The Diablo County nuclear power plant consists of a small facility with two large containment domes encasing twin nuclear reactors generating eleven hundred megawatts of electricity. The plant sits on a rocky section of coastline on the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by large amount of land to which, for security purposes, the General public has no access. Save for the roads leading to the plant and the plant itself, the area is in pristine natural condition.
The containment domes are massive, in the literal sense of having a lot of mass, built to prevent the leakage of radiation in the unlikely event of a major nuclear catastrophe. It has been estimated that the domes can withstand the impact of a fully fueled jet plane without suffering significant damage. If there is a direct attack on the power plant by armed terrorists or alien invaders, the facility maintains a well trained and equipped security force to defend itself. Simply put, the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility was as safe as any nuclear power plant in the world could be.
Just off shore, something resembling the claw of a lobster, but several orders of magnitude larger, reached out of the water and pulverized an unsuspecting seabird that was resting lazily on the waters, bobbing with the gentle waves. The genetics of the seabird, like all the life forms the monstrosity attached to the claw met with, were incorporated into its morphogenetic structure. As the creature clambered onto the rocky beach, it took its first gulps of air into quickly developing bird-like lungs. The creature’s eyes acclimated themselves to the new, waterless environment and its legs developed muscle mass sufficient to allow it to walk on land as easily as it had scurried on the bottom of the sea. Random gene expression caused black and white feathers to sprout along the monster’s back.
The creature scuttled up the beach and over the two layers of barbed wire topped electrified fencing, breaching the power plant’s security. Alarms went off, and security protocols were initiated. The monster scurried in a slight sideways zigzag for the nearest dome, containing reactor number one. As the monster closed the distance to its target a large dark green van roared into view, screeching its brakes and cutting off the creature, halting its advance. A dozen armed men tumbled out of the vehicle and without a moments hesitation began to open fire.
Bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the creature’s enormous lobster claws but penetrated its shark-like head, penetrating the thick shark bone skull and destroying the simple brain within. The creature spasmed violently, spewing thick luminous bile from its cavernous mouth. The legs of the creature buckled and collapsed beneath it. The armed response team waited with fingers poised on triggers, but to all appearances the creature was dead. The smell of rotting seafood filled the air.
“Hold your positions!” shouted the team leader, not daring to take a step closer.
More security forces arrived, surrounding the unmoving creature. Homeland Security had been notified, and the call was kicked upstairs to the White House and the Wonder Heroes. Though the threat appeared to be over, the security personnel stayed alert. Alien lifeforms were tricky and unpredictable. The sole job of this security detail now was to simply contain the threat until experts could arrive.
The green gem at the heart of the creature forced the development of a second brain, fusing genetics appropriated from seabird and shark. Writhing dendrites established connections with those parts of the creature’s nervous system still intact, and then, recognizing a weakness, the gem encased the newly formed brain in a strong chitinous skull, similar to the larger claws that had proven to be bullet proof.
To the shock of the assembled security team the creature suddenly stood up on its spindly legs and began to advance towards the containment dome again. The security forces, now more than three dozen men and women, immediately opened fire. As bullets tore the creature to pieces, its mouth opened wide and the monster screeched with pain and rage, angry and birdlike. Every bullet wound seemed to heal as quickly as it tore through the creature. The loss of a limb barely slowed the creature as it quickly spawned an improved replacement.
The creature reached a small electric vehicle used by maintenance crews to get around the facility and abandoned in the wake of the creature’s attack. Oversized lobster claws ripped the car into a torrent of pieces, forcing some of the security forces to retreat. One man was caught by a piece of debris and fell. Despite the nonstop fire of the automatic weapons and the copious wounds the creature was suffering, it scurried forward and with a series of quick claw attacks murdered the injured man and ripped his body to shreds.
Human genetics were quickly parsed and processed. Most of the traits of humanity were instantly discarded as being useless to the creature, though two qualities were found instantly useful: the brain and opposable thumbs. The bird/shark hybrid brain was augmented with human forebrain and a facility for simple logic. With this new structure in place the gem downloaded its full programming into the creature’s brain. With a flash of understanding bordering on the spiritual the monster reared back, now standing twelve feet tall on two legs.
The creature raised its lobster-clawed arms into the sky and roared its name to the winds. “I am Tūkaitaua! Destroyer of armies!”
Bullets now bounced harmlessly off the exoskeleton of the creature. Tūkaitaua sported a head with forward looking eyes, another useful human trait, and a wide mouth of shark-like teeth. Its body was dark gray with a red clay mottling. Feathers sprouted and molted from his back, as if the creature were holding its wings, eager to show themselves, at bay.
Tūkaitaua now ran on two powerful legs, and with the snicker-snacks of its mighty claws it cleaved through the security forces, leaving the scattered remains of their bodies in its wake. Below the fearsome claws the monster grew a second set of smaller, more human like arms, and in these it now held assault rifles culled from those security forces cut down in battle. Now able to return fire with deadly accuracy and seemingly unable to be hurt, Tūkaitaua forced the retreat of the security forces. In mere seconds the creature found itself outside the dome of reactor number one.
The security forces had retreated and were regrouping. Tūkaitaua made a few test swipes at the concrete dome, and determined that its claws could slice into the reinforced concrete easily. Soon the monster was using the curved blades of its deadly claws to dig a tunnel through the impenetrable dome, towards the heart of the nuclear reactor within.
Kalomo attempted to stay focused on the seemingly endless parade of religious and political figures delivering their comment and eulogies on the fallen Wonder Heroes, but his mind continuously wandered to the safety of his mother and father, and his two younger brothers, Pemba and Choma. The General's comments at the morning briefing had rattled him. Kalomo knew that his father would never abandon the sporting goods store he had spent so many years building into a small yet steady business against great odds and much competition from national chain stores. His mother was a teacher with many years seniority in the Abilene School system and his brothers, both thirteen years old, had friends and lives in Texas.
Kalomo hated to think that his family might have to give all that up because of the danger his new job brought upon them, but all that paled beside the secret he planned to spring on his parents when they visited tomorrow. Becoming a Wonder Hero and putting all their lives in danger was one thing, but what he planned to tell them tomorrow was even bigger news. The youngest Wonder Hero had no idea how his parents might react.
Kalomo pushed these thoughts aside as his attention was snapped back to the present, because Matthew O’Dette, Wonder Hero Ultra, was taking the podium. Matt’s three year-old niece Cassie was standing by his side, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, her finger in her mouth, watching the gathered crowd with an occasional smile.
“My sister Terry was my best friend growing up…”
“Mommy!” said Cassie, recognizing the name.
Matt reached down and squeezed Cassie’s hand. “That’s right, Cassie, mommy.” Matt looked back at the small crowd of mourners, “She was my best friend growing up. Even when I went off to college, and met Paul and Jeff, and called them my best friends, I knew I was lying, it was always Terry. Even after she married Jeff, and I married Paul…”
Jay nudged Kalomo and shot him a smile. Kalomo shook his head. He had been trying hard to work with Jay and ignore his shortcomings, but it was much harder when he behaved so immaturely.
“…we didn’t grow apart, we grew our family,” continued Matt, squeezing Cassie’s hand again. “Cassie,” Matt gestured towards an older woman in the crowd. “Mary Kettles, Paul’s mother, who I am proud to say is like the mother I never had, and Jim and Nancy Stillman, Jeff’s parents and the best grandparents anyone could ask for.”
The alarms on the Wonder Gauntlets chimed.
Cassie rolled her eyes and said, “Uh-oh!”
Matt wiped a tear from his eye and said, “Dammit.” Cassie shot her uncle a look for using a bad word. Matt looked at his niece apologetically and said, “Sorry Cassie.”
General Rumpole stepped closer to Susan, Theodore, Jay and Kalomo. He was listening to his Bluetooth, getting the same information, in different form, that the gauntlets were feeding the team about the situation at the Diablo County nuclear power plant.
“Listen, you four go on ahead," said the General, his voice low, "Let Matt finish up here, and he’ll join you in a couple of minutes.”
Jay leaned in. “Who’s the team leader?”
“It’s only for a few minutes…”
Jay was insistent. “We don’t know what we’re doing…”
The General frowned. Jay was being too loud. “Crimson," said the General, pointing at Susan. "Take charge. Do what you can until Matt gets there. Now hurry.”
Jay punched his fist into his palm, and summoned the armor of Wonder Hero Jet. An instant later the teleporter dematerialized the team and whisked them across the continent to Diablo County, California.
Cassie had noticed Jay’s transformation from the podium. She knew exactly who that Wonder Hero was. “Daddy?” The little girl looked to her Uncle Matt for confirmation.
“That wasn’t daddy, Cassie.”
Cassie looked confused, and sad.
Tūkaitaua had tunneled halfway through the twenty feet of reinforced concrete that separated it from the radiation within when the bullets that the security forces had been ceaselessly raining upon the creature's back suddenly ceased. Tūkaitaua concluded that the humans had given up and were now running away, hoping to escape the coming nuclear catastrophe. The creature felt no emotion, but understood that no matter how far the humans ran, it would not matter. There was no escape for these creatures from a planet Tūkaitaua planned to destroy.
The monster heard a voice from behind.
“Hey! Lobster-Man!”
Apparently not all the humans had fled for their lives. Tūkaitaua ignored the words. The humans possessed no weapons capable of delaying it for long. This idea was quickly reassessed when a sudden blast of golden energy coursed through the creature’s body, conducted along its exoskeleton. The effect was paralyzing. Tūkaitaua felt every nerve in its body tingle with the aftereffects of pain.
Weakened but not vanquished, the monster twisted its head one hundred and eighty degrees and saw a human, encased entirely in some sort of golden armor, standing behind him.
“That's right, I’m talking to you!” said Theodore.
Wonder Hero Gold ran forward and grabbed Tūkaitaua by one of its claws and, with more strength than the monster’s understanding of human genetics deemed possible, hurled the creature out of the twelve-foot deep tunnel. Tūkaitaua was suddenly in the daylight, but its birdlike eyes adjusted quickly to the glare. The monster’s head jerked in response to the voice of a human female.
“Jay!”
Tūkaitaua attempted to rise to its feet, only to be immediately blasted with a soul destroying ray of jet-black energy, energy that seemed to weaken the creature's strength and sap its will. The blast caused Tūkaitaua to drop back to the ground, gasping for breath.
Before the monster could determine a defensive course of action there came the voice of the human female again. “Kalomo!”
Tūkaitaua twisted its neck in time to see another human, again in full armor, white where the other was gold. With a screech that called to mind both a bird of prey and the roar of an enraged primate the creature moved to rip and chop the human, finding nothing but empty air. Wonder Hero Ghost gracefully sidestepped the attack and summoned a vorpal blade of blinding white energy. In two quick strokes Tūkaitaua’s claws were sliced off, falling harmlessly to the grass.
Tūkaitaua raised its smaller, human arms, each bearing an automatic rifle, and fired a full barrage of bullets at Kalomo. “I am Tūkaitaua! Son of Wigu, destroyer of Worlds!” screeched the monster with desperation and pain.
Kalomo instinctually raised his hands and took a step back, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off his armor. “I’m Kalomo, son of Ezekial, seller of tennis rackets!” To Kalomo the bullets felt like little more than light rain.
Behind Tūkaitaua, Susan vaulted forward, summoning vibrant crimson energy around her right hand. When the team had arrived Susan had taken readings of Tūkaitaua, and the Wonder Computer had immediately identified the alien gem within the creature as the source of its power. With this information Susan was able to lock her armor’s targeting systems on the gem with barely a thought. As Tūkaitaua continued to buffet Kalomo with harmless bullets, Susan punched through the crunchy exoskeleton and grabbed the jewel.
The creature shuddered, understanding its defeat an instant before it could no longer understand anything. With a furious "Hai!" Susan removed her arm from the creature's back, ripping the gem free from its cocoon of sinews and cartilage. What was left of Tūkaitaua screamed and thrashed and died in a violent, yet ultimately harmless fit. After a few moments, its fury exhausted, the creature fell silent.
The Wonder Heroes gathered around Susan as she held the gem in her hand. “What should I do with this?” she asked.
Over their comms the Wonder Computer said, “The gem is very dangerous, and should be kept in stasis until it can be safely destroyed.”
Jay looked at the gem. “We should throw it into the sun.”
“The resulting super nova would destroy the Earth,” said the Wonder Computer simply.
Kalomo laughed. “Let's not do Jay's idea.”
Everyone, even Jay, laughed.
There was a flash of blue energy as Matt teleported in beside the body of Tūkaitaua. The assembled Wonder Heroes jumped at their teammates unexpected arrival. Jay summoned his protective ebony energy shield and then quickly dismissed it, hoping nobody would notice.
Matt kicked at the alien’s body absently and said, “Good job.”
“Thanks,” said Susan, tossing the gem to Matt, who caught it and examined it more closely.
“These things spawn in the hearts of stars,” said Matt, “causing them to go supernova, and spreading their seeds to other systems. Once they have a host body they can generate enough power to become almost impossible to kill.”
Matt held the gem out in his hand and the team watched it vanish as the Wonder Computer teleported the dangerous alien seed into secure storage deep inside Wonder Base. Matt retracted his helmet and, as if given permission, the rest of the team followed suit. They could now talk face to face.
“I’ve got to get back to Cassie," said Matt, “All that’s left here is cleanup, and that’s not our job.” Matt paused, for a moment, collected his thoughts and said, “Listen, the Stillmans, Cassie’s grandparents, are having a little gathering, and they asked me to invite all of you. They especially want to meet you Jay, you took over their son’s job, after all. The rest of you too, of course.”
The team exchanged quick looks, and they all nodded. Susan was pleased that the entire team immediately accepted the invitation.
“I mean,” continued Matt, “I know it's going to be weird…”
“We’d love too,” said Susan.
Matt sprouted a small smile, "Thank you," he said.
With a flash of multicolored light the Wonder Heroes teleported away.