• Prologue
    It is the year 3000. A war was spread across the land not long ago. Since then, the human kind has evolved. The development has far exceeded first expectations of scientists during the war. People are smarter, stronger, live longer, and are far more durable. But other than these greatly advanced life forms, there is a new breed that has come to us in secret. These are what the humans who know of them call mutants. Some defined themselves through a likeness to the scary movies of long ago. Misshapen, deformed, incapable, and destructive beings have arisen from nowhere determined to wreak havoc against the advanced new human race. The only defenses the humans have are superior laser weaponries and other trifling armaments. The hold of cities is impossible on their own… but they are not alone. Out of the ashes of the war and the universe that surrounds it, another new people have come to stop the disgrace of their kind. Mutants with a sense of justice and right, beings of strong will and determination arrived to conquer the fiends who threatened the land they came to. By individual name, they are assorted and numerous. But by their trade and collective namesake, they are Mutants United. They are an organization of heroes founded by MU leaders, Six and Dream, for students born with unnatural powers ranging from deformation to teleportation, from solidification to explosion. From one corner of Earth to the other and so on into the universe, people know, revere, and respect their reputation, no matter what side they may be on. With their members at attention, they continue in the never-ending quest for peace and honor. These adventures are recorded for all of time in the text you read now.
    Chapter 1: The Main HQ And School Facility Of Mutants United
    “So, as you can see class, the victory of the American Revolution was a significant movement for all men and women who had fought for independence in the once-British colonies which afterwards became the United States of America.” Ms. Grant stood in front of a class of young children whom had come to learn the control of their abilities. The state-of-the-art class appeared much like a regular classroom. The floor was flat in the front of the room where Ms. Grant taught from. A chalkboard was nailed to the wall behind her. In front of the chalkboard was her sturdy desk which carried the burden of her numerous items such as papers to be and that had been graded, her purse, spare teacher’s school books containing test answers and questions, and an apple given to her at the beginning of the year by Mr. Preeds. One of the students raised his hand for a question. “Yes, Nate?”
    “Um… Ms. Grant, which side was fighting for independence again?” Nate Alsek was a strange young man with a short attention span and a knack for letting his mind wander. He was the kind of child that one might find to be ridiculed on a regular basis in a normal school, but in MU, he was just as popular as anyone else.
    “Nate, the Patriots, or Whigs, won the war. They had been underestimated by the British for quite some time.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    Ms. Grant turned and looked down at her high heels as she whispered to herself, “If he didn’t have that deflection shield around his body, I’d smack his lights out.”
    Just that moment, Mr. Preeds walked in the room. He was the teacher in the room next door. He usually had businesses within the two adjacent classrooms. “Ms. Grant, may I see you in the hall for a moment?”
    “Of course, Mr. Preeds. Children, class dismissed, report to your dormitories unless you’ve one more period. In that case, get there immediately.” The children ran, teleported, flew, and phased out of the room.
    “Such talent you’ve got in all of your classes. It’s a wonder you’re not pelted with intolerable trash by the ones who find themselves ‘better’.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that…”
    “Staring again?”
    “Too much. What’s wrong?”
    “There’s a break-in going on at the First National Bank of Minterwater.”
    “Again? Didn’t we post guards at the island?”
    “Humans, yes. Too bad their lasers don’t have much effect on Radiano.”
    “Him again?”
    “I know.” They continued their conversation as they ran down the hall. They finished just before arriving at the enormous hangar bay that housed their vehicles. As the bright lights flashed into their faces, they stepped inward to the room. They jumped down to the floor over the safety railing that helped those that couldn’t stand the drop down the stairs. Arriving at the Headhunter, they boarded the flyable vehicle. The Headhunter was a topless ship with weaponry abound on the hull of the ship. Laser cannons, machine guns, homing missile launchers, and bomb deployment units were hidden safely away until needed. Mr. Preeds took his natural seat at the front of the ship which housed the steering and evasion controls. He grasped the steering wheel with anxiety. His holographic image painted around his body which portrayed a blue suit, blue suit pants, white undershirt, and a striped red and black tie faded into nothingness. Revealed was a checkered black and white shirt partially covered by a full black Kevlar and silk jacket, his signature full black baseball cap, shades, black pants, black sneakers, and his belt which held a pistol in its holster, his metal staffs, and a golden knife which was given to him by Shonen along with many of his own personal ones. He stowed away his alias as Mr. Preeds for later. He was now Strobe, intergalactic traveler and photokinetic Mutant. He could discharge light in many different forms at will, and only had to recharge ever so occasionally off of heat, lights, solar energy, and electricity. While he shed one identity for his other, Ms. Grant did the same. She shed her suit that was much like Strobe’s holographic image, but for a woman, without the tie, and the pants were replaced with a skirt. As she shed the old clothing, she touched a button in the shirt pocket she wore that shaded the grayish-blue skirt into a much lighter blue skirt. She undid her bow which strung her hair up into a ponytail and her dirty blonde hair flashed down majestically. She was no longer Ms. Grant, but Kyorie, the Queen of Force Fields. She wielded the mental ability to create objects in the form of cyan-colored energy. She could make the shape of anything she wanted and the objects were used with extreme likeness to the things they resembled and the effects the actual item would employ. They sat in the respective chairs that they had been trained to be in. Strobe flew the vessel while also in control of defensive, offensive, and evasive techniques. Kyorie sat at the weapons panel, controlling the aim and power of the weapons at her disposal. But a third chair was empty on the opposite side of the ship from Kyorie. Although, the person who would sit in the chair was just now walking into the hangar. It was G.A.L.A.X.Y., robot genius extraordinaire. G.A.L.A.X.Y. was a robot that was constantly learning. His access to every site on the internet, every book ever written, and everything around him gains him infinite knowledge to all resources in multiple universes, thanks to Strobe’s interdimensional connections. G.A.L.A.X.Y. climbed the ladder almost rhythmically as he came to his seat. When he strapped down, the communications, radar, sonar, and altitude monitoring panels in front of him came alive. He strolled his fingers across the keyboards at astonishing speed while the monitors became attuned to the area around them. Strobe floated the ship up while the ladder fell to the ground with a clang. The hangar doors opened by G.A.L.A.X.Y.’s command on the keyboard. Strobe flew the ship off as fast as he could. Top speed through the mountains surrounding the grassy plateau on which the MU HQ was perched. En route to Minterwater city, Strobe set the ship to auto-pilot and turned in his chair. “Ok, it’s the usual. Radiano is breaking into the bank on Minterwater.”
    “This is the tenth recorded time this week.”
    “I know, G.A.L.A.X.Y., I know.”
    “If this guy is so bent on robbing that bank, then why don’t we post MU operatives there?” Kyorie gave Strobe a look of question.
    “Because, our operatives are meant to be protectors of the base itself, not protectors of the islands around it. If we dared to throw them into higher combat, who knows what the government could find out?”
    “Do they not already know?”
    “Do you remember that agent who supposedly fell down off of the mountain while sending a report?”
    “Yes.”
    “Data records show that he stumbled off when he started back down. He hadn’t finished transmitting.”
    “That’s what photokinetics can do to a mountainside. Crumbling so easy, like a sugar cube between a hydraulic press.”
    “You took the life of an innocent man?”
    “He almost revealed our base of operations; he was as guilty as Radiano.”
    “Data would indicate that there were several measures that had obviously been tried to be covered up. Signs of explosives, scissor-like cuttings, and too sudden crumbles in firm footholds give away the scene.”
    “Yeah, yeah, G.A.L.A.X.Y. I get it. I was a little obvious with it. We’re approaching Minterwater. I’ll set the ship to settle near the usual pickup point. G.A.L.A.X.Y., are you coming?”
    “Sir, might I remind you that…”
    “We should be careful, right.” Strobe and Kyorie launched themselves from the ship. Strobe flew down to the ground and landed fist-first outside of the bank which Radiano was located in. Kyorie glided down beside him and prepped for combat. Police cars were strewn around the area. Some were in a defensive block of the bank, while others were overturned or exploded on the ground from Radiano’s original entrance. Seconds ticked away while the heroes and the police waited outside. From inside, explosions and concussive bursts were copious. Without warning, Radiano, in his regular bright green suit and green glass helmet, jumped from the bank. He steadied himself on the steps and brought himself into a lowered, unbalanced fighting stance.
    “Whaz’zis?” Radiano queried, “dese lidul punks tink dat dey gots me on a bahd pusition. Wehl, too bahd. Ah’ve got the uppuh hand in dis wuhn.” Radiano, while going on in his extraordinarily slurred southern drawl, pulled a stun gun from a compartment in the side of his metal suit. He ran at Strobe who immediately grabbed his enormous arm firmly and kicked him in the stomach. Rising himself and Radiano into the air, Strobe twisted the radioactive villain’s arm and broke it. He then slammed him to the ground. Radiano stood and threw the stun gun. “Seemz yu’ve gots muhr sens den me. So I’ma gonna let ya’z ohff widda deel. Ihf yu an’ yar cohp frendz letz me’s ohff da hoock, I’ma stahy awahy frum dis blahsted hunk’a islahnd ya callz Mihnturwahtur.” Casually, Kyorie walked to Radiano and created handcuffs made of her energy. Although she had him restrained, something was out of place. Radiano noticed her hesitation. “Cantz feeger outz wuz uhp wid’ma armz? Lemme giv ya a clu!” Radiano flexed his gigantic wrists and broke the handcuffs which bound him. The arm Strobe had broken was back into place with all the bones fixed. He slapped Kyorie through a pillar on the bank’s front steps. Strobe launched at Radiano who then punched Strobe’s face, sending him into a police car. “Haw, haw! Ya’z gotta kip upz wit mez!’’ Strobe raised himself from the police car that had its right side smashed in now. He rubbed his nose and straightened his shades before he ran head-on into Radiano’s stomach. The two flew into the bank and battered each other violently. Kyorie raised herself and shook her head. She ran into the bank and joined into the brawl which gave off frequent blasts off multi-colored light. Strobe fired shot after shot into the heart of Radiano’s suit. Radiano then countered with a green energy blast which tore into Strobe’s jacket. Kyorie blocked shots from Radiano occasionally with her shields when she wasn’t using her energies to create armor so she wouldn’t damage her hands in melee combat. “Ya’z ahll gotz yer wayz ta getz mez riuhl’d uhp, butz wut getz rezultz, huh?”
    “I’ll show you results!” Strobe launched multiple light orbs that circled Radiano for a moment. “Kyorie, get down and look away!” The two heroes jumped to the floor. Strobe continued watching while Kyorie covered her eyes in the floor. From outside, the policemen could see multiple bursts of yellow lights going off in rapid succession. Radiano stumbled backwards. He clutched his glass helmet. His eyes were shut and his suit was charred. Strobe launched up and shouted, “Kyorie, give me some armor!” Kyorie did so and put a protective shield around his body, but mainly his fists. Strobe started by putting his clenched fists to Radiano’s helmet, but soon went all over. After a few moments, Radiano regained his balance and fought back. He slung his fists into Strobe’s chest, only to find the shield was more resilient than he expected. He then shot radioactive lasers into the weakest parts he found in the energy armor. He broke the weak points like glass, while the stronger parts stretched out to reset the broken sections. Strobe distracted Radiano when he finally destroyed the helmet that kept Radiano from spilling his deadly energies. “Kyorie, get out of here and tell the policemen to evacuate the next three blocks as much and as fast as possible!” Strobe broke from the neck plate of Radiano’s armor down into the chest plate. He hammered at Radiano’s now exposed and skinny frame. The villain could feel his power seeping out. He fell to the ground, defeated. His body shook from the loss of power. Strobe lifted the weak man out of the green, metal shell. He ran as fast as he could to the ship that was hidden on the edge of the island’s borders. He set Radiano down on the floor of the vessel. He then tried to absorb Radiano’s energies and purify them. His efforts were strained and the glowing villain shook on the floor. Kyorie arrived and took to piloting the ship. They arrived safely back at the MU base where they set Radiano down in the medical bay. They set an x-ray above him and left it on for a while. They came out, locking the door to the section that Radiano now occupied. They walked away, leaving the camera to monitor him and his vitals. Strobe redressed himself and Kyorie in the usual holographic images. “A great success, wasn’t it?” Strobe was amazingly cocky over their latest victory.
    “Well, being that we blew holes and the doors out of a bank, I’d say we did well compared to the other times this week that we ended up putting Radiano through buildings five blocks away.” Strobe smiled at Kyorie.
    “Are we going to our dorms, or does Six have something to say? Do you, Six?” Strobe turned to greet the mutant behind him. “Sending me telepathic messages from down the hall isn’t the best way to keep yourself from being noticed.”
    “Who says I was trying?” Six strode into the open room. “So, did you put Radiano away?”
    “If you mean in our infirmary, then yes.”
    “Good enough. How many casualties were there?”
    “Circa five.”
    “Ok, how many blocks did you tear down in the process?”
    “Geez… we didn’t take out any blocks, just the bank.”
    “Perfect. Nice job.” Six walked back off in the direction of the cafeteria.
    “Why is it always the blocks that matter? I’m alive aren’t I?”
    “Your strange definition and distinction of alive and dead is different from what we know, Strobe.”
    “Yes, yes, that’s what G.A.L.A.X.Y. told me yesterday. Good night.”
    Kyorie laughed and replied, “Good night.” With the sun in the west dimming down over the mountains, the two walked off towards the dormitories. The lights in the base were being dimmed to their 10:00 p.m. settings. The halls were now illuminated by the dim light and Strobe’s half-luminous body walking through. He arrived at his dorm while Kyorie walked down to hers at the other end of the hall.
    Strobe came into his room which was dark except for the TV which was brightly lit with the graphics of a video game running. Strobe’s cloned son, Jaxon Preeds II aka Lazer-Lad, sat holding his controller, zoned out completely. Strobe walked over and waved his hand in front of his son’s face. “Friggin’ x-ray vision.” Strobe proceeded to pausing the game, only to have his wrist grabbed tightly. “Awake yet?”
    “Yes, dad.”
    “Good, bed time. The dark is setting in. It’s no use to try to stay awake.”
    “Yeah, yeah, I know.” The small child walked into his room. He stripped himself of all his clothes which were exact replicates of Strobe’s, but without the shades. His bright blue eyes were exposed. “So, what was the problem this time? The soda machine blow up? Helicopter fall on someone? Did Shonen run into a pole again?”
    “Respectively, no, no, and not recently.”
    “Radiano?”
    “Score six: MU, score zero: Radiano.”
    “Awesome!”
    “Yes, now stop stalling!”
    “But daaaaaaaaaaad!”
    “Uggh, will you go to bed if I tell you a story?”
    “YES!”
    “I fought Radiano, blah, blah, blah, he lost, time for bed.”
    “But…”
    “It counts! GO!” The small child ran to his bed at super speed and lied down. Strobe locked the door to his son’s room. He lied down as well in his own bed and fell quickly asleep. All the while he had visions, some gruesome, some pleasant, of things to come. An undistinguishable darkness within his dreams continued to shroud the explainable items. He awoke recurrently during the night. At one point during the night, he finally found peace within his sleep. Immediately after, his alarm clock rang out. 5:00 a.m. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Strobe groaned as he unlocked the door of his son’s room and went to the shower.