Volume 3, Issue 12

Triumph - Protectors of Central Illinois University, the city of Stevenson, and beyond!

Dragonfly, aka Aaron Majesky - winged martial arts master; The Adept, aka Rick Pennington - master of mystical movement;  Cazmonster, aka Caz Greenbaum, super-strong cyber-werewolf; The Gray Robe, aka Sydney Koenig - Druidic mistress of the Earth; The American Attitude, aka Barry Stills - Hyper-sensory, skateboarding streetfighter; Bill Brown (no alias), super-strong urban defender; Magma, aka Jan Graylin, lava blasting demolisher; and Transcender, aka “Dorado” Estevez, controller of time and space.                                                             
                                            
Aaron awoke to the sound of frozen rain hitting his dorm room window.  After the Anti-Man incident, the rest of winter break had been uneventful.  He’d gone home for an uneventful eight night of Hanukkah with his mom, and visited his dad in the care facility.  Aaron had come back the very next day.  He couldn’t stand the microcosm of his hometown.  His mom was used to her own ways, and didn’t need him getting under foot, anyway.  

He thought about the week before, about the old team heading up to Chicago and facing off against the Anti-Man again, after the CPD had notified them. That was the night they’d been at Jake’s, having fun and remembering the old times.  Mere hours later, they were at UC Hospital, fighting to save Rick Pennington’s life.  Syd had been contacted, and had rushed to the scene to save him.  Nevertheless, The Anti-Man’s attack had been devious.  He deposited a portion of his dark soul into Rick, and it almost succeeded in killing him.  In the end, magic and science had won out over whatever dark place The Anti-Man came from, and Rick had stabilized.  He was still in a coma.  

Aaron sat up and looked at the clock.  3 AM.  He hadn’t slept well since Emily had broke the news.  Aaron sighed as he looked out at the falling rain.  Then, his brows wrinkled.  For a split instant, he thought he saw something on the wall of the next dorm; they were seven floors up.

Suddenly, the glass of Aaron’s window shattered, a large piece cutting his forehead as he dove to avoid the majority of it.  Rolling to his feet, Aaron searched for a cause to the vandalized window.  Instead, he caught an unexpected foot to the chest.  

Flipping backward, Aaron caught a glimpse of his opponent before he was gone again.  Realizing his opponent could be unseen at will, Aaron closed his eyes to force himself to rely on his other senses.  This time, he caught a sound of motion behind him, just before a powerful slice of a sword, a shinobi sword very similar to his own, cut where Aaron’s head had been.  Aaron dodged to the side, and struck sideways with his fist using all his might.  A snap and the feel of cloth and breaking bone let Aaron know he’d struck home.  

“Die, son of uragirimono!” A knife sliced into Aaron’s arm, and he knew right away it was poison.  He had only minutes, perhaps seconds to finish this fight.  Fortunately, his roommate, Caz, as stirring in the upper bunk.  

“Wha?” Caz said, looking down to see Aaron locked in combat with an armed man dressed in all black.  Flipping his legs over the side of his bunk, Caz fell to the floor as he transformed into the powerful cyber-werewolf known as Cazmonster.

A startled look appeared on the ninja’s face; clearly his intel had been lacking.  He had not expected to fight the equivalent of a saikō no gakusei AND some super kaiju at the same time.  He realized his mistake too late; raising his sword arm barely managed to avoid a knock-out blow from Aaron.  

Flipping backward, the ninja barely evaded Cazmonster’s long grasp.  Realizing his opportunity was lost, the ninja sprayed a yellow gas out of a jet below his wrist.  Aaron dodged to cover his mouth.  Cazmonster, however, breathed the gas in deep.   His lungs momentarily affected, Cazmonster entered a coughing fit.  When he had recovered, he and Aaron stood alone in the room once again?

“Friend of yours?” Cazmonster asked in his low, echoing voice.

“No idea.  pretty obviously a ninja, though.” Was Aaron’s reply.  

Cazmonster and Dragonfly searched the entire campus over the next two hours, but found no trace of Aaron’s assailant.  It was breakfast time when the two heroes finally returned to the dorm.    

The freshmen were quite interested in the two heroes coming in for breakfast, even though Cazmonster had changed back.  Dragonfly still wore his costume, though he’d removed his mask and held his wings in his hand.  The sophomores on up were used to these two heroes, and several others besides, coming and going in their dorm.  It was just Langley Hall.

After signing a couple autographs, the heroes sat down at the table with Barry Stilles, aka The American Attitude.  Stilles was on the phone with the director of the ERT down at the Stevenson PD.

“I don’t care what some lunatic pretending to be me says, I never called Taco Bob’s and told them to strip search an employee!”  Barry waved loosely at Aaron and Caz as they sat.  He hung up the phone a few seconds later.    

“Can you believe that?  Someone’s watching too many movies!” Barry said, taking a bite of his hash browns.  “What’s up with you guys?  DF, you’re in uniform awfully early this February morning.  What gives?”

“We had a nocturnal visitor.  Ninja,” Aaron said quietly, sipping his milk.

“No way!  A real bona fide ninja!  Like in the 80s movies!” Barry said, uncharacteristically enthusiastic.

Aaron motioned for him to be quiet.  He’d learned enough about these things to know ninjas had eyes in unexpected places.  He didn’t want to draw undo attention.  Someone could wind up dead, and Aaron didn’t want that on his hands.  “Yeah, like that.”

Barry leaned in conspiratorially.  “Looks like you’ve got some enemies.”

“Evidently.  I’m not sure...” Aaron said, thinking back to his training…

Three years earlier..

It was night in the small town in eastern Illinois, home to one Aaron Majesky.  For two years, Aaron had been taking whatever opportunities he could to meet Ie Tanaka.  Ie was a martial arts enthusiast, a businessman who’d transferred from Japan to work at a local Japanese owned auto plant.  

The unlikely pair met months before at a martial arts expo in Aurora.  Striking up a conversation about a savate demonstration they had both attended.  Aaron had been surprised to learn that Tanaka lived in his same small home town.  The two became friends, and studied various martial arts styles and techniques together.  

One evening, Aaron had noticed a shinobi-to, a ninja sword, among Tanaka’s weapons.  It was worn and used, obviously a combat weapon, not a practice sword or a decoration.  Tanaka brushed it off as an antique, a weapon he’d picked up at an auction in Japan.  Aaron had fallen in love with that sleek blade, straight, short, and razor sharp.  

As the months went by, Aaron’s skill grew quickly.  Tanaka, being ten years his senior, was much more experienced and trained than Aaron, but the two fought as equals, and Ie was surprised at the level of natural aptitude Aaron displayed.  Then, at the end of the school year before Aaron went off to college at CIU for the first time, Tanaka vanished.  Aaron was never able to figure out what had happened to him.  But Tanaka left him one parting gift: the shinobi sword he’d grown so fond of.  Aaron had used it, as well as the special equipment he’d fallen into possession of, to become Dragonfly.

Now...

Aaron looked up as Barry stood with his tray.  “Gotta get to class.  Later, DF, CM.”

“Hey, where you at, big man?” Caz asked Aaron, noticing he was distracted.

“Just thinking.  Thinking maybe it’s time I looked up an old friend.”  If ninja were involved, and Tanaka’s possession of what was now Dragonfly’s sword had not been the result of clever antique shopping as he had said, perhaps the two situations were connected.  And unlike a teenage pre-hero coming to college for the first time, Dragonfly now had the skills and the resources to try and find out how.

 

Volume 3, Issue 11

Triumph - Protectors of Central Illinois University, the city of Stevenson, and beyond!

Dragonfly, aka Aaron Majesky - winged martial arts master; The Adept, aka Rick Pennington - master of mystical movement;  Cazmonster, aka Caz Greenbaum, super-strong cyber-werewolf;

and Guest Starring - The Wrecker, aka Tim O’Malley - Telekinetic wonder; and White Diamond, aka Emily Fine - wielder of light.

After determining that The Anti-Man was nowhere to be found, and was not set on returning any time soon, the heroes of Triumph, Dragonfly and The Adept, along with their former colleagues

White Diamond and The Wrecker, and The Wrecker’s wife Megan O’Malley, returned to Stevenson via one of The Adept’s magic portals.  Dragonfly left instructions with local police to contact them if The Anti-Man turned up again.  

Back at The Citadel, Triumph’s headquarters overlooking downtown Stevenson, the group met relaxed in the common room.  Tim doted on his wife, Megan, making sure she was indeed alright after the crash landing she and Emily had recently endured.  

“For the tenth time, I’m fine, dear, really,” Megan said, slumping into one of the comfy chairs surrounding the pool table in the common room.  

“I’m going to mix up some drinks,” Aaron said, slipping off his Dragonfly wings and dropping them and his equipment bag onto a chair and moving toward the adjoining kitchenette.  “Care to join me, Em?”

Emily Fine, former member of The Infinite Seven (now Triumph) and former girlfriend to Aaron, hesitated.  “I think I’ll hang out out here,” she answered.

Aaron shrugged a shrug he didn’t feel.  “Whatev.  Back in five.”  With that, he headed in to find a blender.

“Well, Tim,” Rick ‘The Adept’ Pennington opened, “how’s being married treating you?”

“Amazing, my friend,” Tim nodded.  “How about you?  What’s up with you and Syd…”

“Nothing, Tim.  Nothing at all,” Rick answered.  Syd and Rick were one of those couples that was not a couple.  No one ever knew if they were good friends, dating, or somewhere in between.

“Too bad.  You guys seemed good together.”

The old friends continued talking into the night.  Aaron returned shortly with blended drinks, and passed them around to all.  In the middle of the third story, Tim said, “Hey, where’s Caz?”

“He’s at home,” Rick said.  “Gone for the break.”

“Yeah, but...you could pick him up, right?  I mean, he’s no farther than anything else for the Adept?”

“Good point!” Rick said.  Standing, he opened a portal to Caz’s location.  Snow was falling as the group walked up to the door of Caz’s parents’ house.  

“Okay,” Rick said, looking around.  “We’re here!”

“So knock!” Tim said, nudging the sorcerer toward the dark wooden door.

“You wanted to come, you knock!” Rick said.  

“Oh, for goodness…” Emily pushed past the two heroes and prepared to knock.  Just then, the door swung open.  An older woman with brown-gray hair opened the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking at the five young people.

“Um...is Caz here?” Emily asked tentatively.  

“Christopher!” the woman shouted back into the house.  Within moments, Caz’ familiar mop of curly hair popped out the door.

“Hey!  Guys!” he said, reaching out and hugging Emily so hard he lifted her off the ground.  Scanning the group, he caught sight of his old roommate.

“Tim!” Caz strode out into the snow, grabbing his oldest friend in the group.  “My man.  Married!”

“Hey, Caz,” Tim said.  “You can put me down now.”

“So, what’s going on?  I feel an ambush coming on…” Caz said.

“Very perceptive,” Aaron nodded.  “We just got done fighting the Anti-Man, and we figured, since most of the old team was back together, why not grab Caz.”

“Well, we were just finishing dinner…” Caz said hesitantly.

“So finish away!” Aaron said.  “We’ll be at JAKE’S.  Rick’ll leave the portal open.”

Ten minutes later, Caz walked into Jake’s, a dark sports bar in downtown Stevenson.  The heroes, most of whom had just turned 21, were fans of the bar, with good specials, friendly staff, and a relaxed atmosphere.  

By the time Caz arrived, they were already into reminiscing about the early days of both their college careers and their super-heroic identities..   

“So I said...’Aaron, relax!  This is Palisade.  He’s working with us now.’  And Aaron’s like ‘He’s who and he’s WHAT?’.  And then Emily’s like ‘No way!’” Rick said.

“Dude, you are so screwing it up.  Emily wasn't even there!  She was at home, I’d just come from her house and…Caz!”  

Caz pulled up a chair to their table, which was the most animated in the bar.  “Pour me a cup, Aaron,” Caz said as he sat between Tim and Emily.  The group of friends had a great time talking about the old days, when there were five heroes, before they’d even used the name “Infinite Seven.”

But to Aaron, something seemed off.  Emily was happy, even gregarious, but she was not talking to him.  Every now and then, she’d make eye contact briefly, but she always looked away quickly.  After an hour, Aaron couldn’t stand the invisible barrier between them any more.  Getting up, he walked past Emily’s chair and asked her to join him outside.  

As the two left the bar, Caz’ eyes opened wide and looked at Rick, who nodded.  They’d both noticed something was up between the former lovers.

Outside in the streetlights, the snow fell gently and a cold wind blew off the larger buildings.  Aaron caught a glimpse of the Citadel in the distance, looking down on them like a watchful guardian.  

“What’s going on, Emily?  You asked me to be here to talk to you, but you’ve hardly said a word to me all night.”  Aaron put his hand on her shoulder, familiarly.  Emily looked up at her old lover, her older friend.  She looked sad.

“Aaron, I’m not sure how to tell you this,” she said, looking at her breath as it came cold into the night air.  

Aaron felt something tight, something within him screaming “no!”  But he kept his silence.

“Aaron, I’m engaged.”

It felt like an icicle in his heart, on this cold winter night.  Intellectually, Aaron knew they were finished.  They’d been finished as soon as Emily moved to the East Coast to go to college, and he’d stayed behind.   From that point on, their destinies were separate.  Sure, they’d come back together briefly, the night he’d saved her from a telepathic serial killer.  But they went back to their own lives after that.  Now, Emily evidently had a new love.  And he had, well, he had someone he hardly ever saw, someone who lived two continents away, at the top of the world.  

Yet somehow, all Aaron could do was smile.  His heart was weeping, but somewhere inside, he felt joy.  Joy for his friend, the girl who’d stumbled in his way trying to stop a drug dealer almost three years ago.  A girl he’d grown with, and who’d grown with him.  They’d learned much from each other.  And now, she was moving to a new phase in her life.

“Em,” he said.  “I don’t know how to tell you how I feel, except to say I love you,” Aaron said, putting his arm around her.  

Emily looked up in a weird wonder.  She was sure Aaron would argue, or throw a fit, or do something highly emotional, or that he’d be completely cold and calm.  But here he was, like a loving brother, making her feel that all was right with the world.  She hugged him with both arms, and smiled.

“You’ll be alright?” she asked, looking kindly into his stoic face.

“I’ll be fabulous!  As long as I’m invited to the wedding,” Aaron said, looking into her deep brown eyes.

“I wouldn't have it any other way,” Emily said earnestly.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation, the heroes walked back into Jake’s.  As they came in, they found the others standing.  Rick had opened a portal.  “Guys, I was just coming to get you,” he said.  “The Anti-Man is back!”

 

   

Volume 3, Issue 10

The Wrecker began exerting his telekinetic energy at the broken wing of the plane as soon as he was free of the glass.  Blood flowed down a cheek that had been gashed when he flew out the still-shattering plate-glass, but Wrecker didn't notice at all.  His only thought was on saving Megan.

Meanwhile, onboard the dropping passenger jet, the pilot noticed the plane starting to level out.  He looked at his co-pilot questioningly.  Everything indicated they had taken serious wing damaged, and while the pilot was trying his best to land the jet, he had begun to think it was a futile effort.

The co-pilot, a chunky, balding black man, looked at the salt-and-pepper haired pilot and shrugged.  "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.". With that, the team did their best to start landing procedures.

Out in the passenger area, the flight attendants were doing their best to manage the chaos.  One, a slender middle-aged woman with dark hair, stopped Emily Fine as she walked toward the restroom.  "Miss, you need to take your seat!".

Emily shrugged and pushed past her.  The attendant had other things to worry about as the stresses of the crash caused the cabin to creak.

Seconds later, White Diamond entered the adjacent first class section and began checking the windows for any sign of the Anti-Man, whom she had seen just minutes before in the snowy skies outside.  She couldn't see the villain, a being of dark energy and unknown origin who for some reason took the form of the hero Dragonfly, but what she did see made her breath a little easier.  The wrecker hovered above the tarmac, using all his power to help glide the plane in safely.  A smile crossed Emily's face for just an instant as she saw her old friend and fellow founding member of the Infinite Seven.

With a jolt, the plane touched down.  it's was too fast, and the angle was bad, causing the front landing strut to break off pretty much immediately, but it DID land.  The moment it did, White Diamond was running for the hatch.  An attendant tried to stop her, but Diamond just pushed past.  Time was of the essence.  Blasting out the hatch, she leaned out and looked for Wrecker.  
"Wrecker!" Emily screamed as loud as she could when she saw him.  Looking up, he caught sight of White Diamond's bright costume out glowing the runway lights.

"Can I get a lift?" She shouted.  An instant later, Emily felt her body being lifted telekinetically to the ground.

"Emily!  Great to see you!  What's the situation on the plane?" The Wrecker asked his old teammate.

"Mostly bumps and bruises.  should be fine..."
"Did you see Megan?" Tim interrupted.

"No, but Tim, The Anti-Man is here.  He's the one who damaged the plane!"

As if on que, a blast of dark energy flew through The Wrecker's chest, and he fell to his knees, stunned.  

White Diamond hit the tarmac and, finding her target, a dark blur in the blinding snow, fired all of the energy her costume had captured from the the light surrounding the runway.  The blast hit the creature, but had little effect.

Pulling out her cell phone, Emily dialed Aaron's number, all the while keeping one eye on the increasingly snowy skies.

"Hello?" Aaron answered.

"Aaron, it's Em.  I'm at O'hare with Wrecker.  We've got problems!"

Back in Stevenson, in the Citadel, headquarters of Triumph, Aaron stood holding a pool que.  His eyes narrowed at the sound of trouble.  "What's going on?"

"Anti-Man tried to bring my plane down.  I think he was targeting me.  Aaron, he's still here.  Tim's out of it."

"Keep blasting away.  Rick and I will be there in a minute.". Aaron turned to look at RIck Pennington, with whom he'd been playing pool.  "Rick, can you get a lock on White Diamond?  She,s at O'hare."

Rick Pennington, possessed of mighty mystical powers from the artifact known as The Robe of Merlin, closed his eyes for but a moment in concentration.  Suddenly, a portal opened connecting the common room of The Triumph Citadel with a snowy runway at Chicago's O'hare airport.

"Once more unto the breach," Rick, also know as The Adept, said, gesturing into the portal.

The other side of the portal was a zone of chaos.  Emergency vehicles were rushing out to the site of the crash landing, unaware that a superhuman battle was taking place.  They quickly became aware, however, when White Diamond's light blast was too late to stop the Anti-Man from flying straight through an an ambulance, rendering the driver unconscious.  The ambulance swerved toward an oncoming plane.

Just in time, The Wrecker awoke from the daze inflicted upon him by The Anti-Man.  Jumping into action, Wrecker used his telekinesis to activate the vehicle's accelerator.  The ambulance sped past the plane's path, at which point Tim activated the brakes by remote.

Aaron tracked the Anti-Man's flight as he slung his wings on and pulled a humming bomb out of his bag.  No time for a costume now; Aaron zipped into the air and gave chase.  Meanwhile, The Wrecker, White Diamond and The Adept gathered near the plane defensively.  "Wish Cazmonster was here.  He could tap into the airport's security system and help us watch this thing," Rick lamented.  

"There!" White Diamond shouted, blasting into the area from which she'd heard the humming bomb go off.  As she did, Aaron came hurtling from the sky toward the runway, way too fast.  The Wrecker was barely able to cushion his fall, and the was a loud 'snap' as he hit the tarmac.
White Diamond screamed, but Aaron pulled himself up and wandered over.  He gave her a quick hug as the four heroes guarded the rescue workers entering the plane.  Police sirens were just starting to be heard.  

"Aaron, are you okay?" She asked.

"Just a couple ribs, thanks to Tim."

"What about the Anti-Man?" Rick asked, not seeing any sign of 'him'.

Not sure.  I don't think he liked that combo play of light and sound, though" Aaron concluded.  

The heroes stayed at the scene throughout the unloading of passengers.  Tim greeted Megan with a big hug as she walked safely from the plane.  After that, Rick opened a portal back to the Citadel.

Volume 3, Issue 9

Triumph - Protectors of Central Illinois University, the city of Stevenson, and beyond!

Dragonfly, aka Aaron Majesky - winged martial arts master; The Adept, aka Rick Pennington - master of mystical movement;  Cazmonster, aka Caz Greenbaum, super-strong cyber-werewolf; The Gray Robe, aka Sydney Koenig - Druidic mistress of the Earth; The American Attitude, aka Barry Stills - Hyper-sensory, skateboarding streetfighter; Bill Brown (no alias), super-strong urban defender; Magma, aka Jan Graylin, lava blasting demolisher; and Transcender, aka “Dorado” Estevez, controller of time and space.                                                             
                                            
Winter of Aaron Majesky's 3rd year at CIU came on with an unexpected suddenness that made him ponder more serious questions.  As he sat in his room at Langley Hall, he looked out the window at the falling snow.  Aaron thought back to his first year here.  That was the same year he became Dragonfly for the first time, the year he met a girl named Emily Fine.  The year the Infinite seven was founded.

Now it was his junior year,.  Aaron was forced to start considering things like what age would do when he graduated, and how he would prepare for that time over the next year.  Aaron pondered, very briefly, what would happen to Triumph when he, Caz, and Rick were gone.  Would the others carry on?  He stopped that train of thought, though, realizing the it was too far in the future, and too far out of his control.

Aaron's thoughts were interrupted by the ringtone on his phone.  

"This is Aaron," he answered, gazing out the window at the blowing snow.

"Hey," said the female voice on the other end.  It was a voice he knew in an instant.  Emily.

"Hi!  Em!  Wow, it's been forever."

"Yeah, since that time with the kidnapping.". Emily hesitated on the last word.  Aaron could tell she still was not over that.  maybe she never would be.  

"I'm on my way home for winter break.  I'd like to talk to you.". There was a definite sadness in Emily's voice.

"Yeah, sure.  When are you getting in?  I was heading up to Chicago to help my uncle with the deli for a few days, but if you let me know, I'll make sure to be in town."

"I'll be in town on the eighteenth."

"Great, I'll be here.  The dorms are closed then; I'll text you the address of the new HQ downtown and buzz you in when you get there."

"Okay, see you then, Aaron."

"Yeah, bye.". As Aaron hung up the phone, he realized he felt a certain ambivalence about seeing Emily.  They'd never really ended things properly.  Plus, the last time he'd seen her, they'd hooked up a couple of times.  Since then, he'd seen Nirmala, the doctor he'd met in Tibet, several times, and she was sort of an unofficial girlfriend.  Aaron found his emotions quite confused at the thought of spending time with Emily again.

Caz walked into the room.  "What up, Aaron?" the curly haired, powerfully built young man asked.

"Hey, how'd the final go?" Aaron asked, ignoring Caz' question entirely.

"Good, man.  Think I aced it."

"I guess showing g up actually helps, huh?". Aaron joked, referring to the time Caz had stayed up all night studying only to sleep through the test

I got you, smart guy," Caz nodded, then, turning, grabbed a pillow from his bunk and threw it at Aaron.  Aaron instinctively blocked the fluffy attack.

"So, when are you heading out for Chi-town?"

"Change of plan.  I'm hanging out at the HQ until the 18th."

"Why, what's going down?"

"Emily's coming home," Aaron said hesitantly.

"Whoa, whoa big man.  Thought that was over."

"Well, it is, but she really sound like she wants to talk..."

At that moment, Rick burst in the door and flung his messenger bag across the room.  Stalking across the floor, he dropped dejectedly into a desk chair.  Caz and Aaron stared at him.

Aaron looked at Rick and opened his eyes wider, indicating he wanted the scoop on the storm Rick just brought into the room.

“Stupid professor just rejected my thesis!” Rick with a combination of sullenness and rage.

“Sorry, dude,” Caz said.  

“What’s he grinning about?” Rick asked Caz.

Caz looked over at his friend.  “Aaron?”

“It’s nothing, okay?” Aaron said defensively.  

Rick looked at the two for about five seconds and said “Emily’s coming, isn’t she?”

“What!  Come on, guys!” Aaron said, flopping down on his bunk.  “Get out of my love life!”

“Hey, you started it by grinning your butt off!” Caz said.

“I wasn’t GRINNING!” Aaron almost shouted.  

“What’s going on?” Syd asked, opening the door and walking in.  “I can hear Aaron shouting all the way down the hall.”

“Emily’s coming; Aaron’s excited,” Rick said.

“I’M...NOT...SHOUTING!” Aaron shouted.  

“Hoookay,” Syd said.  “Rick, Caz, care to join me for dinner?”

“Sure, why not.  Beats sitting here watching my academic career flow down the toilet,” Rick said standing.  

Caz merely shrugged, and the trio left Aaron alone to contemplate his situation with Emily.  In a few seconds, he’d had enough, and opened the door.  “Guys!  Wait up!”

******

It was a few days later when Emily’s plane came in over Chicago.  The snow and wind were blowing strong outside the plane, and several of the passengers were uneasy.

Emily turned off her reading light and prepared for a landing.  Suddenly, the plane lurched to the side as if struck.  Everyone around her screaming, Emily instead found herself looking out the window, trying to see the cause, and instinctively reaching into her carry-on for the mystical white mask that would transform her into White Diamond.  

As the plane plunged downward, the pilot trying desperately to regain enough control for anything that had the word “landing” in it, she saw a dark form floating outside the window.  A chill ran through her as she recognized it.  The Anti-Man was back!

******

Inside the observation area, Tim O’Malley watched in horror as Megan’s plane dropped toward the ground.  Unzipping the ubiquitous “bowling ball” bag he carried, the titanium sphere which served as his primary weapon flew out and shattered the plate-glass window.  Tim was only half-way in the costume of The Wrecker as he flew out the shattered remains of the window toward the plane.