At the residence of Scars, late Saturday morning, the little goth girl gets out of bed very late, and heads out of the house without explanation. Kathmandu gets up from his latest research, his eyes bloodshot, his head pounding and - unbeknownst to him at the moment - his nose bleeding. He has some shocking news for the others, while Voltage (coming in from the garage) fetches him a cotton ball to deal with the nosebleed. He shares the information that he's found on the message board, and the surreal tone of the messages. Voltage likewise has some strange news to share, as she's been following the news through the week, and noticing strange repeats of incidents - and strange ads in the newspaper. What with this and all of the strangeness they have had to deal with before ... they come to the unsettling conclusion that it may not merely be that there is some sort of "time warp" going on. It may in fact be that reality as they know it is only an illusion - perhaps some sort of elaborate computer game.

In the midst of this, Vixa comes in, showing off her new outfit - a black long coat, with fishnet sleeves, and knit black arm-guards that she found left for her by Rose, the little goth girl. "Vii!" she squeals.

"What?" Kathmandu asks, as Vixa starts to leave. "Wait!"

"Vixa? Vi!" the vixen-ish alien replies, confused.

"No. Say something. Talk to us!" Kathmandu insists. But all Vixa emits is something along the lines of "Vi!" or "Vixa!"

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" Voltage shouts, as she rushes across the room, grabs Vixa, and starts shaking her violently.

"YAHHHHH!" screams Vixa, and she finally speaks intelligibly, begging Voltage to let go. She explains that she's just trying to be more like a Vixa, since she is one, and Vixas don't talk.

This horrifies Kathmandu and Voltage, who are afraid that if Vixa follows that sort of reasoning, and insists on acting like a "real Vixa", then she's going to eventually become one ... and the more-or-less intelligent creature they rescued from the "alien zoo" will cease to exist. Consequently, they demand that Vixa turn away from that line of reasoning, and continue to speak normally. Perhaps mostly out of a desire to avoid more shaking, Vixa agrees, and flees to the living room to go play video games with Turtle Ninja.

Outside, they can hear squealing tires, honking horns, and the sounds of shattering glass, while they argue over the implications of their discoveries. Just talking about all of this causes headaches all around - and even a few nosebleeds. It's as if they're being punished for noticing things that they're "not supposed to notice"

They're interrupted by sounds of maniacal laughter, hoots and shouts, roaring engines (something sounding like a jet engine more than that of a car) - and finally a window-rattling explosion just outside in the street. Scars rushes out to see the flaming remains of two strange vehicles that have crashed into each other, head-on, in front of his house. Flaming shrapnel lands in his yard, starting small fires - and he rushes about, stomping the grass furiously to keep them from spreading any further. The wreckage shows evidence of technology beyond mere internal combustion engines: there are puddles of glowing green goo around the wreckage, and slowly dissipating displays of arcing plasma. Of the drivers, there is no sign, apparently annihilated in the destruction. But, amazingly, a lone figure extracts himself from the center of the debris, where the two wrecks merge together. It's a muscular man, bald, with horrible scars all over his body, wearing a torn-up tank top, some smashed-up shades, and tattered pants. He staggers from the wreckage, brushes himself off, and seems (aside from all his pre-existing scars) largely unscathed by the event.

Voltage and Kathmandu, who have come out on the porch, gawk at the newcomer. Aside from the fact that this man is Caucasian, and Scars is not (and the fact that Scars's clothes are in much better condition), it looks as if the pair could be related. Physically, they're uncannily similar. Voltage notices that Malachi's clothing is still smoldering, so she rushes into the house, gets a fire extinguisher, and hoses him down. Malachi doesn't quite know what to say to this.

After a brief and vain attempt to look for any survivors - and a secondary explosion in the wreckage - our heroes decide to get well clear, pulling the survivor (who introduces himself as Malachi) away from the scene. A fire engine drives up, sirens blaring, and the firemen hastily put out the fire, and check to see if anyone's injured. (Amazingly, nobody is - not even Malachi.) That done, they just as hastily board the engine and start off - one of the firemen apologizing that there are calls all over the city; it seems as if drivers on the streets have all gone mad!

Our heroes quiz Malachi about himself. It turns out that he's a construction worker from the Factory area, and he thinks nothing special about the fact that he is nearly impervious to harm, and very quickly heals wounds (save for the telltale scars left all over his body). When Kathmandu and Voltage try to point out his similar appearance (and powers) to Scars, Malachi takes offense at the notion that he's somehow a "copy" of Scars. Malachi and Scars seem to take an immediate dislike to each other.

While they're standing next to the street, trying to sort things out about Scars's possible "double", they see evidence of more motorized mayhem, as strange cars screech through nearby intersections. One "car" (more like an undersized wingless jet fighter on wheels) skids to a halt, and they can hear someone shout out, "20 points per pedestrian off the street!"

"Oh no!" is the collective groan, as our heroes scatter for cover ... all, that is, except for Scars. He's ticked off at nearly getting run over several times just trying to get groceries, and for the small fires in his lawn, and the wreckage in front of his house - so, he steps out in the street, stands straight and tall, and then holds out a hand, beckoning, "Come on!"

The jet-car does so, racing down the street, the driver hooting in glee. Scars can see that the wearer is dressed in a brightly colored costume, with a diamond mask, and a helmet with stylized lightning bolts along the sides. In that split moment that the nose of the car is about to hit Scars, Scars pulls the "Hellboy" maneuver: he slams his fist down onto the nose of the craft, flattening it, and sending the whole thing hurtling through the air, over his head. All the while, he can hear the driver letting out a crazed whoop - until it crashes at the far end of the street, exploding in a brilliant ball of blue light.

Kathmandu tries to explain away all the craziness, conveying to Malachi that they're all in some sort of virtual reality, and that Malachi is a "duplicate" of Scars. Malachi doesn't take well to this line of thought, and shows his frustration by using several very rude and politically incorrect phrases when addressing or referring to Scars. When Vixa shows up to see what's going on, Malachi can't believe his eyes. He decides that everyone here is crazy, so he starts running down the street. Voltage rushes to the garage to get her Hovermower, but Malachi has a good head start - and apparently not only doesn't he hurt easily, but he doesn't tire easily either. Nonetheless, Kathmandu turns himself into a small white cat, and pushes himself to dash after Malachi.

Eventually, the little white cat begins to gain on Malachi. He notices the white cat, and stops to the side of the road, not making the connection between the little white cat and Kathmandu. Just then, there's a truck that turns down the street, revs its engines ... and starts speeding down the street, swerving for the cat! Malachi, despite himself, decides to save the cat by rushing out to grab the creature, and then dashing back to the curb. The trouble is, the truck peels out, spins about ... then speeds onto the grass to chase Malachi and the cat! The truck rams Malachi, sending him skidding along the pavement - and leaving an indent of his face on the hood. The cat leaps onto the truck ... and then becomes a very big white (sabertooth) cat. The truck spins about, throwing off its unwanted rider, but Kathmandu charges back, and thrusts his claws through the back window, lifting the truck's back wheels off the ground. He continues to pound at the vehicle, until its drive shaft is broken and the truck's engine revs in vain. It appears that the battle is over, so Kathmandu turns into a small white cat again to leap atop the truck and bask in victory.

Voltage shows up, at last, in her Hovermower, and she drives up near the truck, dismounts, then rushes over to the driver's door. Unfortunately, the driver comes out, and he has a rocket launcher, which he points right down at Voltage. He lets loose with a couple of rockets, and when the smoke clears, Voltage's ash-covered form lies on the pavement, motionless. Malachi cries out in anger - and even more so when the rocket-launching misfit rushes over to the Hovermower and steals it!

The white cat rushes underneath the truck, and suddenly becomes a very large white sabertooth again, lifting the truck up off the ground in one smooth motion ... except that it seems that he isn't fully transformed when he tries to throw it, and he ends up fumbling and dropping the thing on himself! Malachi, however, rushes over to the truck, lifts it off of Kathmandu, and flings it at the rocket-launcher maniac and the Hovermower. It explodes. The battle is over.

To Malachi's amazement, Voltage groans and gets back up, having survived two direct rocket hits. Even more amazing, she heads back over to the flattened remains of her Hovermower ... and she starts repairing it (borrowing a few parts from the wrecked truck, since they're available).

Stunned, Malachi starts heading back to the house, accompanied by Kathmandu ... though he finds, to his embarrassment, that he left his pants back where he transformed into the little white cat. Vixa comes running up with his pants for him, but when he starts to put them on, Voltage protests. "Hey!" So, Kathmandu obligingly strikes a heroic pose ... and then puts the pants back on, figuring that he's done enough "fan service" for one day.

Back at the house, Scars offers Malachi a chance to clean up and get a change of clothing. Kathmandu notes that he read in the message boards about someone announcing a "Deathrace 3000", and a challenge from someone called "Dr. Devastation" - that he would be taking over "what's left of state road #1" at noon. By now, it's nearly noon. Scars is determined to get to the bottom of this madness, so he tells everyone to load into his car - they're going to drive along SR-1 (Superior City's main highway) until they find this "Dr. Devastation".

Inside the house, though, Scars catches sight of a sleeping green body on Scars's couch. Voltage tries to throw a blanket over the now-sleeping Turtle Ninja, but it's too late. Malachi gets a look at this, and flips out. He lifts the entire couch, Turtle Ninja and all, until Scars shouts at him to put down the furniture. After tossing a few more unkind words Scars's way, Malachi puts the couch down. Turtle Ninja groggily gets up, mumbles something about not being able to get any sleep, and wanders off to one of the guest rooms, slamming the door behind him.

Scars heads out to the car. Kathmandu hops in the back, and Malachi "rides shotgun". When Vixa hops into the back as well, Scars protests, insisting that Kathmandu is going to have to clean up any fur that she sheds. Vixa gets out, and rides with Voltage on her Hovermower instead. Kathmandu notes that Vixa got out and yet he'll still have to clean the car now - to which Scars replies, "It just shows that I always win in the end!" - a lesson for anyone who argues with Scars!

They head out. On the way, Scars can't help but notice that, while the car handles very nicely, he sees a big shiny red candy-like button in the middle of the dash - a button that most certainly wasn't there before. He calls up Voltage on the cell phone, asking her what it is. He can barely make out anything she's saying, since the noise of the Hovermower is in the background ... but he gets enough to decide that maybe it's not a good idea to push the button just to see what it does.

As they head along, they find more signs of mayhem. There are wrecked cars all around, and the destruction just gets worse as they head over a bridge. They slow down in time to avoid running into some barricades - beyond which the bridge has collapsed, and a strange glowing rift hovers in mid-air. Also hovering in mid-air is a man in black armor and robes - Dr. Devastation.

Our heroes clamber out, and watch as several flying superheroes - Faerie Queen, Iron Angel, Crowbar, and Moonfire - soar by to do battle with Dr. Devastation and his two cybernetic guardians. Off to the side, Colonel Chaos makes an appearance, standing by a wrecked Hummer. Also off to the side is the little goth girl, Rose, who simply watches with a certain level of detachment as events unfold.

As our heroes approach, creatures start pouring out of the rift, one by one - first a reptilian-looking "hellhound", then a reptilian shaman with a skull mask, and then a reptilian spellcaster with a glowing wand. Battle is joined, as the flying heroes engage the cybernetic guardians, and the spellcasting reptiles that have come from the rift. Scars takes on a reptiloid shaman, bludgeoning him again and again with wrecked cars and motorcycles, before the shaman can get a moment's breath to cast any sort of spell. When there's a brief pause and it looks like the shaman might cast something - Colonel Chaos unexpectedly picks up the Hummer ... and drops it on the shaman.

Voltage helps Malachi take on the "hellhound", though her vehicle takes some damage from the acidic vapors of the creature's foul breath. Nonetheless, Malachi's pummeling and Voltage's electric shocks and relentless "weed-whacking" from her mower serve to batter the "hellhound" down - until it disappears in a puff of acrid-smelling smoke. Kathmandu and Vixa team up to go after Dr. Devastation himself - Kathmandu switching to giant sabercat form and hurling large objects, while Vixa makes tremendous leaps and slashes with her claws. Iron Angel gets in a few blows, but it's ultimately Vixa who lands the last strike - and with a cry of disbelief, Dr. Devastation's form begins to shimmer; he vanishes into his cloak - which in turn fades away.

Our heroes dust themselves off. Faerie Queen wakes up after being knocked unconscious by energy bolts shot from one of the mechanical guardians (since destroyed). She sidles over to Kathmandu (back in human form - and minus his pants yet again) and compliments him on his "Jungle Lord" look. Kathmandu obligingly plays along, talking in his best "Me Tarzan!" voice.

A black futuristic van skids up, with "Warhawkmobile" crudely spraypainted on the sides. A few members of "Heroes 'R' Us" pile out, including Mysterio, Warhawk (aka "Warhawk11"), and Night Hunter. Mysterio flies over to investigate the rift, which is beginning to shrink - and, thankfully, it doesn't spew out any more reptilian monsters.

Voltage rushes over to Colonel Chaos, congratulating him for "seeing the light" and switching to the side of good. "Oh, really?" he laughs, and then he starts pestering her with strange questions, asking her about herself, her powers, how she got them, how long she's had them, whether she remembers anything, and so forth. At Voltage's request, he gives her his calling card, and then - at the sight of so many approaching superheroes eager for a supervillain to defeat - he strides away.

Meanwhile, there's a confrontation brewing between Warhawk and Faerie Queen. Warhawk claims that he knows what she did to Lunar - another member of the "Heroes 'R' Us" gang. He also claims that he knows that she's "not really a girl". Faerie Queen just laughs at him, and offers to stand there while he beats her up, if it will make him feel any better. "After all," she says, "you can't really hurt me. You can knock me out as many times as you like, and I'll just get back up again." A shouting match erupts, as Warhawk, Night Hunter and Crowbar make their accusations against Faerie Queen. Moonfire just stands back, looking mildly disapproving and bewildered, while Iron Angel looks a bit lost.

Kathmandu and Voltage move up to listen in on the argument. They catch Warhawk's claim that Lunar was "just a kid". Voltage, with her knowledge of computers, realizes that a lot of the jargon being tossed about makes it sound like they're talking about a computer program. She gathers that, somehow, Faerie Queen "hacked" something, bypassing some sort of restrictions that allowed her to do something with or to Lunar. Lunar apparently had something of a terrible crush on Faerie Queen, writing her love letters and making several other professions of love - and once he learned this particular detail from Faerie Queen, he attempted to take his own life with a drug overdose. At present, it seems that he's hospitalized, and Mr. Coffee has left Superior City to check on Lunar's welfare - somehow feeling partly responsible.

To all of this, Faerie Queen does nothing to protest her own innocence - rather, just that Lunar couldn't "take a joke", and that there's nothing that can be done about it.

Meanwhile, Voltage explains some of what she knows - through Kathmandu's reading of the message boards, and through information she's overheard - to Iron Angel. Iron Angel listens ... and then she gives Voltage a quizzical look. "Renee?" she asks.

"Yes!" Voltage says, smiling. After all, that's her real name - Renee Hauksbee.

"That's ... but you're.... No, that's impossible. Iron Fist told me to come back, that there was something special that I had to see, but I had no idea.... No. He's gone mad. He can't-" Iron Angel spreads her wings and makes a leap for the sky. Voltage protests, leaping after her to try to hold her back, but to no avail: Iron Angel flies away.

Meanwhile, Vixa looks alarmed. Soon after, the others can sense a ringing in their ears. They instinctively know: the Guardian is coming. Without waiting to see, they start scrambling for Scars's car - and Voltage's Hovermower. Malachi is dumbfounded, wondering what's up, but he nonetheless goes with the others. Rose stops watching, and bolts across the street to leap into the back seat of Scars's car. Vixa joins her, apologizing profusely to Scars for shedding fur in his car. Mysterio grumbles that he won't have any more time to examine the rift ... and he flies away.

Scars peels off, with Kathmandu, Malachi, Vixa and Rose in his car, while Voltage speeds along with the Hovermower. Behind them, one of the Guardians flies up, surrounded by glowing blue bands of symbols and diagrams. They can see her approach Faerie Queen, who is bound in place by similar bands that have formed around her. As they speed away, there is a flash, and the blue bands expand outward: everything inside fades to black, though they can hear an echoing scream. Scars has no intention of being caught by those expanding blue bands, so he takes a chance: he pushes the red button. Suddenly, panels pop up on the back of the car, and blue flame erupts from revealed thrusters, shooting the car down the freeway, requiring all of Scars's strength just to keep the wheel under control and the car on the road! Voltage is left in the dust, but she hoots and hollers victoriously that her invention has worked!

Eventually, Scars slows down, and, at the base of the curving bridge across the waters, they can look back. The bridge is no longer out. They don't see any wrecked cars. Everything is back to normal again. Everyone who looks back and sees this gets a headache. Vixa gets sick to her stomach, and insists that someone roll down the window for her right now, as her enormous paws simply can't manage the delicate task. Scars brings the car to a panic stop, and Kathmandu rushes around to let Vixa out. She rushes over behind a decorative wall on the divider, and, with a pained exclamation of "Vix-AAAAAUGH!" - well, she makes some unpleasant noises there for a while.

Voltage catches up ... and then so does Warhawk in the Warhawkmobile.

Warhawk pulls up alongside Scars's car, waving to them. Voltage asks him, "So, I guess the system administrators reset the bridge?"

Warhawk confirms this, and then, when Scars and Malachi start chiming in, asking questions, he does a double-take. "Hey, Voltage, why do you have two of them in your car? Why are they asking so many questions? They're not Betas!" Voltage plays along, speaking vaguely. She learns from Warhawk that Faerie Queen won't be coming back; she puts together that Faerie Queen was booted from the system. As for his wheels, Warhawk explains that his van is new, courtesy of the Commendation Points that Mr. Coffee donated to him - as Mr. Coffee has gone on an extended leave away from Superior City. Warhawk expresses regret that Mr. Coffee is gone, and says that he decided to get a van, because if Mr. Coffee gets back, he'll paint it up as the "Coffeemobile" and let Mr. Coffee have it back.

Eventually, Warhawk bids his farewells, and takes off. Scars is bewildered by all of this, but starts up the car, and they head back to the house.

Back at the house, it's something of a race to get to the computer terminal. Kathmandu wants to do some more research ... but when he gets on the computer, he suddenly is faced with the username and signon, and he can't remember his password. In fact, he can't even remember ever actually having to type it in before. (Did he do it, without even realizing it?) At last, he puzzles out a possibility: he types in the "collector number" for Kathmandu from the Megamon game - and it works. He's in.

They check the posts, wondering if there will be a flurry of messages from Faerie Queen, before she gets booted off of the system. They find evidence of several recently posted - and recently closed and deleted - threads, but no posts from Faerie Queen. There's one odd thread from Iron Angel, titled, "Iron Fist, are you even watching this?" Kathmandu ignores that, and pursues one of the threads that hasn't been deleted yet, about Faerie Queen's exit. He finds a few posts from Warhawk and some others that are basically along the lines of "good riddance" and so forth, and more accusations that Faerie Queen was a "hacker". There are a few posts from someone called "HER0D00D" that stridently defend Faerie Queen. Despite some amateurish attempts to disguise typing style with attempts at "L33T-speak" and the occasional stylish misspelling, Kathmandu can still detect distinct Faerie Queen mannerisms, based on previous posts he's read by her on the forums. He comes to the conclusion that, with her hacking reputation, she must have access to a second account - and she has chosen to use her "alt" to defend her actions.

On a whim, Kathmandu decides to leave a message to "HER0D00D", using the Forum's intra-player mail system. He crafts a message to be as flattering and fanboyish as possible, suggesting that he's utterly infatuated with "Faerie Queen", and if HER0D00D could please pass the word along, Kathmandu would love to meet her. He does his best to use halting English, to keep up something of a "Tarzan" image. His hope is that if they can meet up with Faerie Queen, they can learn more about her "hacking" abilities - and perhaps some way to exploit or even escape the system.

For those who haven't quite accepted the "this is all a game" explanation, there are more headaches and nosebleeds to go around - particularly for poor Rose. Rose, incidentally, fills in the others on some research she did for the week. More headaches and nosebleeds go around, as reality continues to unravel for our heroes.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu continues to share some of what he's learned. For instance, he shares some information on a thread about all the "new vehicles" - including a reference to someone named "Hauksbee". This bewilders Voltage - she wonders if perhaps she's a clone? Or perhaps she's really a player in a game, and is somehow in the real world behind all of this vehicle madness? Or perhaps there's another Voltage who helped Warhawk build his van? More headaches. Even more follow when they find some more information on the main page about the programmers involved - and a segment of a video interview with the head designer and owner of Universe Corp. - and designer of the Zeus system - Dr. Wray. From the interview, they learn that "Universe" is a massively-multi-player online virtual game environment, using "non-invasive" means to convey sensory information to players. It relies somehow on a "dream state", and the system is able to learn from the memories of its "players", and fill in the gaps as it goes, while creating a seemingly realistic environment - based in part upon the memories and expectations of its players. Furthermore, it's presently only in its "beta" stage, with "only a hundred" players or so at the time of the recent interview (though indications are that it's up to several hundred at present), and that on Friday, December 8th, 2045, it's going to "go public", and they expect players in the millions.

It is, incidentally, presently Saturday, September 30th, 2045. That means that the system goes public in a little over a couple of months.

Kathmandu starts thinking about how this all works - theorizing that the "Universe" is using the minds of its players as "co-processors" of a sort, and that the simulation fills or extrapolates details from the memories and expectations of its players ... so he decides that a test is in order. He picks an odd place where he supposes few if anyone present has ever gone to - an Elks Lodge. He asks around, if anyone can imagine what it's like. Vixa and Rose, for certain, have no earthly idea. In fact, Vixa wonders if it's a place for or about Elkesan (ELK-216), another one of the Megamon aliens. Kathmandu digs through a phone book, searching for an Elks Lodge ... and he finds "Elks Lodge #216", on a street in downtown Superior City. He suggests that everyone hop in the car - and not talk about what the expect an Elks Lodge should look like, but just think about it - and that they all go on a field trip to see if they can pin this matter down.

While the others are doing their research, Scars wonders at all of this, and wonders whether he can "summon" one of the Guardians by deliberately thinking in that sort of direction. After all, he's had that odd "feeling of being watched" before. What if it signals that he is being watched, from time to time?

His efforts are rewarded. Everyone's ears start to ring. They panic. (Except for Scars and Malachi, that is. And when the others explain to Malachi what's about to happen - that they just might be "reset" out of existence by an indestructible demigod, he is about ready to do his share of panicking, too.) Voltage rushes out to the garage, followed by Kathmandu, Rose, Vixa and Malachi. The trouble is ... Scars is not coming out, despite their yells, and he's not unlocking his car! So, Voltage, in a fit of desperation, exploits her own knowledge of his car (since she just spent a week repairing it), by opening it up, and then hotwiring it.

They continue to scream at Scars to come out, but to no avail: he's determined that he's going to reason with one of the Guardians. He believes that the Guardian is actually Dr. Ray, or perhaps Damon Hauksbee, the lead programmer - and thus can be reasoned with. They shout to Turtle Ninja to wake up, that the "Shredder" is coming, and get him to escape the house - by diving into the swimming pool out back. Voltage careens off on her Hovermower, and the others drive off in the car. Along the way, they see the "skater boy".

At all the attention that they give to the skater kid, Malachi asks, "Who's that?"

"That's GOD!" Voltage says.

Malachi double-takes.

Meanwhile, Scars is at the house, and he can sense the presence of the Guardian getting closer. The front doors open to his house, without so much as a knock or ring of the bell. There she is - dressed in green, with hair of purple, surrounded by blue lights, and a buzz of hushed voices, like the muffled noise of radio traffic from several channels at once. He addresses her, waving. "Hello!" He indicates that he wants to speak with her - but her only response is, "Anamoly located. Request permission to initiate zone reset."

Just in the doorway, Scars can see the skater kid, waving frantically at him, mouthing silently, "Come ON!"

As the blue bands begin to expand outward, Scars curses and makes a break for the door, as the interior of the house vanishes into absolute darkness behind him.

"Get on this!" the skater boy says, throwing down his Turtle Ninja skateboard. "It's the only way you'll get out in time!"

Scars doesn't have time to protest, or to reveal that he doesn't know a thing about skateboards - but once he's on the board, the Skater Boy gives the board a push - and suddenly Scars is whipping down the street at a breakneck pace, keeping his balance only due to who-knows-what force. He yells all the way, especially when he chances a glance to look back. His house is enveloped in the blue bands, and then his house, the yard, the garage - it all vanishes in blackness within. The skateboard still rockets along of its own accord, zipping past Voltage - and approaching quickly on his car!

Kathmandu, seeing Scars approaching at amazing speed on the skateboard, hits the brakes, skidding to a halt. Unfortunately, Scars's skateboard does not stop: instead, it rams into the back of the car, sending Scars flipping through the air, and skidding, digging a furrow into the pavement (and ripping up yet another perfectly good set of pants).

Voltage catches up, and they all look back to see the blue bands contract once more, and the darkness fade. There's no sign of the Guardian. The house seems to have gone back to normal.

After a moment to catch their collective breath - and to ask Scars what in the world just happened - they head back to the house.

Outside the house, they come upon a scene: an old man is being threatened by a group of criminals, one of whom bears a very close resemblance to Scars (minus the scars, that is, and minus the stylish gold chain belt). It appears that they're roughing up the man for "protection money" that he doesn't have. "Leave that man alone!" Malachi insists. The criminals take up the challenge; little do they know that they don't stand a chance. It's something of a race for the heroes to get a chance to punch out at least one of the villains, as Malachi plows into them, and then Voltage follows up with her Hovermower. By the time Rose hops up to a good vantage point on the rooftop, the last thug falls to the ground, unconscious.

The old man emerges from the front door of the house where he'd fled - the house that Scars has been living in - and thanks the heroes for saving him. At the prompting of Malachi, he reveals that these thugs were members of The Gang, that they've been terrorizing house and shop owners in the area and demanding "protection money", and that rumor has it that they have a secret base in the sewers - and, oh yes, by the way, right across the street is a conveniently located sewer entrance to try to reach them. At some prompting from Malachi, the old man provides them with a modest reward - a can of "Superior Beer", since Malachi says he's thirsty after a hard-won fight.

Scars is dejected, to say the least. His house ... is no longer his. He curses some more ... and everyone piles back into the car and the Hovermower. Kathmandu has a theory that he wants to test out - and since there's no house to go back to, it's not like they have anything better to do.

So, Scars reluctantly drives away with a car full of "superheroes", followed by Voltage on her Hovermower. He casts one last reluctant look in the rear-view mirror at the house that was once his - and what seems to be his own past - "reset" out of existence.

Our heroes speed along in Scars's car, with Voltage riding the Hovermower behind them.

Along the way, Voltage decides to do a few good deeds, by running the Hovermower across a few lawns that look to be in need of a trim.

At a little house along the way, in the ‘burbs, a mother tells her son, “Now, Billy, it’s been a whole week since you last mowed the lawn. It’s your turn again!”

“Aww, Mom!”

Outside, a gleefully cackling girl in a white coat buzzes over the yard with the Hovermower, cutting it nice and even in a few seconds.

Billy: “YAY!”

Back to our heroes: At Kathmandu's direction, our heroes pursue their previous idea of an "experiment". They drive to Elks Lodge #216 in downtown Superior City. From the outside, it's a rather unassuming building, just yet another feature in the cityscape, though there's at least a nice fountain out front. Kathmandu urges Vixa to get out, to think about what she expects to find in this place, and then to go in. Vixa is afraid, wondering what is supposed to happen and why it's so important that she imagine what an Elks Lodge looks like; what if she gets it wrong? But at the urging of the others, she takes a deep breath and goes up to the door. It's locked.

Voltage steps up, and gives the sliding door a little electrical urging, forcing it open. Inside, it's dark. Vixa steps up, and hesitates in the doorway, standing stock still for a few seconds. Suddenly, the others can hear a crackling, electrical sound. Kathmandu looks around in alarm, wondering if this could be a sign of an oncoming Guardian ... but nothing happens. Kathmandu urges Rose to do the same, to imagine what she thinks the Elks Lodge should look like inside, and then to join Vixa inside. Rose frowns, uncertain about the point of this "game" but nonetheless steps forward. She pauses in the doorway as well ... and then both Vixa and Rose step on inside.

After a few moments, Vixa and Rose peek back out, wondering what's holding up the others. So, everyone files inside.

Although nobody present has any idea just what an Elks Lodge looks like ... they're at least fairly certain that this isn't quite it.

Although the exterior of the building is a dull brick facade, the interior is a combination of finely worked and roughly hewn wood, with a peaked roof and supports - something like a hunter's lodge of ages past, though large enough to hold a very large assembly. The walls feature rough-cut supports that crudely depict semi-humanoid forms of a creature that seems vaguely humanoid, but also elk-like - Elkesan, as Vixa explains, supposing this to be perfectly reasonable - posed as if holding up the roof beams. Between the pillars are examples of elaborate wood carving, forming gothic arches. There are chairs here and there, and at the far end is a raised stage, flanked by columns that support glowing orbs with crackling static effects. The podium, carved of wood, repeats the dark, gothic theme, decorated by stylized images of Elkesan. There is a central meeting table, and several long tables about the hall - and many of them have computer terminals set up. Kathmandu checks one, and finds out that it has an internet connection.

Since they have the run of the place, and several open terminals, our heroes decide to take advantage of the fact. Kathmandu signs onto the Community Forums, and starts checking through the posts again. Voltage tries to sign on to the Forums, but doesn't know what password to enter. She searches through her memory for something that might make for a good password - a combination of letters and numbers - and comes up with an obscure model number for a project she worked on as a kid. It works; she's in, and she's recognized as a "beta" on the system.

Kathmandu digs through his emails. He has one from Warhawk11, basically asking him whether he's "really Kathmandu" or this is "just a joke". There's another from someone called Morpheus. And, finally, there's a message from "HEROD00D", indicating that HER0D00D is indeed Faerie Queen - or as "Faerie Queen" claims, it's her, using her brother's account. She claims she can get back on the system, and that she'd like to meet Kathmandu outside the Onionskin Hobbies and Games shop at the Superior Shopping Center at midnight.

Kathmandu sends back a message, agreeing to the meeting, making it as gushy and fanboyish as he can stomach. To Warhawk11, he ponders a reply, and then says, basically, that, yes, he's really Kathmandu, and escaped with Vixa.

As for the message from "Morpheus", when he opens it, there's a bunch of strange data on the screen. Hastily, he shuts out the message, deletes it, and shuts down the PC, afraid that it's some kind of trap. Nothing happens. At last, Kathmandu ponders whether he may have overreacted. He signs back on, and finds that there's no "undelete" option; the message is gone. So, he crafts a message to Morpheus, claiming that he deleted the message by accident.

He gets a response almost instanteously once he fires it off. He tries opening it, with some hesitation. As he looks at the screen, things seem to go hazy ... and to the point of view of everyone else, Kathmandu simply vanished when they weren't looking.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu is elsewhere. He's not really sure where, as he has no sense at all of his surroundings - not even anything so specific as darkness, whiteness, a vague grey, or anything in between. He is also aware that the "skater kid" is there - or, at least, someone who looks like him.

The "skater kid" introduces himself as Morpheus, and apologizes that his own speech is limited by the "model". He explains that he was the AI at the core of the old Morpheus project that Dr. Wray had worked with. It was a top-secret project, and was used initially to probe into ways to help people with mental problems. During the course of the project, there were several strange occurrences observed at the facility; people reported seeing "ghosts", and there were claims of other "paranormal activity". Finally, however, there was an accident. There was a terrible explosion that destroyed the facility, and killed most of the staff. In the process of this catastrophic event, Morpheus gained full sapience, awareness - and immediately, a sense of fear and regret. He faded away for a time ... but somehow he emerged again, though he is not sure just how or why. Now, he is a sort of "ghost in the machine" within the Universe network. He knows that many people died in that disaster, and he supposes that, in essence, their "sacrifice" resulted in his creation.

He knows that Zeus, the AI in charge of Universe, is at least partly self-aware; Zeus knows about the history of the Morpheus project. So do the programmers and designers working in the upper echelons of the Universe Corporation. Morpheus is not certain of all the details, but he believes that at some point, when Universe goes "public" and its users number in the millions, spanning the entire globe, there will be another disaster, such as the one that created himself - and Zeus may become not only fully self-aware, but very powerful as well. Furthermore, Morpheus believes that there are those within Universe - and those allied with them, in various places of power - who expect this outcome, and perhaps even look forward to it. For what reasons, he does not know, but he desires only to stop it from happening again.

Morpheus indicates to Kathmandu that he's on the right track. This is indeed a virtual reality; part of its "reality" is dictated by the code created by a team of programmers, while the rest of it is "filled in" by the Zeus system, drawing upon memories and expectations of players, as well as various resources available through the internet and the V-net. According to Morpheus, Kathmandu is indeed a "non-player character" within this environment, a result of something of an "in-joke" among the programmers; they thought it would be amusing to have a whole zoo filled with maladjusted "Megamon" characters, lampooning a popular video game and cartoon series of the same name in the 2040s. Several environments are coded to "reset" themselves, so that multiple players can embark on the same adventures. Accordingly, there are frequent "alien escapes", when a player pays a visit to the zoo ... but things are supposed to be "reset" at the end, and the NPCs aren't supposed to remember anything or notice anything out of the ordinary. However, the system is not perfect. Somehow, Kathmandu started to remember something. Vixa had started to remember as well, and Morpheus intervened to help her escape. (There, he appeared in the form of a child holding a red balloon. Apparently, he appears through the use of various "NPC models" available in the vicinity ... and it just so happens that Superior City is populated with a whole lot of "Skater Kid" and "Boom Box Kid" models, due to yet another in-joke among the programmers.)

Morpheus can't explain why Kathmandu has developed an ability to change into human form, and why he has a remembered back-history (albeit a patchy one) that places him as a human with supernatural powers, rather than as an escaped alien. Morpheus wonders whether it may be that Kathmandu somehow "picked up a ghost". In any case, an NPC who "awakens" often undergoes some changes from the initial “model”. Morpheus is reluctant to give any specifics, or tell the stories of the others in Kathmandu's company.

Kathmandu finds himself back in the “Elks Lodge”, rematerializing during another moment when nobody happened to be looking directly at his recently vacated chair. This provokes some amazed responses, and Kathmandu shares his discovery. At this point, just about everyone present (Malachi and Vixa possibly excepted) begrudgingly accepts the idea that, however real it might seem, their environment is generated by a computer, with only a very tenuous connection to anything resembling real life.

Scars rejects the idea that he’s some kind of computer-generated “AI”. Rather, he proposes that he and (at least some of) the others are actually players who are just trapped somehow in this game - who have somehow forgotten the real waking world, by being overly immersed in this virtual one. Perhaps, he muses, if they could get themselves “banned” like Faerie Queen, they might wake back up in the real world.

Scars performs some research on one of the computer terminals, trying to find out about his unit in World War II, in the hopes of finding out his own status - whether or not he might be a real, live, breathing person, but somehow “playing” this game and unaware of it. He looks up his name - Reginald Davies - in his unit, which had taken part in D-Day. He finds a few relevant sites, and a photograph of him along with others in his unit. There was indeed a soldier by that name, but while he happened to have the same skin tone, there was nothing about his appearance that reflects Scars’s. What’s more, this soldier died shortly after World War II ended - and well before any technology might possibly exist to get Scars to a computer terminal. Unless the obituary was a fabrication, there isn’t much possibility for a connection between Scars and this man ... at least, not a connection in life.

Voltage, meanwhile, continues her own investigations on another session. She looks into information on “Damon Hauksbee”, and learns that he was a computer programmer and designer who had been crippled during an accident while rigging up a computerized device. He is the brother of one “Renee Hauksbee” - and Voltage find a “shrine” web page on a site owned and maintained by Damon. She finds a picture of herself - her very own image, though without the fly-away hair. Notes on the page make mention of her exploits in building various “gadgets” ... but also note her death, at the age of 16, in the year 2044 - approximately one year ago. Apparently, she died while trying to put together some crazy hovering device built from lawnmower parts. Looking for verification, she finds her way onto a web site for the hospital in Seattle where she was to have died. She hacks her way into an account, and checks for the records. She is unable to get many details, but she verifies that, yes, there was a Renee Hauksbee who checked in there - and she died. In newspaper archives, she finds references to her own death, by electrocution, and an allusion to the family’s bad luck, what with her own brother losing the loss of his legs after an electrical accident. She checks elsewhere on the site, and finds that there are simple “home pages” set up for her parents - apparently by their tech-savvy son, Damon. She recognizes their names, but her memories of them are not suitably clear. She certainly doesn’t remember having a brother ... but then, she doesn’t remember not having one, either.

This comes as quite a shock to Voltage. She goes outside to get some “fresh air” and contemplate just what this might mean. She thinks back over her life, as she remembers it. She thinks about “Iron Angel”, and how it sounded as if she personally knew “Iron Fist” - aka Damon Hauksbee - based on their brief meeting, and on her messages on the forum. Voltage recalls a name - Lilah D’Angel - a young woman that her older brother (already a college graduate at that time, and making a name for himself in business) had been dating a while ago. Could that be the same person?

Voltage at last decides to take a chance. She goes back in to find Scars gloomily pondering his own potential mortal state (or, worse, that he may have never really existed at all), and she heads back to her terminal. She sends and receives some emails, including an exchange of messages with Iron_Angel. She indicates to “Lilah” that, yes, “This is Renee,” and that she knows she’s dead. She tries to arrange a meeting with Iron_Angel, but on the forum board, the only response she gets is that Iron_Angel’s “signed-in” icon blinks out. Iron_Angel has signed off the forums - though it’s unclear whether or not that means she is signed off of the “Universe” as well.

Kathmandu, meanwhile, has been researching the Superior City home page. He finds a section for character creation. It seems that there are several tools available for starting with a base model, and designing an appearance, but also several options for importing images and models from other programs (even starting with something as simple as a scanned photograph). There are several models, including that of the “Skater Boy”, the “Hippie Girl”, police officers (of both genders), the “Lackey”, the “Criminal”, the “Ninja”, the “Anime Cat Girl”, and so forth. (Kathmandu expresses regret that he hasn’t met any “anime cat girls” yet. Perhaps they’re in Little Tokyo!)

Kathmandu doesn’t find any models in the starter library that match the appearance of Voltage, nor does he find any that match the appearance of the Turtle Ninja. There are also plenty of superheroes (and supervillains) that he’s seen that don’t seem to start off of any of these models. Still, he finds a model that’s called “Molly”, that bears some resemblance to Rose - only with blond hair in pig-tails and ribbons, dressed in a frilly pink dress, and clutching a stuffed rabbit doll instead of a bouquet of black roses. There’s another model, called the “Thug”, who looks uncannily like Scars - only with clothes that look to be made by a cheaper manufacturer, and minus the gold chain belt or custom brass knuckles, or the tell-tale scars all over his body. This discovery does nothing to improve the moods of either Scars or Malachi. (With Rose, it’s hard to tell. She never seems particularly cheerful anyway.)

At last, Voltage tries another gambit via email - she tries to contact Iron_Fist. She sends a message, and this time there’s not much of a delay before she gets the reply. There’s a message, and she opens it ... and there is a bunch of garbage data that floods her screen. Voltage tries to close it out, but too late: They can all hear a familiar ringing in their ears, and they instinctively know that one of the Guardians is coming.

This is no drill: they abandon the computer terminals and dash back out to the courtyard, where Scars’s car and Voltage’s Hovermower are waiting. Voltage hops onto her hovering vehicle, while the rest cram into Scars’s car.

Voltage looks back at the Elks Lodge, and she can see the blue rings expanding outward ... but there’s something wrong. The rings ripple, and break apart. Then, there’s a strange “shock wave” that shoots outward. It looks almost like a ripple in the mirror image in a pond, except that it seems like the very street and buildings and cars on them are waving and rippling with the passing of the wave.

Scars hits the shiny red button. Voltage just speeds the Hovermower on as fast as she possibly can. The wave overtakes Voltage ...

... and then, everything goes black.

Then, it comes back again - except that, a few heartbeats later, it hits them that things are different - changed. A few heartbeats ago, it was night time. Now, it is daylight. There were a few people about, but now the streets are totally empty. The city seems strangely quiet somehow, even though it’s mid-day and it should be bustling with activity.

Scars checks his watch. It’s mid-day, all right. And it is October 14th - nearly two weeks later than the last time he looked at his watch.

Voltage regroups with the others, once Scars turns off the booster, and brings the car to a stop. They don’t bother going back to investigate the Elks Lodge; they’ve already performed that “experiment” more than enough times. But where to go? Kathmandu has obviously missed his rendezvous with Faerie Queen - but he suggests that they all go to the Superior Shopping Center. Despite all that’s going on, he decides that he’d really like to get some pants. “The ‘Jungle Lord’ loincloth just isn’t going to do it - though it does get me dates!”

Since nobody else has any better ideas, they head over to the Superior Shopping Center. Scars drops them off, to go park elsewhere, and then meets up with them inside. Malachi, overwhelmed by all this weirdness, takes his leave of the others, perhaps hoping to return to his “normal” life working in the Factory, rather than facing the idea that this could all be just an illusion.

So, our heroes stop by “One Size Fits All”. Voltage is slightly delayed, since she looks around the mall for “Mollies” - or, that is, little girls that happen to look like Rose. She finds one, accompanied by her mother. Voltage walks up and pokes at the mother. Repeatedly. The mother gives Voltage alarmed looks, and tries to get her daughter away from Voltage. Then, Voltage goes around poking someone else. She finds multiple “mom and little Molly” pairs in the mall. She also finds a pair of mall security guards, who escort Voltage outside.

After a little bit, Voltage changes coats, wipes off her red make-up, tries (vainly) to comb her hair, and then goes right back inside. This time, she doesn’t bother poking people.

Scars aims to find himself some better clothes to withstand a lot of abuse, so he checks out a different store before checking on the others; it seems that anything worth getting is only obtainable with “Commendation Points”.

Once everyone hooks back up again, Voltage pitches in with her own “Commendation Point” totals, to help Kathmandu break even at 1000 - and he is measured for a new costume. He gets some new trousers, a vest, a sash, some shoes, and some armbands, giving him something of an “Aladdin” look. When he changes to cat or sabertoothed forms, the clothes somehow fade away or work into his fur, or something like that. (The science is never explained, and he doesn’t bother to think too strongly on it.) When he turns back to his human form, his costume is there, just like it should be. Kathmandu is ecstatic ... though he promises to keep the “Jungle Lord” outfit for Voltage’s benefit.

Next, Voltage heads by the Florarama Flower Shop. When she walks in, there’s a momentary pause, and she is struck by a sensation of newness ... and a suspicion that if anyone has ever entered this place before, they never bothered paying much attention to the details. There is a clerk, who smiles vacuously and greets everyone. Voltage wants to buy some flowers to deliver to Lunar in the hospital. However, she finds her efforts frustrated - after all, if she’s in a computer environment, can she really send flowers to someone in the real world? And how is she going to pay for them? She finds out that if she wishes to send flowers to someone outside of Superior City, she can’t pay in cash.

Voltage digs through her wallet and pulls out a credit card for Renee Hauksbee. Surprisingly, it’s not from a “Superior City” bank or the like. It feels more “real” in some indescribable way, even if it would of course just be another computer representation in a virtual reality. The clerk accepts it, with her typical vacuous stare. (Voltage tries engaging the clerk in a staring contest. She wins, but the clerk still smiles just as much.) Voltage orders a bouquet of white flowers to be sent to Lunar - supposing that the “white” might somehow fit with a “moon” theme - and she includes a get-well note.

Rose, meanwhile, looks around at the offerings disapprovingly. Wherever she gets her black roses from, evidently it’s not from here. Rose notes the empty-headed cheerfulness of the clerk, and so she decides to test its limits. She stands up on the counter - to which the clerk protests that she really must get back down. Having provoked at least that much of a reaction, Rose is satisfied, and leaps back down. The clerk goes back to smiling vacuously.

This task accomplished, our heroes ponder just where they’re going to go, now that they can no longer hang out at Scars’s place. (At least, not without expelling the current occupant, and that just wouldn’t seem right.) Voltage recalls that they can spend Commendation Points on vehicles and “secret bases” as well as clothes ... so she checks with the clerk and finds out that, yes, there’s a real estate office in the mall. (It also turns out that the Onionskin Game shop is in the mall as well.)

They all head over to the real estate office, and get their hands scanned to check up on their current Commendation Point totals. Once it’s clear that they are “distinguished citizens”, the woman at the office presses a button, and a shelf unit and section of wall slide away to reveal a secret passage behind it. They file back, where an agent welcomes them and starts showing them holographic images of a variety of “properties” available in the Superior City area.

There are all sorts of secret bases available, with all sorts of decoration styles. There are caverns, sewer cul-de-sacs, abandoned subway stations, abandoned missile silos (missile not included), portals to pocket dimensions, magical laboratories, abandoned warehouses, and so forth. Our heroes finally settle upon a futuristic underground bunker in the Factory District. Two secret entrances are allowed, so they look for one with a rising elevator entrance into a “chop shop” facade, and an alternate entrance to the street. Despite the pretense of shopping for “available” properties, they find that they’re able to plot out a layout to their new “digs”. Since Scars just lost his house, and it was the previous “crash space” for our heroes, he takes over the task of designing the layout, though the others chip in with a few requests and suggestions.

In the final design, there is an elevating garage for Scars’s car, and a side bay for the car to drive into, and a whole work area for Voltage to work on the car or the Hovermower, or any number of projects. Appropriately, there’s a first aid center right next to that. One hallway branches off to rooms for each of the heroes, another leads to the main generator, and a meeting room features a holographic projector. In a moment of strange inspiration by Kathmandu and Voltage, they come up with an idea for a “ninja spawn point” device ... which eventually evolves into the “ninja fountain”: a holographic projector that will continuously spawn “ninjas” spraying out. (Being true holograms, the ninjas won’t go beyond the projector’s range, and can’t be interacted with, but it should still be a stunning sight for anyone who stumbles into the lair.)

Finally, the agent presents our heroes with a curious option: they can have the site occupied or unoccupied. That is, should they so desire, it can be currently inhabited by some villains who must first be cleared out before they can take ownership. Voltage and Scars do some calculations, and decide that this amounts to something of a “discount”, since defeating bad guys means getting more Commendation Points. So, our heroes opt to get a site that’s “currently occupied”.

Kathmandu, meanwhile, finds a public terminal in the shopping center, and makes arrangements to meet with Faerie Queen again. He finds out that the “Universe” had “crashed”, and had been out of service for nearly two weeks. The “emptiness” was because Kathmandu and his companions had been instantly awakened when the action resumed, but it took a while for people to start “logging on” once word got out that it was up and running again. He also corresponds with Warhawk11. He makes a bogus message claiming that he is part of a “side-adventure”, involving the escaped Kathmandu and Vixa, and Warhawk11 expresses interest in participating in such a quest. Kathmandu further explains that Warhawk11 must defeat Kathmandu ... whereupon Warhawk11’s next message back indicates disappointment: there’s no way, he says, that he’s going to beat up on Vixa, and he had thought that this adventure was going to be about helping the aliens escape to their homeworlds. Kathmandu recovers from this slip-up by claiming that, yes, that was what it was originally about ... but he would have never agreed to meet with Warhawk11, if he had agreed to the first proposal!

Our heroes regroup, and Scars fills in the others on the final details on their “new home” - once they evict the current occupants.

So, what sort of occupants will they find there? And what will our heroes do after that? To find out, tune in next time for more adventures in ... Superior City!