the soft flesh that Deathwing was expecting. Rather, they bounced off a hard, hot surface.

"Your claws don't penetrate my Spectrum Shield," laughed Matthew, still hanging onto Deathwing's neck, "So you'd better come up with another plan!"

"I already have," said Deathwing, flying at a tree. He sailed only inches under a tree branch, letting the Green Enforcer crash into it. Matthew lost his grip, and clumsily fell to the ground below. Deathwing then circled around, and opened his mouth to spew a stream of powerful fireballs at Matthew. But before the fire came out, a ring of orange light clamped his mouth shut, nearly causing Deathwing to choke on his own smoke. Deathwing's eyes widened in shock, and he flew right into the tree under which Matthew was standing. Matthew looked up and saw Jocelyn sail to the ground beside him.

"Nice move, Jocie," he said, giving her a high five, "You really saved my hide!"

"Just like Spectra said, we have to work together," said Jocelyn with a smile, "Now c'mon, we have to weaken him as much as possible, until he's at his most vulnerable."

Matthew nodded, and the two Enforcers flew into the sky, watching from a high vantage point as Deathwing shook his head to clear his mind, and ripped the light beam apart with his mighty grip. He then coughed loudly, clearing his throat from the smoke that threatened to choke him.

"That was close," he said to himself, looking around warily, "Now, where did those humans run off to?"

"Heads up!" called the Blue Enforcer from above. He used his command over blue light to hold a dead tree trunk aloft, several yards over Deathwing's head. "I just wanted you to meet one of the trees your little inferno managed to kill!"

With that, he dropped the large block of dead wood on top of Deathwing, pinning the dinosaur-like creature to the ground. Then, the Blue, Orange, and Green Enforcers stood around Deathwing in a triangle, watching as he struggled to free himself from the weight of the tree.

"What d'ya think?" asked Craig.

"I think he's ready," said Jocelyn, "One the count of three. One..." "Two..." said Matthew, stretching his fists at arms length in Deathwing's direction.

"Three!" cried all three at once, all firing wide beams of continuous light at Deathwing. But, instead of roaring in pain, Deathwing began to laugh, and he glowed with black light. They continued to fire at him until Deathwing roared in triumph, and shattered the tree trunk with dark energy. He then stood upon his feet, and spread his wings, knocking the three heroes back with the wind created by his wings.

"You fools!" he roared, "You almost had me, but then you replenished my power with your energy attacks! Victory is mine!"

"Not yet!" cried the Tamara, as she, Keith, and Rachel descended from the dark sky, forming another triangle around Deathwing, "We've only just begun."

Then, the three enforcers unleashed their full power on Deathwing, providing him with even more stored energy.

"You are only making me stronger!" Deathwing cried.

"That's where you're wrong," said Keith, still firing his red energy at full force, "No one has infinite capabilities, and we're betting that you've just about met your match. Now, guys!"

Then, the three other Spectrum Enforcers joined their teammates in the circle, firing at Deathwing with all their might. Then, Deathwing roared in pain, and fell to his knees.

"Too... too much," he gasped, holding his head between his hands, "Can't absorb... any more."

"Let's finish this," said Craig, stopping his energy barage, "All at once, team!"

The Spectrum Force moved into a line, about five yards away from Deathwing. Then, they started building their powers in their hands.

"Red!" yelled Keith, firing a beam of light.

"Orange!" cried Jocelyn, following his lead.

"Yellow!" cried Tamara.

"Green!" yelled Matthew.

"Blue!" bellowed Craig.

"Purple!" yelled Rachel.

The six beams of light joined together, forming a bright rainbow of massive power. The rainbow slammed into Deathwing's chest, and he disappeared in a blinding and deafening explosion.

"Yes!" cried Tamara, jumping for joy, "He's toast!"

"Yeah," said Rachel, "but let's not celebrate now. I think someone's coming!"

The others nodded, and they lifted off the ground. As soon as they were high enough not to be seen, a dozen or so police officers ran into the razed section of the forest behind the restaurant.

"What happened here?" asked one officer, touching the ground carefully, "It looks like a meteorite hit this place."

"This is definitely where that explosion we heard happened," said another officer.

"I can't find any sign of the dinosaur creature that supposedly attacked the restaurant," said a police woman, "I guess he left. Assuming he was ever here."

"Oh, he was definitely here," said the police chief, "Maybe someone made him leave. This looks like a warzone, and that means someone of unearthly power fought the creature on this very location. Looks like we've got some guardian angels. Let's get out of here. There's nothing to see here."

The other officers nodded and followed the chief out of the forest. The Spectrum Force hovered above them in the dark sky.

"Guardian angels, huh?" said Matt, "Who would've thought?"

"Let's go home," said Craig, stretching his arms, "I am really exhausted, and if we hurry, we can catch the news! I gotta know if the Knicks won!"

The rest of the team laughed, and headed towards the UCLA campus at light speed.

About ten minutes later, the six members of the Spectrum Force were snacking on cookies and milk in the guys' apartment, huddled around Keith's big screen television.

"You guys have any Cool Whip?" asked Jocelyn.

"No," said Keith, "Why?"

"Because, chocolate chip cookies go great with Cool Whip!"

"Keep it down," said Rachel, "They're talking about the fight!"

^Hello, I'm Tracy Preston, reporting live from Mario's restaurant in uptown Langstrum Alps. This high class Italian restaurant burned down this evening. Fire fighters managed to bring the flames under control, as well as prevent any casualties. Also, the roof of the restaurant caved in, and there were many holes in the walls. The fire fighters have no explanation regarding the holes and the roof caving in, but witnesses have another story. Now I'm speaking with Alfredo Marcello, a waiter here at Mario's. Alfredo, what happened here this evening?^

^A huge, fire-breathing monster crashed through the roof, and set the whole building aflame!^ cried the tall, lanky man.

^Are you sure it was a monster?^

^Of course! No man could do what it did! We would've all died, had the costumed heroes not saved us!^

^Costumed heroes?^ ^Yes! They lured the monster away from the restaurant, and then the red one stopped the roof from falling on our heads!^

^Thank you so much, Mister Marcello. And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. This man isn't the only witness claiming a monster attacked Mario's this evening, and that costumed people saved them. However, the fire department and the police department have no official statement as to the cause of the fire. Also, there is no proof of the existence of these mysterious heroes, nor the monster. Could there really be superheroes out there, protecting Langstrum Alps from otherworldly creatures, or is today's incident a case of group hallucination? No answers are available at this time, but the quest for the truth is on. This is Tracy Preston, Channel Three News. Back to you, Carl.^

"So," said Keith, turning off the television with his remote control, "What do ya think, guys? Do we try to keep our existence secret?"

"Well, its kinda hard to keep an alien invasion under wraps," said Craig.

"Yeah, but how will Langstrum Alps take the news of the invasion?" asked Tamara, "I mean, there may be a major panic or something!"

"There is no way we can hide Phaedra's attacks from the world," said Rachel, "But, if we let the world know that the Spectrum Force is here to stop them, they may feel better about it. Next time we do battle, we won't run away from the police, nor the press. We don't say too much, but we let them know we're the good guys. Agreed?"

"Agreed," said Matthew.

"Sounds good," said Craig.

"Right," said Jocelyn.

"I'm with you," said Tamara.

"Me too," said Keith.

The six heroes sat in a circle, and placed their hands together. Rachel smiled and looked at her friends. She knew she made the right decision to accept leadership of the Spectrum Force, and she picked five perfect people to stand by her side when crises arise. The fate of the world rests in the hands of the Spectrum Force. And it couldn't be in more capable hands.