🚀 go-pugleaf

     "So did he say why he wanted to cut the last day of our vacation off?"
asked Roger as he concentrated on staying in the jet. It wasn't difficult,
but it meant that if he actually had a need to sleep, he wouldn't be able
to do it.
     "Nope." Timmy's response may have sounded sullen and distracted, but
this was most likely because Timmy was feeling sullen and distracted. He
hated surprises.
     Samantha said, "Maybe he just got jealous of us for being away from
the house?"
     //Or, more likely, he decided that we were busier away from Austin
than we are when we're there,\\ thought Nightmare, pacing up the corridor.
She would start from the back of the jet, pace up to the front, then phase
for a brief second, which would put her at the back of the jet again.
     Nightmare hated jet rides. Any ride she couldn't manage under her own
power just wasn't worth it.
     Of course, she *could* have taken Samantha the fast route. But that
route was tricky yet, so she hadn't mentioned it to Samantha. No need to
expose her to excess danger until the girl was ready, she felt.
     Not to mention until she was ready herself.
     Charlie looked up from where he lay and said, "Hey, Sam? You suppose
he wanted us back early so he could come to Terrania, too?"
     "Beats me." The young lady frowned prettily and said, "By the way,
don't call me that, OK? I hate it when people mistake me for a boy."
     Timmy said, without looking up, "I doubt anyone could make that
mistake, Samantha."
     Samantha blushed as Roger guffawed, nearly going out the back of the jet.
     Maria had ignored the entire conversation as she wrote in her journal,
but she finally seemed to notice her surroundings and queried, "Where's
Mason?" with a worried look.
     Charlie said, "I think he went up front to visit with the pilot." It
was well that Charlie said it, because he was the only one of those present
who could say it with a straight face. Of course, he couldn't keep his tail
from wagging.
     "Ah." She looked back at her journal, struggling to understand the
emotions churning through her mind. At long last, seconds later, she stood
and said, "I think I'll, uh, go check and see if they need any drinks or
anything."
     Timmy said, "I could use a Coke, thanks," to her retreating back, but
she seemed not to hear. He shook his head and sighed dramatically as the
others laughed after the door closed.

*****

                         Teen Team #19
                        Vacation's Over
                              or
                     Prelude to a Wedding
                              by
                         Mason Kramer
                       masonk@tenet.edu
                       Comments Welcome

*****

     "How is he, Doctor?" Melvin asked.
     The doctor looked up from his patient briefly at the elf and said,
"Well, it's hard to say."
     "You mean you don't know?"
     "No, I mean it's hard to say. It involves quite a few large Latin
words, and I left my Latin>English dictionary in my other black bag.
Basically, he's alive, but he's unconscious."
     "I see. Is there any hope of recovery?"
     "Well, it's hard to say..."
     "More long Latin?"
     "No, I just don't know."
     "Dowh!"
     The doctor winced at the high-pitched Homer Simpson emulation and
said, "Look, as far as we've come medically, there are still many things we
just don't know, and one of the things we don't know is how a person slips
into a coma, and how to get them to come out! Now, you've got the equipment
here to keep him alive and relatively happy until he decides to wake up.
Until then, it's up to him."
     "I apologize for questioning your skill, or your sense of humor. And
thank you for coming out so quickly, Dr. Pratchett."
     Dr. Pratchett started packing up his bag and said, "No problem. Any
friend of Maria's and all that."
     "And I would also thank you to be discreet about where you've been
this afternoon?" Melvin queried expectantly.
     "Heh. Don't worry; the secret of the Teen Team's secret headquarters
is safe with me. After all, I want you to feel safe in calling me in an
emergency. It seems to me that with a group like yours, they should be
common occurrences."
     "True, true..." Melvin eyed the doctor speculatively.

*****

     Mason opened his mouth, then closed it again. No, that won't work,
I'll sound like a jerk, he thought. He sighed, then got up to pace again.
     Summer smiled to herself, wondering what Mason would finally end up
saying. She also wondered, briefly, what her response would be.
     Suddenly, and without warning, Mason brightened. He finally had it;
the perfect way to tell Summer how he felt about her in such a way that he
wouldn't sound like a dork, a nerd, or a jerk when he said it.
     That was the nice thing about being a genius, he reflected; work on a
problem long enough, and eventually you'll come up with the answer.
     He cleared his throat, opened his mouth and said, "Summer, IŠ"
     He would have gotten further had Maria not chosen that moment to open
the door and say, "Hi, guys, what's up? Oh, right, the jet, ha, ha, Maria,
very funny, now shut up." Gasping for breath, she looked around the cockpit
as Mason cursed inwardly. He glanced at his watch. Twelve minutes. He had
taken twelve minutes to say nothing, and now he'd completely forgotten what
he had been about to say.
     Maria looked around the cockpit again, thinking something was missing.
She finally decided what it was when she realized that Mason was standing
in front of her and no one (not Noone) was sitting in either the pilot's or
co-pilot's seats.
     "Uh, Mason?" she started tentatively.
     Mason sighed, "Yes, Maria."
     "Who's flying the jet?"
     Summer activated the speaker and said, "I am."
     "But-but where are you?"
     "Right here."
     "I don't see you?"
     Mason sighed and said, "Not here in the room, here in the jet." He sat
down and relaxed in the pilot's chair. "More specifically, in the controls
for the jet. Beats the normal mode of flying this jet, I'll wager."
     Summer broke in with, "You two better strap in." She then turned on
the passenger speakers and said, "Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and
animals of all persuasions, and thank you for flying TT Airlines. We hope
you enjoyed your flight, and encourage you to get in your seats and strap
in for a landing. We will be arriving in Austin in approximately 4 minutes
and 22.8 seconds." She switched off the speakers, then switched them back
on. "I can count the number of times I've done a water landing on the
fingers of one foot, so you might want to cross your fingers for me..."

*****

     Fairbanks Douglas sat in the lounge chair, almost relaxing. "Quite a
view you have from this balcony," he commented.
     Melvin nodded his thanks, his attention focused on the scene before
him. The jet was due any...
     Now. The clouds parted briefly, allowing the sleek, black jet through
before closing again. The descent was a trifle faster than Melvin would
have appreciated, but that's the young for you. Fairbanks rose from the
chair and stood behind Melvin, who was standing on top of the railing.
"Steady now, girl..." he muttered.
     Melvin glanced at Jenny, who said, "No, she hasn't relinquished
control yet." Melvin grunted in reply, keeping his eyes on the jet as it
angled toward the lake.
     The jet hung darkly in the sky for a moment, in exactly the way a
brick doesn't, then began it's rapid descent. Jenny started, "Touchdown in
5...4...3...2...1...." The jet skimmed along the surface of the lake, then
began to break the surface and submerge.
     "She did that on manual?" Fairbanks asked, impressed.
     "So it would seem," Melvin stated, putting away his binoculars. "Shall
we go meet them?"

*****

     The cave was dark until a beam was tripped by the jet's entry. The
lights were activated, as were the alarms. Jenny noted the alarms and
disarmed them after checking to make sure that the only intruders were the
Teen Team.
     Samantha and her Nightmare were the first to deplane, of course. That
they did so before the jet had finished surfacing could not be considered
surprising in the least. Roger followed them out and began to head upstairs
when he saw Melvin heading down the same stairs followed by a stranger. He
looked toward Samantha, who shrugged.
     The jet stopped at the dock, and service waldoes extended from the
side of the jet to lock on to the dock, pulling itself up to a parking
position. The door opened, and Charlie flew out, glad to be in some
semblance of space. He was followed by Timmy, Maria, Mason, and finally
Summer.
     "You called, Boss?" Summer asked, pausing to close the door. She
turned back toward Melvin, then exclaimed, "Mister Douglas! Hi! What are
you doing here?"
     "I'll explain on the way to medical," Melvin answered before Fairbanks
could open his mouth more than a fraction of an inch. "This way."
     "Medical?"
     "Yes, it seems we have a patient. One who was looking for his son, as
I recall..."

*****

     After the visit to medical, during which no one admitted to being the
man's son, the Team met in the meeting room (as opposed to meeting in the
met room, which would have been silly to even say).
     "So what should we do about him?" asked Mason from his seat next to Summer.
     "You won't be moving him, that's for sure," answered Dr. Pratchett,
the new Team doctor. "While he is recovering, he won't be in any condition
to be moved for at least 72 hours."
     "So much for sending him to the hospital," Maria said from her seat
next to Mason.
     Melvin said, "In any case, I'm not sure moving him after that would be
a good idea. He seemed to know where he was and what he wanted, even if he
was half-blind at the time. Besides, he was obviously injured in a fight
for his life, and I'm not sure the fight is over yet. No, for his safety,
he needs to stay here.
     "However, that will not get in the way of your plans to go to Terrania
tomorrow. This might." He turned to Summer. "You were told to relinquish
control of the jet to Jenny for the landing, but you did not. Why?"
     Summer had been warned about Melvin's Glare, but this was the first
time she'd been under it directly (usually it was focused on Mason in her
presence). "Well, sir, I had a lot of time to get used to the plane, and
there might be a time when Jenny isn't available, you know..."
     "Nevertheless, you disobeyed a direct order. This Team doesn't have as
many rules as some, but there are a few. You'll just have to find another
way to the wedding if you're going, because the jet is staying here.
Understood?"
     "Yes, sir," she said, staring down at the table.
     Mason looked down at the table, too. He'd been looking forward to the
wedding, and to spending yet another trip with Summer, but now... wait a
minute. "Summer? Aren't the members of Team MECHA going toŠ"
     "M.E.C.H.A." Summer muttered.
     "Sorry?"
     "M.E.C.H.A. Don't forget to pronounce the dots. Mike hates that."
     "Got it. Sorry. Aren't the members of Team M.E.C.H.A. going to be
leaving tomorrow?"
     "Yeah, why?"
     "Well, it gets us there a couple of days early, which gives us a
chance to do some sightseeing, maybe, if they can pick us up, and they DID
offer a ride to any superguys who needed oneŠ"
     Summer stood up and ran for the phone. She stopped, turned, and
shouted, "Mason, you're a genius!" and blew him a kiss before running up
the stairs.
     Mason sat there, stunned. So did Maria. The meeting continued,
including the announcement that Fairbanks Douglas would be taking over the
training of the Team, and that Dr. Pratchett would be the Team Medical Man,
but these announcements went totally unnoticed by the two. So did the
meeting's adjournment, and the announcement of dinner.

*****

     Samantha knocked on the door again, and listened to the silence
emanating from within. Deciding Maria wasn't in, she opened the door, to
find that she was wrong. Maria glanced up from her bed and said, "Don't you
ever knock?" before looking back at her bed.
     "Never more than twice," Samantha answered as she closed the door. She
found the bed by memory, since the lights were out, and sat down. "Want to
talk about it?"
     "No."
     Samantha waited, decided she wasn't going to get any more than that,
and started to get up.
     "He doesn't even know I'm around!" Maria suddenly shouted, loudly
enough that Mason looked up from his terminal two levels down.
     Samantha sat back down. Maria stood up and started pacing about the
room. "I mean, I know he knows I'm here, and he occasionally seems almost
to notice me, but he never, NEVER looks my direction when Summer's around.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Summer and all, but she keeps leading
him on like that!"
     "Now wait a minute, you know she doesn't 'lead him on.' If anything,
she ignores him almost as much as..." She trailed off, realizing her
mistake.
     Maria picked up on it, though. "Almost as much as he ignores me, right?"
     "No, almost as much as Tim ignores me." Now Samantha looked down at
the bed and sighed.
     "Oh." Maria deflated, her anger leaving her momentarily, and she sat
on the bed next to Samantha. "Oh, Sam, I'm sorry."
     "Thanks. Don't call me Sam."
     "Right." Maria looked down at her hands. She came to a certain
realization. "Men are scum."
     "Oh, I dunno. That's too general, I think." Samantha thought a moment,
then said, "Tim and Mason are scum."
     "Yeah."
     The girls sat in the darkness quietly for several moments. Suddenly,
and without warning, Maria's temper flared again, and she hit the wall with
her fist.
     Stately Ward Manor was built in the late 1800's by a very eccentric
millionaire named Stately Ward.
     No, his name was not the reason he was eccentric.
     Yes, this digression does have a reason.
     The mansion was built as a defense against Indians that had left the
area years before and never came back. This did not deter him in the least
from assuming that they might, so he made sure to build the mansion
properly. He made sure that there was a secret way out into the caves
beneath the property, in case the Indians could find their way in. He also
built in several hidden passageways, which Melvin had appropriated to use
as electrical conduits and storage for computer components.
     The exterior wall were built thick enough to stop arrows. Since the
Indians also had access to gunpowder while he was building the mansion, he
wanted to make sure that the walls could easily stop arrows as well. And,
just to be on the safe side, he made them even thicker, to the point where
most cannons would be hard pressed to breach one of the exterior walls.
This is one of the reasons that it made such an excellent secret base for a
superguy group.
     So of course, Maria's fist went several inches into the exterior wall.
     "What the Hell(TM)?" Maria shrieked. She quickly pulled her hand out
of the wall as Samantha created the illusion of light in the room. They
both looked at Maria's hand, then at the hole in the wall, then at Maria's
hand. They both thought the same thing, but Maria said it first.
     "Melvin is going to KILL me!" she groaned.

*****

     Miraculously, Melvin did not kill her. Dr. Pratchett examined her
hand, which was unharmed, and explained that he had a theory about what
happened.
     "It's really just an extension of your known abilities, Maria," he decided.
     "How do you mean, Doctor?" asked Melvin.
     "Well, Maria, in a few words, cannot be hurt. When she hit the wall,
she hit it with enough force that she would have hurt her hand. Therefore,
the force that would have hurt her hand was reflected away, again at the
wall. This force reflected back and forth enough that something had to
give. And Maria's hand wouldn't give, so the wall did."
     "Neat!" Maria exclaimed.
     "I'd like to do some tests..." Dr. Pratchett started.
     "You ALWAYS want to do tests," Maria exclaimed. "Can't that wait until
we get back from Terrania?"
     Dr. Pratchett glanced at Melvin, who nodded. "Very well, Maria. In the
meantime, I recommend that you refrain from punching the walls around here,
all right? I certainly don't want Melvin's blood pressure going up any
more." He smiled. Melvin fumed. Maria giggled and left the room.

*****

     >From the private journals of Phobos:
     She kissed me! She really kissed me!
     Well, okay, she didn't exactly kiss me; she blew me a kiss. Not quite
the same thing, I know. Objectively, that is. Emotionally, it felt the
same.
     I think I threw objectivity out the window a couple of months ago.
     In other news, Jenny's been very quiet since I came back. I wonder why?
     "Because I wanted to wait until we were alone, lover," Jenny's voice
breathed into his ear.
     "Well, that makes some sort of GAH!" Mason jumped out of his seat,
through Jenny's hologram, and onto the bed. Above the bed, actually. One of
the advantages of a belt that allows you to send it cybernetic instructions
to fly is that you can send it cybernetic... you get the idea.
     "Did I startle you?" Jenny asked, laughter filling her voice without
spilling over. He looked at her, and gulped. She was dressed in...
actually, that's not right. She was _almost_ dressed in a sheer negligee,
the only lighting in the room provided was from the monitor, which was now
behind her. The overall effect was enough to kill most fourteen year old
boys.
     Fortunately, Phobos was not an ordinary fourteen year old boy. He was
a fourteen year old boy who had survived the Industrial-er, you know, the
thingie-, a fourteen year old who had been near several beautiful women at
that time, and a fourteen year old who was most seriously in love.
     "Jenny, we need to talk."
     "Oh, I agree, baby," she said stepping up on the bed, which put her
face on a level with Phobos. She moved closer, and started to put her arms
around his neck.
     "Now STOP that!" Phobos shouted, startling Jenny to near transparency.
"Jenny, I like you, but there is NO chance of us getting together, ya
know?"
     She pouted. "Don't you LIKE me?" she asked, a tear forming in her eye.
     Mason sighed. "Jenny, how could I not like you? I programmed you to be
likable. I would be very surprised if you weren't likable, especially with
Summer's help." Lord knows Summer is likable, he reflected.
     "You like me?" Jenny looked back at Phobos, allowing the tear to fall
freely.
     "Yes, I like you." Mason thought frantically for a moment. "Just not
in the way you think. You see, you're really more like a daughter to me."
     "Like a daughter?" she asked, softly.
     "Yes. I created the base programming in the computer, and Summer
finished the job which gave you life. I guess that makes us your parents."
Hmmm, that has an interesting connotation, he didn't say.
     "My parents..." Jenny seemed to consider this, then stepped off the
bed as Phobos floated down.
     "Mason?"
     "Yes?"
     "Can I borrow the car tonight?"
     Mason laughed, and felt as though a huge amount of tension was broken
in the room. Jenny laughed with him.

*****

     The next morning, breakfast was a hurried affair. Packing was over
with quickly, as most of what they wanted to take was still packed for
California. The only exception was whatever the heck they were going to
wear for the wedding itself, which was quickly packed into a garment bag.
     "Tim, how can you wear something like that?" Roger asked, nearly
blinded by the blue-sequined tuxedo.
     "I like it, okay? Besides, it goes with my mask," he replied, putting
said mask on.
     Mason loaded in his black tuxedo, and helped Charlie with his formal
cape. Samantha chose to stick with her costume, as it would fit with most
of the local crowd (a black hooded cloak over a plain, black dress), while
Summer would be wearing something provided for the wedding party. Roger was
stuck with his usual clothes, of course. Maria was going with a
silver-satin evening gown which complemented her quite well.
     "That dress complements you quite well, Maria," Melvin said.
     "The Narrator just said the same thing. And thank you. I'd better get
it off and packed quick, though." She ran up the stairs as everyone's eyes
followed.
     Mason whispered to Roger, "I thought we weren't supposed to mention
the Narrator anymore?"
     "Shh!"
     "Right."
     Fairbanks Douglas came into the room, carrying a tuxedo of his own. He
was dressed in his usual battle fatigues. "Have room for one more
passenger?"
     Summer said, "Shouldn't be a problem. It's a BIG jet."
     Maria came back down the stairs in her costume, and the Team headed
down to the garage.
     "Nice car," they commented. In unison.
     The car was sleek and black. There was something of a resemblance to
the vehicle in Batman Returns, only much, much larger. Instead of seating
for two, there was enough for ten. Melvin handed the keys to Fairbanks and
said, "Be careful taking corners. It has a tendency to wide turns."
     "Wide turns. Got it." The Teen Team piled in to their new vehicle, and
were off to the airport.

*****

     Later that weekend, Melvin was reading his mail when he was
interrupted by Jenny. "Melvin, the old man is awake, and he's calling for
his son."
     "Bad timing, old timer." Melvin uttered a quick spell, and teleported
to the medical bay.
     "Who's there? I can take ya, ya know! I may be weak, but I ain't
dead!" The old man tried to rise from his bed, and utterly failed to do so.
     "It's all right, sir. My name is Melvin, and I'm a friend. You came
here looking for your son, you said."
     "Yeah. Can you help me? I need to find him soon. I need to find Sam
before it's too late for us all!"
     Dr. Pratchett said, "Ooh, she hates it when you call her Sam."

     THE TEASER QUESTIONS WILL NOT BE SHOWN THIS EVENING, SO THAT WE MAY
BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

     Er, is this thing on? Yes? Ah, good.
     You may have noticed that a lot of recent messages have referred to a
wedding coming up in Terrania. Some of you may even have noticed that for
some people, the wedding has come and gone (namely CalForce). This should
not be taken as a cause for alarm. This only shows, once again, that the
series are once again out of synch with each other. Personally, I was
surprised to be in synch with CalForce for as long as I managed.
     This is not the special announcement, by the way.
     The special announcement is this: The next issue of the Teen Team will
be issue 20. However, important events will be happening in The Wedding
Album, by a whole lot of Authors, which will change the Teen Team forever!
Not to mention have lots of fun and excitement for all involved. I urge you
to read The Wedding Album before coming back to the Teen Team.
     This won't be hard. I won't write the next issue for a while. Life has
gotten in the way of my writing, so it might be a few weeks before the next
issue. But don't give up hope! I shall return!
     And now, back to our regularly scheduled teaser questions.

     I THOUGHT THE TEASER QUESTIONS WERE GOING TO BE CANCELED FOR THE
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT?

     Oh, right. Well, we still have to tell people to read Superguy.

     YOU JUST DID.

     Oh.


masonk@tenet.edu                                  Geek Code 2.1:
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