First night: A PJ Masks origin story.

**First night: A PJ Masks origin story.**

## Chapter 1

Archeology
was delicate work. No-one wanted to risk damaging a potential discovery like a fossilized
skeleton or an ancient artifact. So Diego Alvarez took his time carefully
brushing the dust of what he believed to be a stone box. Still, it took much of
his self-control not to hurry up and get out of here. This mine shaft in the
middle of the Nevada desert had been abandoned for over a century, and the
side shaft he was currently working in had been out of use even longer.
Frequently, Diego could hear the wooden support beams moan under the weight of
the ground above them.

Most people
would call him crazy for coming here all by himself, with no-one knowing his
current location, to a mine shaft that hadn’t been maintained in a long time
and thus could collapse any moment. But it was a risk he had to take. It had
taken him 2 years of following clues, but he was positive he had finally come
to the end of his search.  He had been
90% sure when he found the mine, as located in the map he bought at an antique
store 2 weeks ago. This rose to 95% when, while digging in the shaft, his
shovel struck the box. And now that he had brushed away enough dust to see the Totem
pole-like symbol on the box he was 100% sure.

Diego put
the brush aside, gently grabbed the excavated parts of the box, and gave a
small pull. It came free at once. This was the moment of truth; even though
common sense told him to get out while he still could and investigate his
discovery outside, his curiosity was even greater. As he lifted the lid, the
light of his flashlight reflected on the 3 gemstones inside; one red, one blue,
and one green.

“It’s true.
They do exist” he thought to himself, immediately followed by another thought;
“Montague can never know about this”.

He closed
the box again and put it in his bag. Then he backtracked his way to the
entrance of the mine, where his car was still parked. Before driving of, he
made sure to put the wooden boards that had been used to seal off the entry to
the mine, and which he had removed to gain access, back into place.

Convinced
that he had covered his tracks and nobody had seen him here, Diego got into his
car and made his way back to the highway. If he hurried up he could be back
with his family by tomorrow.

Had he bothered to look up, he would have seen
the small, robotic drone hovering above the entrance of the mine, filming
everything.

## Chapter 2

*The following day.*

Even though
it was the middle of summer, and there would thus be no school, the 6-year-old Latino
boy named Connor got out of bed as early as 7:00 AM. Today would be an
important day, since two people close to him would finally come home.

First there
was his father, who had been away on one of his business trips. Last night he
called home with news that he hoped to be back late this afternoon. His father
was frequently away from home, his work as an archeologist and historian often
meant he had to travel all over the world to faraway places. So naturally, Connor
valued the time he did get to spend with him.

The second
person was Greg, his next door neighbor and along with Amaya one of his 2 best
friends. Being an only child, Connor frequently treated Greg as a surrogate little
brother, even though the age difference between them was only 5 months. Every
summer, Greg and his parents would go to Canada for a week to visit an aunt and
uncle there.

For Connor,
the past week had been one filled with boredom. Sure, Amaya was still there for
him, but it just wasn’t the same without Greg also being there. Tonight
however, they would welcome him back home with a sleepover at Connor’s house.

10:30 am,
Amaya and Connor were outside Greg’s house, eagerly awaiting his return. Connor
was carrying a small glass cage containing Greg’s pet lizard, Lionel, which he
had looked after the past week. He also carried his backpack filled with
everything Greg had given him to take care of Lionel, along with something Connor
couldn’t wait to show to his friend.

Five
minutes later, their patience was rewarded when the car belonging to Greg’s
family finally pulled into the driveway. No sooner had it stopped, or Greg got
out and ran towards his 2 friends.

“Connor,
Amaya!”. The two boys exchanged a high five while Amaya simply hugged him. Then
Greg took the cage from Connor and opened it. “Hey there Lionel. Missed me
buddy?”.

The small
lizard happily licked its masters hand. To Connor, it seemed Lionel sometimes acted
more like a dog than a lizard.

“Well, did
you have a good time Greg?” Connor asked.

“Absolutely.
Just look what my aunt and uncle gave me for my birthday”.

Greg’s
birthday was actually a month from now, but since his aunt and uncle lived so
far away they couldn’t come then, so they always gave him his present during
his summer visit. Now, Greg eagerly ran back to the car and returned with his
present.

“Is that
the new Kick McGee action figure?” Connor asked. He sounded impressed,
something Amaya could easily understand. Both boys were huge fans of the Master
Fang show.

“That’s
right. Cool right?”.

Connor
patted Greg on the back. “Well, they couldn’t have given you a better present
Greg, because you’re not the only one with a new toy. Check this out!” Connor opened
his backpack and took out his own latest toy from amidst the stuff meant for
Lionel. It had cost him all of his allowance (including that of the next 3
weeks, something he practically had to beg his mother for), but it was worth
it.

Greg’s eyes
widened. “Gasping Gekkos! A Master Fang action figure!”.

Connor and
Amaya both chuckled at Greg’s choice of words. It was well known that their
friend had a huge love for reptiles.

“That’s
right Greg. Now our team is complete. Baddies beware, here come Master Fang and
Kick McGee” Connor shouted.

Amaya
sighed. “I don’t see what you boys like so much about an old Kung Fu master and
his sidekick. Take Flossy Flash; now that’s
a hero”.

Greg, wanting to prevent a ‘which hero is
better’ discussion, quickly suggested they should help his parents unpack his
suitcase so they could play in his room with their new toys. To this, both his
friends agreed.

The rest of the afternoon Greg, Amaya and Connor spend
in Greg’s bedroom playing with the new action figures.

When asked by Connor which Master Fang story Greg
would like to re-enact, Greg picked “Master Fang vs the Mountain Giant”, one of
his personal favorites. Amaya had the dubious honor of getting to play the
giant, but for once she didn’t protest much. She too had missed Greg.

They played until they heard a car stop outside. Amaya
looked outside. “Hey Connor, I think your dad is home”.

She didn’t have to say anymore. Connor immediately
dropped his Master Fang action figure and rushed out of Greg’s room, followed
by his two friends. “Dad!”

Diego had
barely left his car when Connor crashed into him and wrapped his arms around
his waist. Diego just smiled and returned the gesture. “He there Connor, happy
to see you again too”.

Connor let
go of his dad. “Where have you been this time? Did you find anything?” Diego
raised his hands. “Calm down Connor. Let’s get inside first okay”.

“Here
Connor”. Greg handed his friend back his toy. Connor noticed Greg looked
slightly disappointed. He didn’t expect Connor’s dad to be here tonight too. “Does
this mean the sleepover is cancelled?”.

“Of course
not Greg. We arranged for this before you left for Canada remember?”

“Well in
that case, good luck catching up with your dad. We see you tonight” Amaya added
as she and Greg went back to their houses.

“See you at
6 PM right?” Connor said. Then he ran into his house.

.

Diego had
already gone inside, where he was greeted by his wife Maria. When Connor
entered, the two of them just shared a kiss. The boy quickly turned his head
away; he was still at an age that seeing your parents kiss was something to be
embarrassed of.

“*Connor*”.

The voice
was barely a whisper, but Connor heard it clearly. “*Connor*”. The boy looked around, wondering if they had a visitor.
But no, there was only him and his parents. And the bag his father had put on
the table. “*Connor*”.

Slowly,
without his parents noticing, the boy made his way to the table.

“So honey, how was your business trip. You
left in quite a hurry”.

Diego
rubbed the back of his head. Even his wife had no idea what he just did. “Yeah…
I know…. It was … urgent. But it went well. So, did anything happen here while
I was gone”.

“Not in
this town. Nothing ever happens here. But there was that mysterious robbery in
the museum in Oakland Woods two nights ago, which I already told you about
remember? I kept the article, like you asked” Maria said.

Diego noticed the newspaper on the table and took it. The headline read “*Fulgur Gemma stolen from local museum. Police suspects same thief responsible for previous heists*”. The article came with a picture of the stolen item; a large, blue diamond.

“Montague”
he grumbled while clenching his fists. There was no doubt that this had to be
his old boss’ doing. The Fulgur Gemma was one of the last artifacts Diego had
told Montague about before quitting his job. Maria noticed her husband was clearly
upset about the theft. He always kept an eye on the news for stories about
thefts from museums. She guessed it was all due to his work as an archeologist
giving him a great love for ancient artifacts.

But Diego
had other reasons to worry. The Fulgur Gemma, a name that literally translates
as “Lightning jewel”, was a relic said to hold great powers. Just like his
latest discovery. And Diego could imagine all too well what a man like Montague
would do with such power. If only he had proof so he could report Montague to
the police.

“Cool! What
is this dad?”. Diego looked up from the paper. Connor had taken the stone box
out of his bag, and was about to open the lid.

“Connor
don’t!” Diego snatched the box out his sons hands. “I told you not to touch
anything I bring home. This is very old, and very valuable”.

“Sorry
dad”. Connor knew his dad was right. But still, it was like the voice calling
his name had somehow come from the box. As if it wanted him to open it.

“It’s okay Connor.
I better put this away for now” Diego said, then carried the box upstairs,
making a mental note to call a trustworthy acquaintance to help him hide the
box somewhere safe first thing in the morning.

“Why don’t you go prepare your room for your
guests” Maria asked. All three of them left the living room, not noticing the
same drone that had been spying on Diego earlier now hovering in front of the
window.

## Chapter 3

Douglas Montague
was known all around town as quite the reclusive. He rarely showed himself in
public. What was less known wat that he was a man of ambition. He had his
family fortune, his lakeside lair on the edge of the city. What he lacked
however was real power. But he was working on that, every day.

He also
considered himself a antiquarian, with a preference for legendary artifacts of
power. Here, standing in his personal vault, he admired the various cabinets
with at least two dozen treasures he had acquired so far, either legally or
illegally (though mostly the latter):  the
famous Luna Magnet, the Shield of Ares, the Draupnir, the mask of Tengu, the
ring of Gyges, the Uchide no kozuchi, the Manacle of Osiris, Nanteos Cup, and
the Helm of Awe, just to name a few. And what he had here in his collection was
just a handful of the relics in this world said to grand their wielder various
powers, and Montague wouldn’t rest till he had them all.

Of course,
if anyone knew how to harness the powers of these various relics, it would be
his son; Romeo. The boy was only 6, but already a greater genius that most
adult scientists and inventors. And he shared his father’s sense of ambition, something
that Montague made great use of. The only downside was that, due to his young
age, Romeo’s plans could, at times seem rather silly. Which is why Montague
often offered the idea’s. With their latest artifact, the famous Fulgur Gemma,
Romeo hoped to complete his master work.

Montague
left the vault and made his way to his son’s personal workplace, the
laboratory. Right now, Romeo was working on their latest and most powerful
creation.

The lab was
filled with various machines, and a large computer taking up about half of the right
wall. It had 2 big screens, and a control panels with dozens of different
buttons that could operate not just the things here in the lab, but various
traps and tools all around the mansion.

What took
up most room however was the gigantic, humanoid robot in the center of the
room. It towered at an impressive 80 feet. A glass dome containing the cockpit
was located where it’s head should be. 2 smaller domes containing powerful
energy-guns capable of turning in any possible direction were attached to the
shoulders.

Romeo was
standing at the computers’ control panel, pushing various controls. Multiple
mechanical arms, descending from the ceiling, where putting the finishing
touches on the robot.  In front of the
robot was the metal crate containing the diamond. As Montague approached, Romeo
looked up from the screen.

“Welcome
father, you are just in time to see the completion of The Juggernaut. Come up
here” Romeo spoke. Douglas joined Romeo at the computer, and watched as his son
directed one of the arms to open the crate, lift out the blue diamond, and put
it inside a hatch in the robot’s chest, which then closed.

Romeo
gloated. “Done. With the Fulgur Gemma inside, the Juggernaut has an unlimited
energy supply. With this we conquer the world in no time”. He topped off his
rant with his best attempt at an evil laugh, though it sounded more silly than
threatening.

Montague
patted Romeo on the head. “Great work son. And keep working on  that laugh, you almost got it right.”

Suddenly,
an alarm went off on the computer, startling both the boy genius and his dad.
Romeo raised his goggles. “Could it be?”

Both he and
his dad turned their attention to the computer screen. At the push of a button,
footage filmed by the drone at the Alvarez house appeared on the screen,
clearly showing Diego take the mysterious box back from Connor. Now Montague’s
eyes widened as well.

“Tell me son,
is that what I think it is?”

“Yes
father. You were right to let me keep an eye on that archeolofool after he quit
working for you. He was in Nevada yesterday, and look what he brought home”.
Romeo paused the screen and zoomed in on the box. After enhancing the image,
both could see the totem pole-like symbol.

“Language
boy” Montague corrected him, but he didn’t take his eyes of the screen. “So
Diego found the night totems”. Montague sounded impressed. The Night Totems had
been high on his wanted list, but most people didn’t believe they were real.
Only Diego Alvarez did, which was why Montague had hired him in the first
place. Unfortunately, the man quickly grew suspicious of his boss’ true
intentions and eventually discovered his criminal activities, which made him
decide to quit. Good thing he wasn’t able to get any proof of Montague’s plans or
else Montague could be in jail right now.

Montague
reached into his pocket and took out a handheld transceiver. “Henry, come to
the lab please. I have a job for you”.

Moments
later, a tall, slim built man in his late twenties entered the lab. “You called
for me boss?”.

“Yes. Let Romeo give you some of his droids.
It’s time we pay a visit to an old employee”.

## Chapter 4

*Night in the city, and a fiendish villain is*
about to strike.

In the
Alvarez house, Connor had moved his bed aside so he, Greg and Amaya could roll
out their sleeping bags on the floor. All
three were dressed in their pyjama’s; Connor his blue cat pyjama, Amaya in her
red owl pyjama, and Greg in his green lizard print pyjama.

“What do
you mean ‘it called you’” Amaya asked. Connor, who had just told his friends
about the box, shook his head. “I don’t know guys. It was like something wanted
me to open that box and see what was inside”.

“And did
you see anything?”

“No. Dad
took it from me again before I could.”

“I can
understand the part about your dad being upset when he heard that diamond was
stolen” Greg said. “Stupid thieves. I bet Master Fang and Kick McGee would
could get it back”.

“Not if
Flossy Flash beat them to it” Amaya added. All three lied down, staring at the
ceiling. Sleep would come to them soon.

“Sometimes
I wish I were a superhero” Greg stated.

“Who
doesn’t Greg” Connor added. Then he yawned. “But let’s save that for tomorrow”.

Downstairs,
in the living room, Diego and Maria were watching tv, when the doorbell rang.

“Who could
that be at this hour” Diego wondered as he went to the door. He was savvy
enough not to open the door right away. Small city or not, contrary to what his
wife claimed house robberies were not entirely unheard of, even in this
city.  So he took a look through the door
viewer. What he saw send a cold shiver down his spine. Standing on his doorstep
was that sleazebag Henry, Montague’s right hand man. Hovering behind him where
4 droids; robots the size of adult humans, with a cone-like body, 2 eyes and
arms, but  a hover unit instead of legs,
allowing them to fly.

“Maria,
call the police!” Diego nearly screamed while he bolted away from the door
towards the back of the house. No good, there were another 5 droids positioned
outside there as well. Maria simultaneously reached for the house phone and her
cell phone. But neither turned out to work. “Diego… the line’s dead. And I have
no reception on my cell”.

Diego
cursed. He should have known Montague would give his henchman some device to
sabotage the phones. Especially with that mad scientist son of his. “Honey…
what is going on here?”.

“Maria, try
to find some place to hide” Diego ordered. His mind was working at top speed.
Montague knew. That was the only logical conclusion.  And now they were trapped like rats. He, his
wife and… THE KIDS!.

“Open up
Diego. We know you’re home” he heard Henry yell. “I give you 30 seconds to
surrender”.

Upstairs,
the 3 kids were aroused from their slumber by the shouts. “Who is making so
much noise at nighttime?” Amaya complained.

Connor
looked out the window and gulped. “A guy with a robot army”.

“Say what?”
Greg said. At that moment, the door of the room flew open. Diego ran inside and
pulled Connor away from the window.

“Dad,
what’s going…”

“No time!
Come with me!”. Reluctantly, Connor, Amaya and Greg followed Diego out of the
room. Once in the hallway, Diego pulled down the fold-up ladder that gave
access to the attic. “Upstairs, all of you!. And make no noise.”.

Greg and
Amaya didn’t move. “Mr. Alvarez…. What’s happening”. The fear was evident in
Greg’s voice, and Diego couldn’t blame him. But there was no time. “Upstairs, I
say!”.

As Amaya
and Greg climbed the ladder, Diego quickly ran into the bedroom of his and his
wife, and returned with the stone box. Downstairs there was a loud crash,
followed by Maria screaming. They had broken the door open.

“Connor,
take these. Hide them in the attic somewhere. And again, make no sound,
whatsoever. When the coast is clear, go to one of your friends’ houses and call
the police. I’m counting on you. And I’m sorry for this”.

Connor had
as many questions as his friends, but the look in his fathers’ eyes made it
clear there was no time to ask them. So he took the box and climbed the ladder.
Once he was upstairs, Diego closed the attic door and made his way downstairs,
his hands raised above his head.

“No need to
get violent Henry. I surrender”. Henry was standing in the middle of the room,
with 4 of the droids by his side. Maria was lying on the couch, her eyes
closed. Diego opened his mouth to speak, but Henry cut him off. “Relax. She’s
only sleeping”. He tapped the gun on his belt. “Sleep ray. Another toy the
boss’s kid made. Now, I guess I don’t have to tell you what I’m here for”.

“I know
Henry” Diego sighed. “And you’re too late. I already send them to a colleague
of mine”.

“Did you?
Well, why don’t you tell that to the boss yourself. He doesn’t really like to
hear bad news. Seize him!”. Two of the droids flew forward and seized Diego by
the arms, lifting him in the air and carrying him outside.  Henry followed. “Say Diego, didn’t you have a
son as well?”

“Yes. But
he’s having a sleepover at a friend tonight”. Diego tried to sound calm, but
inside he nervous as hell. He prayed that Henry would buy the lie. That Connor
and his friends would be kept out of this.

“Well, if
you still want him to have a daddy when he gets home you better tell the boss
what he wants to hear. Take him away”. At this, the two droids flew off,
carrying Diego with them. But much to his horror, Diego noticed Henry and the
other droids didn’t follow them, but instead went back into the house.

## Chapter 5

In the
attic, the 3 kids sat on the ground, underneath the one attic window, staying
quiet. They could clearly hear the conversation downstairs, and when Connor
heard the man named Henry give the order to ‘take him away’, he carefully stood
up and looked out the window, just in time to see his dad get carried off

“Dad” he
whispered. Amaya and Greg were still trying to grasp what had just happened.

“This is
the worst sleepover ever” Greg muttered before burrowing his hands in his face.

“Connor,
get down” Amaya whispered. Connor ducked, just in time, as one of the droids
appeared in front of the window, using his build-in searchlights to search the
attic. Fortunately, the 3 kids were just out of its line of sight. After what
felt like hours, the droid moved on.

That was
when something caught Amaya’s eye. It was the stone box. Connor had placed it on
the ground in front of him. The lid was closed, but through the crack she swore
she could see light.

Blue, red
and green light.

“Amaya”. A
voice she never heard before whispered. “Amaya”. Like the box itself was
calling out to her. Just like Connor said it did to him earlier that day.

“Guys…
look” she said. Connor and Greg both looked up, and likewise noticed the strange,
3-colored glow.

All three
of them gathered around the box, mesmerized by the glow, the severeness of the
situation temporarily forgotten.  For a
moment, Connor felt conflicted. He knew his dad wanted him to hide the box, but
at the same time he heard that voice in his head again, calling to him. And the
voice won. He grabbed the lid and tore it off, revealing the 3 gemstones inside.
All glowing like lightbulbs, and with the lid removed they bathed the attic in
bright light.

Which
unfortunately was also noticed by the droid outside! It immediately flew back
to the window, and noticed the 3 kids.

“Cool
Chameleons” Greg said in awe.

“What are
those?” Amaya asked.

Connor was
lost for words, a rarity for him.

The kids kept staring at the glowing stones. First it was just the light that caught there attention, but now it seems as if something was moving inside the stones. Some strange mist, that kept changing shape, taking the form of various animals. In the blue stone, Connor saw it take the form of shark, a wolf, a bat, and finally a cat. The green one showed a sea turtle, a spider, and a lizard. The red one a bear, a parrot, and an owl.

Enchanted by the stones, none of the kids even
noticed the attic door was being reopened…

“HEEEEREEE’SSS
HENRY!” That broke the spell the stones had over them. All kids turned their
head towards the now open attic door, and looked in the grinning face of Henry.
Not wasting the element of surprise, Henry leaped off the ladder, through the
door, towards the box. Amaya and Greg backed off towards the wall. In a reflex,
Connor pulled the box away, with such force that the blue stone flew out of it.

“No!”. While
Henry landed face first on the floor where the box was just a second ago,
Connor jumped up, and caught the blue gemstone mid-air. The moment he touched
it, a shock went through his body, like lightning, while a blue light engulfed
him, bright enough to briefly blind everyone. It started from the cat symbol on
his pajamas and spread from there, shaping itself into a suit. When Connor
could see again, he was on the ground of the attic, resting on his right knee
and left hand. The stone was gone.

Amaya and
Greg both blinked. Where Connor had just been was now a boy dressed in a blue
cat suit, complete with tail and ears. And a symbol on his chest identical to
the one on Connors pyjamas.

Even Henry
seemed unsure what to make of the situation for a moment, but he quickly
regained his senses and grabbed the sleep-ray gun. “Nice trick boy, but that’s
enough. It’s way past your bedtime already, so goodnight”.

But Connor
didn’t feel like sleeping. In fact, he felt more awake than ever. When Henry
aimed the gun at him, time seemed to slow down for Connor. He could see
everything; the window, Greg and Amaya, with the box in front of them (and the
other 2 stones still inside), Henry on the floor, pulling the trigger of the
gun, and the ray from the gun, coming towards him. Slowly. Connor simply ducted
and the ray missed him. He then sprinted towards his friends, grabbed their
hands while putting the box under his arm, and leaped through the window with
them.

From
everyone else’s perspective, Connor appeared to move with inhuman speed, easily
dodging the ray,  then moving like a blue
streak of lightning , taking off with Amaya and Greg in mere seconds.

Henry could
first only stare dumbfounded at the open window, slowly processing the fact
that he was now alone in the attic.

“What the….” He shook his head. “Find them!” he
ordered the droids.

Connor had
no idea where to go, so he took his friends to the first place he could think
of; the park. When they finally stopped, Amaya and Greg both rubbed their heads.
Their stomachs felt like they had just been on a rollercoaster ride.

“What was
that. And how did we get to the park so fast?” Amaya asked.

“I don’t
know” Connor said. He had to admit that the whole situation scared him a
little. He walked over to the pond and looked at his reflection in the water.
Slowly, he touched the ears, and then the tail, to make sure they were there. “Is
that really me?”.

“You’re a
superhero!” Greg cheered. He picked up the box that Connor had dropped and
opened it. “And that stone somehow did this.
I wonder….” He reached inside, but Connor snatched the box out of his
hands. “No Greg. It’s too dangerous”.

“Dangerous.
Connor, your house was just attacked by some guy with robots, and they took
your dad. How much more dangerous can it get?” Amaya argued. “Look at yourself.
We only escaped because of… well, whatever that blue stone did to you.”

“It was an
accident” Connor replied. “My dad said we had to call the police”.

“Too late,
here they come again!” Greg shouted, pointing up at the sky. All 7 droids
descended from the air, Henry riding the front one.

Upon seeing
Henry, Connor gritted his teeth. An anger like he hardly ever felt overtook
him. Amaya was right, this man kidnapped his dad. And he would pay for it.
“Alright then, go ahead you two”.

He opened
the box, allowing Greg and Amaya to take the remaining stones. Connor shielded
his eyes against the glare as the same thing that happened to him now happened
to his friends. The next moment, Amaya was wearing a red and pink suit with a
mask shaped like owl wings and wings attached to her arms, while Greg was
dressed in a green, scaly costume with frills and a tail. Like Connor, the
symbols from their pajamas had been incorporated into their new suits.

“You too,
seriously? Is it Halloween already?” Henry asked. “Get them!”.

6 of the
droids shot forward, two going for each of the kids.

Connor
simply leaped aside with catlike agility, causing the first droid to crash into
a tree. Then he climbed the tree, jumped from the top branch, and landed on top
of the second droid. Before the droid could even try to grab him, Connor had
opened the hatch on his back and pulled out some of the wires. The drone
crashed down. Connor leaped off it just before it hit the ground and safely
landed in the grass.

Greg held
his hands in front of him in defense and closed his eyes, bracing himself for
impact. But nothing happened. He opened his eyes again, and noticed he had
caught the droid. The droid was pushing with all his strength, but Greg stayed
where he was, not moving an inch. Feeling his confidence rise, Greg tightened
his grip on the droid, spun around, and threw the droid into the air like a
frisbee. It collided head on with the second droid targeting Greg. Both
crashed.

Amaya
jumped up to dodge the droids coming for her, and suddenly found herself high
above the trees, hovering in the air.

“I can fly?
… I CAN FLY! Come and get me you metal heads!”. She flew off, closely followed
by the droids. The droids were fast, but Amaya was faster, and, as she
discovered, she had no trouble seeing in the darkness. In fact, her eyesight was
just as good as in broad daylight.

When they
failed to catch up with Amaya, the droids split up, with one continuing the
chase while the other approached her from a different angle. Thinking quick,
Amaya made a sharp turn and went straight for the second droid, while slowing
down just enough to let the first one catch up a little. At the last moment,
she accelerated and flew up. The droids, caught off guard and unable to respond
in time, collided with each other.

“Damn”
Henry cursed as he saw his army get depleted to just one droid. On the island
in the pond, the 3 kids regrouped and watched the wrecks of the 6 droids.

“Did … did we
just do that?” Greg asked.

“I guess
so.” Amaya added.

“Focus guys, there’s still 2 of them” Connor
stated. All three turned their attention towards Henry and the last droid.
Henry was about to fire his ray gun again when Amaya, who was still airborne,
flapped the wings of her suit, creating a gust of wind that knocked Henry off
the droid. At the same time, Greg disappeared.

Connor immediately
dashed forward, leaped on top of the droid and disabled it just like he had
done with the last one. It crashed in the grass, next to Henry. Henry barely
had time to get up when something invisible pulled the ray gun from his hands
and snapped it in half. For a moment both halves hovered in the air, then Greg
materialized again, holding the broken gun. Connor and Amaya joined him.

That was
the last drop for Henry. Now unarmed and outnumbered by 3 superpowered children,
he staggered back, his previous smirk replaced by a mixture of fear and surprise.
But mostly fear. “Alright, alright. Stay back. You win!”

When Connor
took a step forward anyway, what little courage Henry still had melted away. He
turned around and ran towards the exit of the park, screaming for his mother. On
the bridge, he tripped and tumbled into the pond, climbed out again and
continued to run, leaving a trail of water behind.

## Chapter 6

The kids watched Henry run out of the park, looking like he was trying to
set a new world record. Then they all burst into laughter.

“Oh man,
you saw that look on his face. Priceless” Amaya chuckled.

Greg looked
at his reflection in the pond, just like Connor had done before. He flexed his
muscles. “Superstrength. And invisibility. I’m like a superpowered gekko”. That gave him
an idea. “Yeah. I’m not Greg anymore. I’m GEKKO!”

Amaya
joined him, admiring her new wings. “Then I guess I should call myself…
Owlette!” They both turned towards Connor. Realizing his friends expected him
to come up with a new name as well, Connor grinned. “Well, I guess I’ll be the
fearless…”  he struck a pose “*Catboy”*. Then the smile on his face
faded. “But guys, we still have to find my dad. Who knows where those things
took him”.

“But how do
we do that?” Greg asked.

Suddenly, the
symbol on Connor’s suit began to glow again. Those on Amaya’s and Greg’s suits
followed. At the same time, the ground began to tremble.

“Earthquake”
Greg screamed.

“In our
town?” Amaya asked. “Unlikely… wow!”. She leaped into the air just in time as a
fissure opened up in the ground below her. All kids gasped as a large, dark
totem pole rose up from the fissure, big as a lighthouse, and divide in three
sections. Once the Totem had completely emerged, the ground around it closed.

At first
the exterior of the Totem was completely black, making the structure look like
a giant shadow. But as the kids carefully approached the strange object, it
began to change. First the main color changed from black to a shade of brown. Next,
on each section, a symbol began to form.

All three
symbols went through various shapes, resembling various animals. Among others
Connor thought the recognized a scarab beetle, a snake, a bat, a toad, a tiger,
and a falcon. Finally, they settled on their final shape; symbols identical to
those on the kids’ new costumes.

“What is
that?” Greg asked.

Connor
picked up the stone box, and examined the lid. “It looks just like this
symbol”.

On the
bottom section, the green Gekko symbol swung open like a door. As if it invited
them to enter.

“Should we
go in?” Amaya asked.

Connor wasn’t
entirely sure, but he nodded. After everything that had happened so far,
entering this mysterious, giant totem pole didn’t even seem that farfetched.
And somehow it felt like the right thing to do; like they were coming home.

As they
entered the totem pole, the 3 kids found themselves in a dimly lit room, on the
edge of a small pool. The rest of the room was decorated in Victorian style and
clearly built in ditto architecture. There were multiple book cases, and a
large grandfather clock next to a reading chair. A medieval armor stood on the
other side of the room. Gaslights hung from the ceiling, lighting the room with
their flames. And in the middle of the pool the kids noticed a green submarinelike
vehicle that mostly resembled a mix between an Alligator and a small-scale
version of the Nautilus from Jules Verne’s *Twenty*
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

“Look at
this. It’s even bigger on the inside” Connor said.

“Yeah, but
what’s with the interior. This is at least a 100 years old” Amaya said.

As on cue,
the room began to change around them. The gaslights transformed into electric
lamps, bathing the room in a much brighter light. The chair and bookcases
disappeared and made room for a comfy looking couch and a radio. The armor was
replaced by a potted plant. A slide appeared next to the pool. Even the
architecture of the walls changed shape. And in the pool, the submarine
transformed into a green, amphibian vehicle with a dome-style window.

“This is crazy”
Amaya said.

“Any crazier
than what happened so far?” Connor asked.

Greg’s eyes
widened. “It’s perfect. If I were a superhero, this is what I want my HQ to
look like. Wait.. I Am  a superhero!”.

“Hold your horses Greg” Connor said while
placing a hand on Greg’s shoulder. He pointed to what looked like 3 elevator
platforms in the colors green, blue and red. “Let’s see what else this place
has to offer”.

## Chapter 7

The droids
carried Diego out of the city, and towards the lake. Soon, he saw the one
building he hoped never to see again, let alone visit; the Montague mansion. On
the outside a normal looking mansion, but on the inside a supervillain lair.
The front doors opened automatically as the droids approached. Once inside,
they carried Diego through a maze of corridors until they came to Montague’s
office. Inside, Montague was sitting in his luxurious chair, drinking a glass
of wine.

“Diego.
Welcome back” he greeted as the droids put their prisoner down, but didn’t
release their hold on his arms.

“Montague”
Diego growled.

“Come,
come, you can drop the formalities. I’m not your boss anymore after all. Call
me Douglas. Though, it was quite a pity you decided to end your employment. You
were one of the best archeologists and experts on ancient relics I’ve ever
hired, and I could still really use a man of your talents. After all…. You
found them didn’t you? The legendary Night Totems.”

Diego just
glared at his former boss.

“I take
that as a yes. Good thing I decided to have my son spy on you all this time.
It’s also the only reason I accepted you resignation. I knew you would keep
looking for them. And since Henry is not here with us, I guess you didn’t tell
him where you hid them, so he is no doubt still searching.” Montague casually
took another sip from his glass. Diego meanwhile felt his blood starting to
boil. “My son is still in that house. I swear, if he gets hurt…”

“…The worst
that can happen is that Henry sends him to bed. I admit, Henry is a great guy
and all, does his work well, but he’s not exactly the most tactful person.
Hence why I didn’t trust him with any weapon other than that sleep ray gun. So
don’t worry, I’m pretty sure your son is safe, just like your wife. Whether or
not they stay that way though, that is entirely up to you”.

He finished
his wine and got up, gesturing the droids to follow him. “Although I’ve come a
long way with my plans, even without you or the Night Totems, I still have use
for them. And since you know more about them than I do, I require your
expertise once Henry brings them here.”

“Yes, your
plan for world conquest. Couldn’t you think of a more original goal if you want
to be supervillain so badly” Diego snarked. “You’ll never succeed you know”.

“That’s
what most people tend to say. But I gladly prove them wrong. Behold…” They had
reached the door to the lab. When it opened, Diego could see the Juggernaut.
His eyes widened in shock and surprise.

“Impressive
isn’t it. It’s called The Juggernaut. The fruits of me and my sons work.
Titanium armor, armed with energy weapons, and powered by the latest addition
to my personal collection, the famous Fulgur Gemma. But we can still do better
Diego. With the Night Totems as well, I would be truly unstoppable. And unless
you want your family to get caught in the crossfire when I conquer the world, I
suggest you better stop being so stubborn. So I’m going to ask you politely one
last time Diego. Will you help me?”

Diego
stayed silent, part of him wanting to agree, if only for Connor’s and Maria’s
sake. But that would make him an accomplice to this madman’s plans.

Montague
sighed. “Romeo, come here son”. Immediately, the young mad scientist left his
position at the computer screen and joined his dad. “Yes father”.

“Our guest here is unwilling to talk, it seems.
Power up your mind reader would you. We will have to do this the hard way”.

## Chapter 8

The
interior of the top floor of the Totem Pole at first resembled the inside of a
native American tipi, with in the center an airship that mostly looked like a strange
hybrid between a condor, a zeppelin, and a spaceship straight out of a turn of
the century pulp magazine. But just like the ground floor, as soon as the kids
entered the room, it began to change form to a more modern appearance, with the
zeppelin/spaceship hybrid getting replaced by a red flying vehicle with a large
glass dome, wings, claws, and two large headlights.

After
examining this room for a moment, the kids made their way to the middle floor.
This one was already in the process of changing to a modern appearance, though
Connor caught a brief glimpse of a blue, steam train like vehicle before it
changed shape into a blue, high tech car.

“Now this
is what I would call a superhero HQ” Connor said. “Still, it would be nice if
we actually knew what was going on here”.

No sooner
had Connor said this, or a light blue, spherical shaped forcefield formed
around them. Near the bottom, a line of symbols appeared.

“Is this
some sort of computer?” Amya asked. Connor carefully touched the symbol closest
to him and swiped like it was the screen of a smartphone. A new line of symbols
replaced the old one. I guess so, and one with a touch screen option.

“Cool, what
is this for?” Greg touched a symbol that looked like a picture album.
Immediately, several images appeared on the side of the holographic sphere.

The first
picture Connor noticed showed an ancient Egyptian setting, with 3 people
dressed in superhero costumes that looked like a mix between the standard
outfit of Ancient Egyptian soldiers and an animal; a green crocodile, a blue
scarab beetle and a red falcon. Behind them was the Totem Pole, but it looked
notably different from its current appearance. The symbols on the three
sections matched those of the animals the hero’s costumes were based on, and
the whole structure seemed to be made from the same type of stone as the
Pyramids. Below the photo, a caption read
“Warriors of Khonsu”.

The picture
next to it showed Ancient Rome. The 3 people on this picture were a man dressed
in a blue centurion armor with a helmet resembling a lion’s head, a man dressed
in a green gladiator outfit with a helmet resembling a snake, and a woman
dressed in a red dress, with a mask resembling the head of a eagle. Behind them
was the Totem again, now build in a style more akin to Roman architecture. The
caption below read “Lunar Gladiators”.

Next came
pictures of a team of 3 Vikings, a team of 3 Medieval knights, a team of 3
Chinese kung fu warriors, a team of 3 Japanese Samurai, and a team of 3 pirates.
Pictures on the other side of the one with the Egyptian team showed other, even
older teams from ancient civilizations. And finally, on the picture to the far
left, there was a team that consisted of a man in a blue cowby/coyote costume,
a man in a green Navy uniform/alligator costume, and a  Native American woman dressed in in a red dress/condor
costume.

And in
every single picture, there was the Totem Pole, each time different in
appearance to suit the current team and era.

The kids
stared in awe. “Superheroes throughout the centuries” Greg whispered.

“Yeah, no
doubt the ones that came before us. And those on the left must have been the
last ones. No wonder the rooms and vehicles in this totem looked over a 100
years old” Connor said.

“Lunar
Gladiators, Night Knights, Star Samurai’s…. so, what is our team name?” Amaya
asked.

“Can we
discuss that later Amaya. We need to find my dad” Connor said.

On the
sphere, the pictures disappeared and the symbols came back, this time with a
magnifying glass. When Connor pushed it, a video popped up on the side of the
sphere, showing a large mansion on the edge of a lake.

“I know
that place. It’s just outside the city. We drove past it when we went camping last
month” Amaya said. “And look whose there”. On the screen the kids saw a taxi
cab stop at the mansion, and a still soaking wet Henry got out.

“Well, if
that Henry is there, then my dad must be there too. Let’s go get him”. Connor
smashed his right fist into the palm of his left hand. He nog longer had any
intention to call the police. They were superhero’s now.

“How? Greg
asked.

Connor
pointed at the blue car. “With that of course”.

“That car.
Do you even know how to drive?” Amaya asked. Connor rubbed the back of his head
with his hand. “Ehm… no. But I’ll figure it out”.

“Why not
use that submarinecar we saw earlier. That house is at the lake after all” Greg
said.

“Or that
flying machine on the top floor, it could get us there faster.” Amaya suggested.

“Even
better. Why not all 3?” Connor said.

“Alright!”
Greg and Amaya immediately ran to the elevator platforms while Connor entered
the car, buckled up, and grabbed the steering wheel in both hands. Although he
had never driven a car before (it would be at least 10 more years before he
could get his driver’s license after all), holding the wheel still felt
familiar, as if he had done this countless times before. In front of him, the
blue symbol on the totem pole opened up. Connor hit the gas, and the car sped
away. It leaped out of the Totem and landed on the pavement. Above him, Connor
saw the red flying machine take off, while in the pond besides him, the green
amphibian vehicle emerged from the water.

“Gekko to
Catboy, lead the way” Greg’s voice spoke in Connor’s ear. Evidently, their new
suits had built-in communicators.

“Alright
Greg.. ehm, I mean Gekko. And you to Owlette. Follow the Cat-Car!” Connor
ordered.

“Cat-Car
eh” Amaya said. “I’m going to call my vehicle the Owl Glider”.

“And mine
is the Gekko-Mobile” Greg cheered. All three vehicles sped away through the
deserted streets of the sleeping city, towards the Montague mansion.

## Chapter 9

In the lab,
Romeo had locked Diego up in a cage while he waited for his mind reader, a
sinister looking device consisting of a dentist chair, computer and helmet, to
fully charge up. Montague patiently waited with the two droids by his side.

“Done. Put
him in the chair” Romeo ordered The Droids. “Don’t worry Mr. Alvarez, this
won’t hurt. Though, you may suffer permanent amnesia as a side effect”. He let
out another evil laugh. Diego braced himself, he wouldn’t go down without a
fight.

Then the
door of the lab swung open and Henry came in.

“One moment
son” Montague said. “Henry, back from your mission I see”. Then he noticed the
shape Henry was in. “Would you care to explain why you are soaking wet? Or
where the other droids are? Or the Night Totems?”

“Those
brats. They did this to me” Henry grumbled.

“Brats?
Explain yourself Henry” Montague demanded. So Henry told him all about his
humiliating encounter with the 3 young superhero’s. How all of them had taken
one of the stones and transformed into animal themed superhero’s, after which
they trashed the droids and send Henry running, forcing him to take a taxi cab
to get back.

Montague’s
face remained mostly stoic, but his cheeks nonetheless turned red and he
narrowed his eyes. In the cage, Diego’s mouth fell open when he heard Henry’s
story. Romeo grinned. His father was getting angry; this wouldn’t end well for
Henry.

“So let me
get this straight” Montague spoke, trying to maintain his usual calm voice.
“You let the night totems fall into the hands of 3 children, and now they have
their powers and they kicked your butt. And then to think I just told Diego
here what a great employee you are. You disappoint me Henry. And I don’t like
to be disappointed”.

Henry
clenched his hands into fists. “Well, boss. Maybe you should have told me about
what those stones could do before sending me to get them and abduct him” he
pointed at Diego.

Montague
snatched his fingers. The 2 droids grabbed Henry and lifted him in the air.
“You should know better than to talk back Henry, especially after such a big
failure. Son, fire this incompetent fool”.

Henry’s
eyes wend wide in shock. “No boss, please. I can make this right”.

“With
pleasure dad” Romeo gloated. He pushed a button on the wall. A hatch in the
floor opened up and a giant cannon slowly rose up from the ground. Another
hatch opened in the ceiling, revealing the night sky. At Romeo’s orders, the
droids pushed the struggling and screaming Henry in the cannon. Diego put his
hands over his ears, but mostly out of reflex because he saw Romeo and Montague
do the same thing, since his mind was still processing what Henry had said.

With an ear
deafening bang, Henry was shot out of the cannon and through the hatch in the
ceiling. Having ditched his father’s right hand man, Romeo lowered the cannon
back into the ground. “Now father, shall we continue interrogating Mr.
Alvarez?”

“No son”.
Montague noticed the disappointment on Romeo’s face. “I know you were looking
forward to use your machine, but I’m afraid the plans have changed. If Diego’s
son and his friends have the Night Totems now, we may need Diego as a hostage.
And I’m sure he’s more useful to us that way with his mind still intact. Now,
do me a favor and try to track down these young would be-superhero’s.”

Romeo sighed and turned back to his computer
screen. Diego meanwhile sat down against the bars of the cage. “Connor…. please
be careful son” he thought  to himself.

## Chapter 10

Greg
followed Connor until they reached the lake. There he steered the Gekko-Mobile
into the water and continued his way to the mansion from there, while Connor followed
the road. In the air Amaya used her enhanced vision to scan the surrounding
area.

“Guys, I
see a fence and multiple security camera’s. Catboy and I better leave our
vehicles and continue on foot. Gekko, I see a boathouse at the back of the
mansion. You should be able to get close enough if you stay under water, and
make your way in from there”.

“Got it”.
The Gekko mobile dived under. “Are you sure we should just sneak in? Isn’t that
breaking and entering?”

“Yes Gekko.
Whoever lives in that mansion, he took my dad and send those robo-things after
us. He can’t be good”.

That was
when a loud bang came from the mansion, followed by a man screaming. Amaya
steered the Owl Glider aside just in time to prevent Henry from smacking
against her windscreen.

“Owlette,
was that that Henry-guy?” Connor asked.

“Affirmative
Catboy.” Amaya turned around and saw Henry disappear on the horizon. “What do
you think happened to him?”.

Connor
didn’t think anything about Henry aside from ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish’. He
steered the car into the woods next to the road and parked there. Amaya
followed with the Owl Glider. In the lake, Greg reached the boathouse and
examined the closed doors. “Catboy, I should be able to break these open and
get in from here”.

“Hold your
position Gekko” Connor said. He and Amaya had left their vehicles and observed
the mansion from behind a bush.

“I see an
open window at the top floor. I could reach that. And you could sneak in
through the ventilation ducts” Amaya suggested. “If only we knew how many
people we’re up against”.

Connor
hushed her to be silent. Something caught his attention. Voices, one of them
very familiar.

“Guys, I
think I can hear people talking inside”.

“From this
distance?” Amaya asked.

“Why not,
you can see things from far away now right?” Connor responded. “Now let me
listen……there’s 3 people I believe, one of them being my dad. And one sounds
like a kid ….. They’re looking for us!”.

“All the
more reason to hurry up” Amaya said. Connor nodded. “We’re going in”.

At the
boathouse, Greg left the Gekko-mobile and, summoning his new strength, managed
to push the doors open just enough for him to slip through. Inside he stopped
for a second to admire Montague’s huge yacht. “Guys, you should see this”.

“Stay focused Gekko. And better stay invisible too, who knows how many cameras there are inside” Connor said. “You’re next Amaya”.

Amaya spread her wings and flew to the open window, landing on the windowsill. The window turned out to give access to a bedroom. A large and luxurious bedroom. The one thing that immediately got Amaya’s attention was the painting above the extravagant bed. It showed a man dressed in a tuxedo, with a wine glass in one hand and holding a small scale Earth in his other hand. Standing next to him was a young boy dressed in a lab coat and wearing goggles. Both had the same evil smirks on their faces.

“I think I know who those people you heard are Catboy. And they don’t look too friendly”

“Try to reach Gekko. I’m going in too” Connor answered. He took one good look at the fence, decided that the left corner offered the best chance, and sprinted towards it. Once at the fence he leaped into the air and over the fence, landing gently in the yard. Then he carefully made his way towards the ventilation grill, making sure to stay behind bushes or lawn ornaments to avoid being detected, when suddenly he heard something growl behind him. Connor turned around, and noticed an aggressive looking Doberman Pinscher.

He gulped. “Nice doggy”. He took a step back. “Look, I’m not a real cat, I’m just dressed as one”.

The dog however couldn’t care less whether this strange cat was real or just a boy in a costume it seemed. With a loud bark it leaped forward. Connor spun around and ran, fell, and continued on all fours, chased by the dog. In the lab, Montague and Romeo both heard the commotion.

“Dad look. Does that look like a cat to you?” Romeo was watching the security footage on his computer screen, noticing the chase going on in their front yard.  Montague didn’t respond, but Romeo knew enough. He paused the image and enhanced it. “Well look at that.  I think we can stop searching dad. They’re already here”.

“At least one of them is, it seems. And just the one we need too. Turn on the defenses, the others can’t be far” Montague ordered.

Outside, Connor was still running for his life while trying to summon the super speed he used in his fight earlier. Being new to all this superhero stuff wasn’t easy.

“Come one” he muttered. “Super cat speed!”. That did the trick. The markings on his suit began to glow with a blue aura, while Connor rushed towards the ventilation grill, leaving the confused dog behind. He quickly pried the grill open and entered the airway passage. It was cramped, not nearly the size of airway vents in all those spy movies, but being a child Connor was small enough to fit in. Once safe, he contacted the others.

“Sorry guys. I hope they didn’t see that….. oh dang it, they did!”. With his new super hearing, he could clearly hear Montague give Romeo the order to ‘activate the defenses’.

Upstairs, Amaya heard the window slam shut and lock behind her. “Yeah, I noticed. There goes my way out”.

“Alright, let’s try to reach each other. And stay alert”. Connor continued to crawl through the ventilation ducts. Amaya left the bedroom and entered the hallway, looking for the stairs that would take her down to the others. Downstairs, Greg had left the boathouse, staying invisible like Connor had told him to.

## Chapter 11

“This place is a maze” Amaya complained after multiple wrong turns that only led to dead ends. She passed another painting, this one showing only the boy in the lab coat. But as she flew past it, the eyes of the boy in the painting shifted in her direction, like pretty much every painting in an old Scooby-Doo cartoon. Down in the lab, Romeo saw her on his monitor and chuckled. “Hello there birdy”.

He switched to another image, this one showing the hallway on the ground floor, seemingly empty.  Being invisible, Greg didn’t bother to try and avoid any potential camera’s here. Unfortunately for him they were equipped with an infrared lens, so when Romeo switched to infrared vision Greg was clearly visible.

“And here’s another one. Peek-a-boo lizard boy”.

Montague shook his head. “Entering without invitation. I think these youngsters need to learn some manners. Go ahead son, but remember. I want them alive… for now”. Behind them, Diego gritted his teeth.

Romeo pushed 2 buttons. In the hallway, a trapdoor suddenly opened under Greg. With a scream the boy fell in the metal shaft beneath. It wasn’t very deep, barely 15 feet, but that was too high for Greg to jump out, as he soon discovered. Above him, the trapdoor closed again. “Oh no. Guys, I’m stuck”.

“Hold on Greg, I’m coming. As soon as I figure out how” Connor answered. The ventilation ducts were as much of a maze as the rest of the house.

“And I’m a little busy right now” Amaya said, while she barely dodged a net coming at her. One moment the upstairs hallway had been quiet, then all of a sudden, multiple guns had appeared from the ceiling and were trying to capture her by firing nets. She managed to dodge them so far, but the assault made it impossible for her to keep track of where she was going. Soon, she found herself at a dead end again, with a net gun ready to fire right behind her.

Realizing it would be a while before his friends could get to him, Greg punched the wall of the shaft in frustration… and found his hand stuck to the surface. With great effort he pulled it free again.

“Gasping Gekko’s. I wonder…” He pushed his hand against the surface again, and it stuck. Carefully he tried his other hand, then his feet. They all stuck to the wall too, like glue. Greg tried to climb, and it worked!

“Guys, you don’t believe this. I just found out I can climb on walls!”. In no time Greg had reached the trapdoor and pushed it open, reentering the hallway.

Upstairs, the last gun fired it’s net at Amaya. With no way out, she instead hovered in the air, facing the gun as it fired.  “Owl Wing Wind”. For a moment the wings on her suit glowed with a red light, then a gust of wind struck the net midair and blew it back against the wall.

Amaya waited for another net, but none came. Apparently each gun could fire only once. Feeling safe, she left her position and continued her search. After 2 more turns, she finally found the stairs and flew down, where she bumped into Greg.

“Owlette!” Greg hugged her. Amaya hugged him back. “Catboy, you hear us. We’re okay”.

In the ventilation ducts, Connor had heard everything. “Yes. Good job guys, and congratulations with your new powers Greg”. Then he heard something else. The man and the boy. “And I think I know the way out of here. I’ll just follow my ears”.

In the lab, Romeo screamed in frustration. The bird girl and the lizard boy had escaped his traps, and the cat boy was nowhere to be seen.

“Calm down Romeo” Montague said. “Anger is hardly a good advisor”. He looked at the computer screen. “It seems they are near the vault. Don’t bother with any other traps son. I think it’s time I start acting like a proper host, and personally welcome our guests. Keep looking for the third one. This won’t take long”.

Montague left the lab. Romeo tried several more camera’s positioned around the house, but found nothing. Out in the front yard, the dog had retreated to his dog house.

Not in the yard and not in the hallways. So that only left one place. That was when Romeo noticed the sound of something, or someone, crawling through the ventilation ducts.

“There you are. Come in here kitty, I have a surprise for you” he thought.

## Chapter 12

Following
the sound of Romeo’s voice, Connor navigated the ventilation ducts. Finally,
after what felt like hours, he reached a cover and peeked through it. It didn’t
offer much of a view, but enough to tell Connor he was above some sort of
workplace. And there, locked in a cage, he saw his dad.

Excited,
Connor no longer bothered with stealth. He kicked the cover loose; it landed on
the floor of the lab with a loud bang. Then he jumped out of the ventilation
duct, and landed on the ground with the grace of a cat.

“Dad!”.
Connor ran towards the cage and examined the lock. Diego was for a moment too
stunned to talk. Hearing about your son becoming a superhero is one thing, but
actually seeing it is something else entirely. Then he remembered Romeo and his
droids. “Son, you have to get out of here quick”.

“Well well,
look who is here. Catwoman’s little brother. Should I call Batman?” Romeo
emerged from behind the leg of The Juggernaut,  with the 2 droids that had abducted Diego
behind him.

“Who are
you, and what have you done with my dad” Connor asked.

“Romeo Mecano
Montague. And I assume this is what you want”
He reached into his pocket and produced the key to the cage. “Come and
get it, if you can”. The two droids now positioned themselves in front of
Romeo.

“Connor, be
careful” Diego said.

“Don’t
worry dad. We already defeated 7 of those things, I can handle 2 more”.

Romeo
laughed. “Did you really think these are the only ones I have left kitty
litter?” He pushed a large button on the control panel of the computer. In the
back of the lab, the entire wall moved aside like a huge door, revealing at
least 30 more droids.

“Get him!”

Greg and
Amaya meanwhile found themselves outside a large, metal door.  At Amaya’s suggestion, Greg used his new super
strength to break it open, hoping this would be the room where Connor’s dad was
being held captive. What they found instead however was a room that could have
come straight out of a museum, filled with cabinets holding various objects.

“Wow” they
both said in union as they entered the vault.

Greg
admired the golden ring with rune markings on it. He had seen it before
somewhere, but where?

“Just look
at this. An axe, a shield, a.. ninja mask?” Amaya said.

“I see you
like my personal collection” a voice spoke. A man Amaya recognized from the
painting the bedroom had appeared in the open door. “Most kids these days
wouldn’t be interested in old relics”.

“Who are
you?” Greg asked.

The man
smiled. “Didn’t I introduce myself, how rude of me. I’m Douglas Montague, the
owner of this humble house. But who are you young superhero’s? Didn’t you learn
it’s rude to snoop around people’s homes without permission?”.

Greg and
Amaya looked at each other, and then back at Montague. He seemed nice enough,
but there was something about him Amaya didn’t trust. Especially not after
barely escaping capture upstairs.

“Never
mind. I should thank you two. I admit I was
afraid the night totems would be lost to me when Henry said you and your
friend got them and used them to become superhero’s, but here you are,
delivering them to my house in person”.

“Night
totems?  Is that what those stones are
called?” Amaya thought.

“Henry? You
know him?” Greg asked. Montague chuckled. “He worked for me young man. But I
fired him earlier tonight.”

Amaya
narrowed her eyes. “So those bots where yours? And you had them kidnap Connor’s
dad?”

Then Greg
remembered where he had seen the golden ring before. “This ring is stolen. It
was on the new”.

Montague
rolled his eyes. “Stolen, such an ugly word. They wouldn’t sell it to me, but I
just had to have it. It would only be wasted in a museum, when it can do so
much more. Everything in this room can do so much more, if you know how”.

Montague
gently took the crescent moon-shaped device out of its cabinet. “Like this here.
It’s called the Luna Magnet.  Atlantean
technology. Very strong, and complicated. Even I don’t know all its powers. But
I do know it can do this!”

Greg and
Amaya were caught entirely off guard when a purple ray shot from the Luna
Magnet and knocked both of them out of the vault. Amaya was the first to get
back up.

“Kids
should stay out of the business of adults” Montague said as he opened a second
cabinet and took out the bronze shield.

“Owl Wing
Wind” Amaya shouted as she unleashes a gust onto Montague, who quickly held the
shield in front of him. Although Amaya’s attack was strong enough to knock over
a car, Montague didn’t even flinch. Greg came next. He leaped up from the floor
and karate-kicked the shield, but again Montague remained where he was and Greg
simply bounced off.

“Pretty
neat right? The shield of Ares. Protects the wielder against anything his
opponents can throw at him. Very useful against impulsive young hero’s like
you”.  He pointed the Luna Magnet at
Amaya again. This time, the ray didn’t knock her back, but trapped her in a
forcefield and pulled her towards Montague. Amaya struggled against the field,
but to no avail.

“One down,
one to go.” Montague turned towards Greg, who gulped and hastily turned
invisible. “So we’re going to play hide and seek? Alright, I play along.” He
reached into his pocket, and took out a special pair of glasses. “My son made
me these, in case I ever have to go up against an invisible opponent.”

“Run Gekko!” Amaya shouted. Greg didn’t have to
be told twice.

## Chapter 13

There was
no escape the assault. No matter what way he ran, at least 5 droids would block
his path. Connor had managed to disable one of them, but the others would gang
up on him if he tried to focus on another droid. Soon, he found himself driven
into a corner. Romeo laughed. Diego could only watch in horror.

“You really
didn’t think this through did you kitty litter? You get superpowers, and
immediately think you can handle everything. The night totems are wasted on you
and your friends” Romeo mocked him. “And speaking of your friends; don’t expect
any help from them. Right now, my dad is dealing with them, as you can see”. On
the screen behind Romeo, Connor could see Montague chasing Greg while holding
Amaya captive with the Luna Magnet.

Connor
didn’t reply. Romeo was right, he, Greg and Amaya had come here with no plan or
backup. And now he led all of them straight into a trap. What kind of hero was
he? He took another step backwards, and his back the wall. The droids closed in
further.

“Connor,
don’t listen to him. The Night Totems choose you and your friends, I should
have known right away when you tried to take them this afternoon” Diego
shouted.

“Shut up!”
Romeo ordered. He pushed another button, and an electric shock went through the
cage. Diego screamed and fell to his knees.

“Dad, no!”.
Connor narrowed his eyes, his anger rising. Again, like in the attic earlier,
time seemed to slow down while the markings on Connor’s suit began to glow. He
saw the droids closing in on him, the cage containing his dad, Romeo at his
computer, and in the back of the lab the secret compartment that the Droids had
come from. And on the wall….

“Any last
words Kooky Cat?” Romeo asked.

Connor went
down on his knees like an athlete getting into start position for a sprint. “It’s
Catboy. And just 3: SUPER CAT SPEED!”.

What
happened next could only be properly seen with a high speed camera. Connor
dashed forward like a blue lightning bolt, leaving behind a trail of
electricity. He leaped onto the droid closest to him and from there continued
to leap from droid to droid, making his way past his attackers. They didn’t
even have time to respond.  In mere
milliseconds Connor had reached Romeo, knocked the boy scientist to the floor, took
the key, and unlocked the cage. Then he sped towards the droid containment
room, and the thing he had seen there; a lever on the wall marked “Master
Switch”. Behind him he could hear Romeo shout “No” (to Connor it sounded like a
comically slow “NOOOOOOOOOO”). Connor had reached the lever and pulled it  before Romeo even finished expressing his
disagreement with Connor’s plan. No sooner had Connor pulled the lever, or all
the droids fell to the ground, motionless. Connor himself felt his legs go
rubber and he slumped against the wall, exhausted.

“You pay
for that!” Romeo was about to push another button on his computer when Diego’s
hand seized the boy’s wrist and pulled him away from the control panel. “That’s
enough you science brat!”.

Romeo
pulled himself free, but Diego blocked his way to the computer. Seeing no way
out, he turned around and ran, shouting for his dad to come help him. Diego
waited till he was sure Romeo was gone, then he ran towards Connor and pulled
his son into a hug.

“You did it
Connor. I’m so proud of you son”.

Connor was
still catching his breath, but returned the hug nonetheless. “I’m sorry dad. I
wanted  to call the police like you said,
but then that Henry found us and…” Diego put his finger against Connor’s lips.
“Don’t worry about it. Remember what I just said about the totems choosing you?
We can talk it over later. But now, we have to safe your friends. You think you
can walk?”.

Connor
tried to stand, fell, tried again, and succeeded this time. As they walked to
the door, Diego noticed an open toolbox.

“One moment
son”. He took a large hammer from the box, walked back to the master switch. It
only took him two hits to break it off. He then proceeded to smash the screens
and control panel of the computer to bits.

“There.
Even if Romeo comes back here, none of this will be of any use to him anymore”.
Diego took one more look at The Juggernaut. Montague had already come closer to
his plan for world conquest than Diego feared, but there was nothing they could
do about this monstrosity now except keep Montague from activating it. Which
meant they had to find the vault, and hopefully the Fulgur Gemma.

## Chapter 14

“Marco…..
Polo”  Montague playfully said as he
scanned the room, holding the Luna Magnet in one hand and the Shield of Ares in
the other. Amaya hovered behind him, still trapped in the forcefield.

The chase
had taken them from the vault to Montague’s office. Along the way Greg had
thrown a potted plant, and a glass cabinet at Montague, but both harmlessly
bounced off the shield. Right now Greg was hiding behind Montague’s favorite chair.
He was not invisible, but even if he was it would make little difference now
with Montague wearing his special goggles. Greg was scared; so far becoming
Gekko had made him feel older, like he was one of the big boys, but right now
he didn’t feel any older than he actually was.

“Come on
Greg, think!” he thought. If only he could free Amaya. The two of them together
would stand a better chance.

“Give it up
boy” Montague said.

“No, Gekko”
Amaya shouted. “Master Fang and Kick McGee would never give up either!” (“Or
Flossy Flash for that matter” she thought).

Montague
ignored her, but the mentioning of his 2 favorite hero’s got Greg thinking. What
was it Master Fang always told his sidekick about fighting? If your first plan
doesn’t succeed, improvise. And always keep the high ground.

The high
ground! Greg looked up at the ceiling and recalled his escape from the
trapdoor. It was a gamble, but he would have to take it. Feeling his courage
return, Greg took a deep breath and summoned his strength. In correspondence,
the elbow and knee patches, symbol, gloves and frills of his suit began to glow
with a bright, green light. Montague noticed the glow coming from behind his chair.
He used the Luna Magnet to lift the chair into the air and move it aside,
revealing Greg, who quickly ran to Montague’s desk and stopped there, facing
the villain.

“Done
running? I appreciate that. We’ve had fun boy, but it’s getting late and I have
better things to do”. Montague aimed the Luna magnet, but Greg was faster. He
grabbed the side Montague’s desk, lifted it, and swung it at the madman,
forcing Montague to seek cover behind the shield again. The desk struck the
shield and bounced off without harming Montague, but it distracted him long
enough for Greg to climb the wall to the ceiling, turn around, and position his
feet against the wall. He clenched his right hand into a fist which began to
glow even brighter, and with the scream “SUPER GEKKO MUSCLES” he launched
himself off the wall towards Montague.

Greg’s
superpowered fist struck the shield with the sound of a loud gong. The force of
the impact did what all previous attacks failed to do; it created a shockwave
that simultaneously send Greg flying against the wall, and make Montague
stagger backwards. His goggles were knocked off his face, and the Luna Magnet
fell out of his hand, causing the forcefield keeping Amaya trapped  to disintegrate.

Not wasting
any time, Amaya spread her wings, flew towards the light switch, and turned it
off, plunging the room in complete darkness. Without his goggles, Montague was
completely disorientated in the darkness, but Amaya could see just fine thanks
to her Owl Eyes. She flew past Montague, picking up the Lunar Magnet along the
way, and snatched the shield out of his hand. Then she flew over to Greg. “Good
job Gekko.”

Greg was
still sitting on the floor, rubbing his right hand. “Thanks, but I’m afraid I’m
going to feel that in the morning”.

Montague
desperately tried to find the light switch. Amaya could see him blunder around
the room, tripping over his favorite chair. It was quite funny actually, but
there was no time to get distracted. She noticed a door just behind Montague,
flew towards it and opened it. It turned out to be a small walk-in closet.

“Get ready
Gekko” Amaya said. She waited for Montague to get up so he was in the right
position, then shouted “Owl Wing Wind!”. Montague briefly saw Amaya’s suit glow
bright red before the gust of wind lifted him up and carried him into the
closet. Amaya closed the door, and turned the light back on. “Now Gekko!”.

Greg, now
able to see again, moved the desk in front of the door, then put the chair on
top of it. Inside the closet, Montague banged his fist against the door,
demanding to be let out. His normally polite tone clearly starting to crack.

“Come on
Gekko, he’s not getting anywhere. Let’s find Catboy and his dad”. Amaya picked
up the Luna Magnet and the shield, after which she and Greg left the room.

## Chapter 15

They only
made it halfway back to the vault when they ran into Connor and Diego. The 3
friends immediately got into a group hug, while all talking simultaneously
about what they had just done. Diego smiled; superpowered or not, his son and
his friends were still kids at hearth. Still, even with Romeo on the run and
Montague trapped, they weren’t out of danger yet, so he scraped his voice to
get their attention.

“Mr.
Alvarez. We were send by your son to….” Diego held up his hand. “No need to put
up an act Amaya. I know it’s you guys. And I see you already got the Luna
Magnet and the Shield of Ares. Good, we have to get the rest too. These relics
are too dangerous to be left in the hands of that would be -world conqueror and
his son, and most of them were stolen anyway.”

The group
made their way back to the vault. “So, how are we going to transport all this?”
Amaya asked.

“I saw
something in the boathouse. Be right back” Greg ran off. While they waited for
him to return, Connor had time to think about what his dad said earlier.  “So dad. You know more about these Night
Totems right?”

Diego
confirmed this, telling Connor how he had found them just the day before after
years of studying the legends surrounding them. “How much do you know already
son?”

Connor told
his dad how the stones had called out for them, and how after they fought off
Henry, the giant totem pole had appeared and changed shape, both inside and
out, plus the pictures of various superhero teams from different era’s that
they had seen.

Diego
nodded. “That is the master totem. It always appears there were the Night
Totems are active, and adapts to any time and place to serve as a headquarter
for the current team using the totems’ powers. Your powers are tied to it, and
vice-versa.  As for those other hero’s
you saw; you were right, they the previous wielders of the Night Totems.”.

“They
looked quite different from us though Mr. Alvarez” Amaya remarked.

“Yes, the
totems grand superpowers based on animals, but what animals and thus what
powers depends on the wielder. They use the animal that best suits you. Your so
called Totem Animal. And they incorporate whatever the wielder is wearing at
the time of the first transformation into the costume. Judging by those
symbols, I guess that in your cases they used your pyjamas as a template”.

Connor
examined his suit. “Wait, so we’re basically fighting in our pyjamas?”
Suddenly, his suit didn’t seem so cool anymore to him.

Diego
laughed and padded him on the back. “Sorry son. I still think you look cool
though”.

“Where do
these night totems come from?” Amaya asked.

Diego
shrugged. “Nobody knows, they date back to times unknown.”

“Here I am guys, sorry it took so long”. Greg came running back, carrying a large piece of tarpaulin. He spread it out on the floor.  “Put everything in here”.

Using his super speed, Connor emptied the vault in just 10 seconds, putting all the relics on the tarpaulin, which he then folded up and tied into a knot. With his super strength, Greg easily lifted the makeshift bindle. “Now let’s get out of here”.

Romeo had tried to find his dad after fleeing the lab, but when he found him in his office he discovered Greg and Amaya had trapped Montague in the closet. Being unable to move the heavy desk and chair himself, Romeo went back to the lab (pausing once to hide when that lizard boy ran by with a piece of tarpaulin), only to find the place trashed. Now, he kicked one of the droids in frustration. Why had he even created that master switch? In case his droids would rebel against him? As if that would ever happen.

Anyway, they were useless now. And so was his computer. But fortunately, they had neglected to sabotage the other inventions here, including his anti-gravity machine.

As he ran back to the office, he could hear the others make their way towards the front door. Curious, he made a small detour to check the vault, and discovered it was empty. “Dad’s gonna hate this” he thought.

He returned to the office and zapped the desk and chair with the machine. Both floated up from the floor and Romeo easily pushed them aside and stepped back just in time to avoid getting hit when the door flew open. His hair a mess due to Amaya’s Owl Wing wind, and his hand red from banging against the door. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. “Thank you son. Now, where are they?”

“Outside. And they took the relics. All of them. They also trashed my lab!” Romeo stomped the ground in frustration, acting very much like a typical angry 6-year-old.

For Montague, that was the final straw. In spite of his wise words to Romeo earlier, anger began to cloud his mind. Forget world conquest. Forget getting the Night Totems. It was time for revenge first, even if it meant letting the whole world know he had a giant robot.

“Get to the lab Romeo. It’s time to take the Juggernaut for a test drive”.

## Chapter 16

The 3 hero’s and Diego reached the front door without encountering any other trouble. Once outside they ran into the Dobermann Pincher again, but Greg easily scared him off. Then they made their way to where the Owl Glider and Cat-Car where hidden.

“Put the tarpaulin down Greg. I can carry it back to the city with the Owl Glider” Amaya said.

Greg did as told. Diego meanwhile examined the 2 vehicles. “So these came with the Master Totem you say? Incredible. Now that is one aspect of the Night Totems even I didn’t know about”.

Connor nodded. “They used to be different vehicles when the previous team had them, but they changed along with the Totem. There’s also the Gekko-Mobile, but it’s in the lake right now”.

“Superpowers, super vehicles, super HQ…. best night ever!” Greg cheered. “Just think how much we can do now that we’re superhero’s”. Connor and Amaya agreed.

This made Diego  frown. He had to admit that Connor and his friends had done a great job here tonight saving him and stopping Montague, and he knew the Night Totems choose them, but Diego wasn’t too keen to let them continue their lives as superhero’s. Still, he found it hard to tell them this and crush their dreams, seeing how happy they all were. “Well… let’s just talk about that when we’re home alright?”

“What do you mean? We can keep our powers, right dad? You said they choose us” Connor protested.

Diego sighed and kneeled down so he could talk to his son eye to eye. “Connor, being a hero is a great responsibility and at times a very dangerous job. You already experienced that tonight. You kids shouldn’t have to worry about putting your lives at risk.”

“But….” Greg began, but Diego gestured him to be silent. “Like I said, we can discuss this at home. Right now, we have other matters to take care of. Now, did any of you bring your cellphones? Montague took mine”.

All three kids just shook their heads. Their phones were still in Connor’s room. “Too bad. We will have to call the police later then. At least Montague can’t use the Juggernaut now even if he escapes from the closet”.

“Juggernaut? Is that that giant robot we saw in the lab?” Connor asked. Diego nodded. “Yes, but it’s useless to him now that we have the Fulgur Gemma”.

Amaya’s eyes widened. “Fulgur Gemma? That giant blue diamond from the newspaper? But… we don’t have it here!” she tapped the tarpaulin.

Diego froze. “What?”

“She’s right dad. It wasn’t in the vault” Connor agreed.

Diego slapped his hand against his forehead. He had been so caught up in answering Connor and Amaya’s questions about the Night Totems that he had failed to properly check the vault, and then when Greg came back Connor had packed up everything. Diego only assumed the Fulgur Gemma was among the relics. That meant Montague still had the diamond somewhere, probably already placed it in the Juggernaut! They had to get back to get it, or at least check if Montague was still locked up.

But it was too late. A loud bang shook the ground, hard enough to make Greg and Connor lose balance and fall. Behind them, the entire right wing of the mansion detached from the rest of the building and moved aside, creating a large gap in between. And rising up from the floor between both halves appeared the robot Connor had seen in the lab, with Montague at the controls.

All four  gasped at the sight of the metal giant.

"By my cat's whiskers!"

"Fluttering feathers!"

“Gasping gekkos!"

Diego’s choice of words to express his dismay at seeing the Juggernaut was not an unusual euphemism, but something he would normally never say in front of his son (or children in general). To keep it polite, let’s say that it involves number 2.

In only 2 steps the Juggernaut reached the group, each step shaking the earth. From the dome, Montague spoke over the robot’s external speaker “Congratulations, all of you. You made me launch my ultimate weapon ahead of schedule. Well, we had fun so far, but I have the last laugh!”

The Juggernaut lifted it’s right leg and brought it down in an attempt to stomp Connor and Greg. Greg, summoning his super gekko muscles caught the foot and barely managed to keep it from crushing them. Drops of sweat formed on the boys forehead. “Guys… I …. can’t … hold …it!”.

Amaya shot forward, grabbed both boys, and dragged them away from underneath the Juggernaut’s foot before Greg’s strength gave out.

“Owlette, get the relics. Gekko, take my dad out of here in the Gekko-Mobile.” Connor ordered while he jumped into the Cat-Car. “I’ll distract him!”.

“Connor, don’t” Diego protested, but Connor had already started the engine and the car sped off, drove two  circles around The Juggernaut as if to taunt Montague, and then sped away over the road.

“So those brats have machines of their own. Oh well, it doesn’t matter” Montague hissed as he turned the Juggernaut around and ran after the Cat-Car. Behind him, Amaya started the Owl-Glider, used it’s claws to pick up the tarpaulin, and flew off, mentally wishing Connor good luck. Diego refused to leave his son behind; Greg had to use his super strength to drag him to the Gekko-Mobile. In the house, Romeo watched his father chase the Cat-Car.

“Get them dad. Finish them!”.

## Chapter 17

Connor put the pedal to the metal,  but the Juggernaut easily kept up with the Cat-Car. He kept one eye on the road while using the other one to glance over the various buttons, hoping his car had anything he could use to defend himself. There were some weapons installed in his car it seemed, but if they would do any good against this giant was doubtful.

There was flash, and a white ray struck the road in front of the Cat-Car, blowing away a large portion. Connor yelped and steered sharp to the right, narrowly missing the hole in the road. From the Juggernaut, Montague aimed and fired again, with both guns this time.  The two rays struck the road and tore a large section of it away. There was no way to steer around this hole, so Connor hit the brakes and turned the car around.

Going back
was no option, the Juggernaut would crush his car if he tried. Connor’s options
were down to either abandoning the car and try to flee through the woods on
foot, or try to fight back, even if the latter would be a David vs. Goliath
scenario.

“Fire
Furballs” Connor shouted as he pushed the corresponding button. The car’s grille
opened up and two furball like projectiles shot out. They struck the Juggernaut
in the chest, but bounced off without inflicting any damage.

Montague
chuckled as he aimed the Juggernaut’s weapons. “You’ve been a thorn in my side
all night boy. Now, say goodbye!”.

Desperate,
Connor tried the button next to it marked “Cat-roar”. Just as Montague was
about to fire, the Cat-Car unleashed a sonic wave at the metal giant. Unlike
the furballs, this attack actually managed harm the robot. Inside the cockpit
several of the dials suddenly went haywire while the guns, previously aimed
directly at the Cat-Car, both changed position. One fired its energy ray off
into the distance, while the other hit the road next to the Cat-Car. The
explosion launched the car into the air. It crashed 20 feet further into the
woods, and the impact activated the ejection seat. Connor was launched out of
the cat-car, into a tree.

Montague
pushed several buttons, trying to regain control of the Juggernaut. Fortunately
for him, the effect of the Cat Roar was only temporarily; the Juggernaut’s
systems could handle a lot of punishment. Still, he made a mental note to
himself to have Romeo install a defense against sonic weapons and other devices
that could scramble electronics once this was over.

“Find me
that cat” Montague ordered as he activated the Juggernaut’s scanners. In no
time he located Connor. The boy had just climbed down the tree and tried to get
back to his car, when the Juggernaut planted it’s leg between him and the
vehicle, cutting of his way. In his panic, Connor fled, variating between
running on two and four legs. The Juggernaut followed, cutting its way through
the woods, sending trees flying left and right.

Connor had
never been to these woods before and thus didn’t know his way around. Soon the
woods opened up and Connor found himself on the edge of a gorge. Before he
could turn around, the Juggernaut had caught up with him.

“Oh my.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide” Montague gloated. “I don’t even have to waste
my guns on you”. At the push of a button, the Juggernaut raised its left leg
and brought it down with full force, shaking the earth and causing a large
chunk of rock on the edge of the gorge to break off. The part that Connor was
standing on. The boy screamed as the plunged into the depth. Soon, he
disappeared into the darkness below.

“They say cats always land on their feet. But I
doubt if that also applies to boys in catsuits.” Montague said.  He would come back to find Connor’s corpse
later, and hopefully get the Night totem back from it. Right now, he had two
more pests to take care of. And to take back what was his.

The Owl
Glider reached the city first, closely followed by the Gekko-Mobile. Amaya
tried repeatedly to contact Connor, but the boy didn’t respond.

“Catboy,
come in please!”. In the Gekko-Mobile, both Greg and Diego hoped, and prayed
for their friend/son. Diego also mentally cursed at that monster Montague.

“It’s no
good, either our communicators don’t work over long distances or something bad
happened to him” Amaya said.

“Now what?”
Greg asked. They were close to their homes again, but neither of the kids
wanted to go there. If Montague followed them with the Juggernaut, leading them
straight to their homes would mean putting the lives of their parents in
danger.

“I suggest
we go to the Totem. That computer-thingy might have the answers” Amaya
suggested.

“We really
have to think of a better name for that” Greg stated, but he knew now was not
the time. Diego said nothing, he just nodded as Greg looked at him for
comformation.

The entire way to the totem both hero’s tried
to call Connor, but to no avail. Diego had given up on his plan to call the
police. Sending them to Montague’s house so they could find his lab would be
one thing, but they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Juggernaut.

## Chapter 18

Connor opened
his eyes and quickly examined himself. No injuries, it seemed. He had survived
the fall, but wasn’t out of trouble yet. He had landed on a branch sticking out
of the side of the gorge, with still a deep fall below him.

He tried to
contact Amaya and Greg to warn them about Montague, but neither responded. They
must be out of reach. Realizing he had to get back to his car and rejoin his
friends, he scanned the cliffside for a way up, but found none.

“If only I
had Gekko’s powers right now” Connor sighed. This was the second time tonight
he found himself in a tight spot, and how his super speed could get him out of
this one was beyond him. He couldn’t possibly built up a momentum on this small
branch. And meanwhile Montague was on his way to the city. Even if Connor were
to escape, how could they possibly stop that machine of his? Connor realized
his dad was right, being a hero was dangerous. And difficult.

An idea
formed in his mind, based on a memory from something he had seen on tv. Connor
doubted he could have thought of it under normal circumstances, but it was like
his new powers also made his mind sharper. At least when it came to ideas of
how to use his powers.

Carefully,
Connor grabbed the branch with both hands and let himself slide off. Then he
began to swing back and forth, like a gymnast on a bar. Faster, and faster
until he was doing full 360 degree swings around the branch. When he finally believed
he was going fast enough,  Connor let go
while swinging up, and used his feet to give himself an extra push up.

“Super Cat
Jump!” Like a lightning the boy shot into the air, out of the gorge. He landed
at the edge of the gorge, still a bit dizzy from the swings, but at least out
of his predicament.

Finding the
way back to the Cat-Car was easy enough, considering the trail of destruction
the Juggernaut had left behind. Connor got behind the wheel again and carefully
steered the car out of the woods back to the road. Then he hit the gas.

“Hold on guys,
I’m coming”.

Diego couldn’t believe his eyes. The inside of the
Master Totem seemed to come straight out of a superhero comic book (which he
still like to secretly read, without his wife’s knowing). He knew how the Totem
would adapt to the new wielders of the Night Totems, but he never expected
this. Still, it couldn’t take his mind of his son.

Amaya meanwhile was browsing the computer, looking for
anything that might help.  The first
thing that came up were files about the Cat-Car, Owl-Glider and Gekko-Mobile.

“Check this
out. Our vehicles have quite some tricks up their sleeves it seems”. She opened
another file. “Wow, and so does this totem”.

“Still,
will it be enough to fight back against that thing?” Greg asked.

“The diamond”.

Both kids
looked at Diego. “The Fulgur Gemma. We have to get it out somehow. That robot
is powerless without it”.

“Any idea
where it is located?” Greg asked. Diego did not, but it seemed the computer
did. A new image, taken from what the Owl-Glider had observed, popped up on the
holographic sphere, showing the Juggernaut with the jewel where a human’s heart
would be.

“I believe
there’s a hatch in the torso. It must be behind it” Diego said. He had enough
time to observe the robot while being trapped in Romeo’s lab after all.

That was
when the ground began to shake. Not much, but still enough to get their
attention. The image on the holographic computer changed again. It now showed
the skyline of the city, as seen from the top of the Totem. Staring at the
screen, Greg, Amaya and Diego could clearly see a dark shape appear on the
horizon that was beyond a doubt the Juggernaut.

“Oh no.
He’s here!” Amaya said.

“What do
we do now?”. Amaya tried to think, but nothing came. Diego also said nothing.
If the Juggernaut was here, that could only mean something had happened to his
son.

## Chapter 19

The
Juggernaut had already entered the suburbs. Fortunately, in a small town like
this there were hardly any people out in the streets at this hour, but still a
few parked cars got crushed underneath the giant’s feet.

Many people
woke up when the metal giant marched passed their houses, and looked outside to
see what was making so much noise, but most where too late to catch a glimpse.
For those who did see the Juggernaut, reactions varied. Some were convinced
they were still sleeping and this was some sort of weird nightmare. Others
believed aliens were invading. And others thought of a terrorist attack.

Now, Diego
wouldn’t have to call the police, even if he still intended to, because plenty
of other people did so. The Juggernaut had just reached the industrial district,
with Montague actively looking for the 2 hero’s that took his treasures, when
the first police car arrived at the scene. The two officers inside could at
first only gasp at the metal colossus.  Still, they had to do something.

The police
officer sitting behind the steering wheel got out first, a bullhorn in his
hand. His partner followed, with drawn gun.

“Attention,
pilot of the giant robot. Stand down and come out with your hands up”.

Montague
was actually amused by this, even though he considered the police interference
an unwelcome distraction from his attempt to find the 2 hero’s. How were they
planning to force him to leave the Juggernaut?

He pushed a
button and the Juggernaut kicked the police car away like a football. The
officer holding the gun opened fire, but the bullets didn’t even scratch the
surface of the Juggernaut.

4 more
police cars followed now. Annoyed, Montague aimed the Juggernaut’s weapons and
fired. The first shot forced the cars closest to him to swerve left and right.
One hit a lamppost. The other came to a stop just short of crashing into a
warehouse. The other 2 cars stopped and backed up just before the Juggernaut
could hit them. Instead, the second shot blast a hole in the road.

Now, the
Juggernaut grabbed the two police cars closest to him and lifted them in the
air. The officers inside barely made it out in time. Montague made his machine
smash the cars together into a metal ball, and throw it away.

Convinced
that he had made his point clear, Montague activated the speaker again. “Listen
officers. I advise you to stay out of my business, if you don’t want to risk
any lives. And to the hero’s that stole what was mine, if you’re listening; I
suggest you show yourselves and give me back what you took…”.

He then
aimed the Juggernaut’s guns at a nearby warehouse and fired. The energy rays
completely disintegrated the lower part, causing the rest to collapse. “…Or the
next building I aim for will not be an abandoned one”.

In HQ,
Amaya, Greg and Diego had seen everything on the screen. And heard Montague’s
threat.

“Come on Gekko”
Amaya said.

Diego
grabbed her arm. “Amaya, Montague won’t stop if you give him what he wants. If
he gets those relics and the night totems, it will only give him more power”.

Amaya was
having none of it however. “We have to do something Mr. Alvarez. If we can keep
him in the industrial district, he can’t do much damage. And he won’t shoot at
me if I’m carrying the relics. He values them too much for that”.

Greg
crossed his arms. “I agree with Owlette here. We may be the only ones who can
stop him”.

Diego could see the determination in their eyes.
Along with a level of maturity he had never seen in any other six-year-old. No
doubt another effect of their new superpowers.
Reluctantly, he agreed.

## Chapter 20

Both Greg
and Amaya returned to their vehicles, the Owl-Glider once more carrying the
makeshift bindle with the relics, and they made their way to the industrial
district. Along the way, both checked out the features of their vehicles that
the computer had informed them about.

“Turn
invisible Gekko. According to the computer your vehicle can do that” Amaya
suggested. Greg agreed.

The police
had retreated, though Montague knew they probably didn’t go too far and were
already calling for more backup. Possibly the national guard. So he had to
hurry things up.

Just as
Montague was about to pick his next target to make it clear he meant business,
he saw the Owl-Glider approach him. Moments later, Owlette was hovering in
front of the robot, but well out of its reach.

“Wise
choice, young lady”. Montague made the Juggernaut stretch out it’s hand. “Now,
hand those relics over please, along with the Night totems you and your friend
have”.

Amaya
however stayed where she was, hoping to stall time, and praying she was right
about Montague not wanting to shoot her as long as she had something he wanted.
“First, what did you do to Catboy?”.

Montague
grinned. “Oh, he put up a fight, but it was only a token effort really. If he’s
lucky, that fall in the gorge killed him instantly. It would be less painful
that way”.

Greg, who
had been sneaking up on the Juggernaut from behind, hit the brakes upon hearing
what Montague said. Connor, gone? No, it couldn’t be. In the Owl-Glider, Amaya
was equally lost for words.

“Sorry for
your loss, but if you cooperate now I will make it quick for the two of you”
Montague said.

Defeated,
Amaya lowered the Owl-Glider so the Juggernaut could reach it. That was when Connor’s
voice spoke over the communicators in their suits. “Gekko, Owlette. Come in
please!”.

“Catboy.
You’re okay!” Amaya cheered.

“I bet you
have 9 lives, just like a real cat” Greg remarked.

Connor was racing
back towards the city at top speed. Greg’s remark actually made him smile in
spite of the situation. “Well, I’m down to 8 now I’m afraid. Anyway, I’m coming
to you. Try to keep Montague busy. We’ll regroup once I get there”.

“Got it!”.
As the Juggernaut reached for the tarpaulin, Amaya prepared to unleash the
Owl-Glider’s equivalent of the Owl Wing wind, hoping to knock the giant robot
over so they could get to the hatch and the jewel. Unfortunately Greg, unaware
of this plan, tried to attack the Juggernaut on his own. He drove the
Gekko-Mobile at the giant at full speed, made a sharp turn, and smashed the
Juggernaut’s left leg with the tail of his vehicle.

Although
the impact failed to knock the robot over, it did cause it to suddenly swerve
to the side, just as Amaya pushed the button. Worse, it’s hand struck the
tarpaulin, and tore it open, releasing all the relics mid-air. The gust of wind
from the Owl-Glider missed the Juggernaut but struck the relics, and blew them
in all directions.

“No!” Greg,
Amaya and Montague shouted at the same time.

For a moment
nobody moved, as they all processed what just happened. Amaya scolded Greg for
what he just did, while Montague finally lost the last of his patience. His
face turned red as a tomato and if this were a cartoon no doubt steam would
have come out of his ears.

“Alright…NO
MORE MR. NICE GUY!”. Montague turned the Juggernaut’s energy guns each in a
different direction and fired. Owlette barely dodged the ray fired at her,
while Greg put the Gekko-Mobile in reverse and hit the gas to dodge the other
ray.

“That guy needs
to cool down” Greg said as he pushed a button marked ‘Water Jet’. A stream of
water shot out of the front of the vehicle and struck the Juggernaut, but the
robot was completely unfazed by this. It simply walked towards the
Gekko-Mobile, not hindered at all by the water, forcing Greg to back off. He
struck the wall of the building behind him, but to his surprise and awe the
Gekko-Mobile simply continued to drive up the wall instead of coming to a stop.

“Cool
Chameleons! My car can scale walls too…. YIKES”. He notice the Juggernaut’s
fist coming towards him and sped away just in time. As Greg drove the
Gekko-Mobile over the building, the Juggernaut chased him, repeatedly smashing
it’s fist against the wall to try and hit the Gekko-Mobile.  Owlette tried to attack the Juggernaut from
behind, but each time she got too close the guns fired their energy rays at
her, forcing her to retreat back into the air. She once tried the Owl Wing
Wind, but at this distance it had no effect on the metal giant.

Finally,
the Juggernaut’s punches weakened the structure of the building and it
collapsed. As the wall crumbled underneath the threads, the Gekko-Mobile fell
to the ground, landing on its roof. Fortunately for Greg, the glass didn’t
break and the Gekko-Mobile immediately rolled back on its threads. Before Greg
could get away however the Juggernaut stepped on the vehicle’s tail, preventing
Greg from fleeing.

“Gekko, get
out of there!” Amaya shouted as she tried once more to attack the Juggernaut,
but again Montague fired the guns at her and forced her to back of, while he
made the Juggernaut raise its right arm to crush the trapped Gekko-Mobile.

Faced with
the choice of either giving up his vehicle or getting crushed along with it,
Greg was about to abandon the Gekko-Mobile, when suddenly further down the
street the Cat-Car appeared from around the corner, still driving at full
speed. Montague paused, his eyes refusing to believe what they saw. Surely,
that boy couldn’t have survived his fall?

Connor,
having followed the battle through their communicators, didn’t hesitate. While
speeding towards the Juggernaut, he  first
fired another furball, then immediately unleashed another cat-roar. The
furball, given extra momentum by both the Cat-Car’s own speed and the
Cat-Roar,  smashed against the
Juggernaut’s leg, causing the robot to step off the Gekko-Mobile’s tail.

“Guys,
quick. We have to regroup!” Connor ordered as he turned the car around. Greg
and Amaya followed, both dodging several more energy rays from the Juggernaut.

“Glad
you’re back Catboy. Now, what do you suggest we do?” Greg asked.

“Can’t we
lure him to the Totem? We have more weapons there, I saw them on the computer-sphere”
Amaya suggested, but Connor shook his head. “No Owlette, then we have to lead
him straight through the city center. People will get hurt that way”.

“But our
vehicles alone aren’t strong enough” Greg said defeated.

“Not
individually, but together they are” Connor said. “Think of this as Master Fang
vs. The Mountain Giant. Now let’s see, we better take out its weapons first.
Gekko, you think you can reach them with the Gekko-Mobile?”

“I guess,
if he stands still long enough” Greg said.

A plan
already began to form in Connors mind. So far the only thing that had any real
effect on the Juggernaut was the Cat-Roar and its ability to scramble
electronics, but even that wasn’t good enough. Unless….

“I have a
plan, are you with me?” Connor said. To this Amaya and Greg simultaneously said
“Of course we are”.

“Alright then, it’s time to be a hero!” Connor
shouted. Amaya and Greg both cheered.

## Chapter 21

All three
vehicles stopped and faced the Juggernaut as it closed in on them again.

“Gekko, get
in position. Owlette, I need you to use the Owl-Glider to lift the Cat-Car up”.

“I hope
it’s strong enough for that” Amaya replied. As the Gekko-Mobile turned
invisible, the Owl-Glider firmly grabbed the roof of the Cat-Car and flapped
it’s wings. Slowly, the car was lifted into the air, until it was on the same
hight as the Juggernaut’s cockpit. Connor could see Montague, his face filled
with pure rage. On each side of the cockpit, the energy guns were charging up
for the next shot.

“Alright
Montague. You thought the cat roar from my Cat-Car was bad before? Try it like
this”.

Connor turned the dial of the Cat-Roar to max, and hit the
button. A huge sonic wave shot from the grille, and struck the Juggernaut
directly at the cockpit. This time the dials in the cockpit didn’t just go
haywire; some of them outright exploded. The Juggernaut came to a complete
stop, all it’s systems temporarily shut down.

“Alright, he’s weakening. Your turn Gekko!”.

The Gekko-Mobile, still invisible, raced towards the
temporarily immobilized giant. “Come on Greg, don’t get scared now” Greg told
himself. He steered the invisible Gekko-Mobile towards the Juggernaut’s right
leg, and using the wall-scaling option he drove the vehicle up against the
giant robot. When he got close enough to the right shoulder, he made the
Gekko-Mobile spin around and smashed the tail against the gun with full force.

The anger on Montague’s face was replaced by dismay as the
right gun dome suddenly broke off and fell onto the pavement below. Not wasting
time, Greg drove over to the left shoulder and repeated the process, knocking
the other dome off too.

The Juggernaut’s left hand clenched into a fist. Connor
noticed. “Gekko, get out of there, he’s moving again. Owlette, put me down
quick.”

The Gekko-Mobile safely made it back to the ground before
the Juggernaut could fully move again. It rejoined the other 2 vehicles.

“Now, time to end this” Connor said. As the Juggernaut took
another step forward, Connor launched a furball from the Cat-Car’s grille. It
landed in front of the Juggernaut’s foot, and just as Connor hoped the robot
stepped on it, causing it to lose balance.

“Now!”. Simultaniously, the Gekko-Mobile fired it’s water
jet and the Owl-Glider it’s wind gust. The two attacks finished what the
furball had started and the giant robot toppled over, crushing another
warehouse in the process.

Greg and Connor both left their vehicles. Connor grabbed
Greg and ran with him to the fallen giant, while Amaya closed in with the
Owl-Glider. She got there first, found the hatch using her Owl Eyes, and sank
the claws of the Owl-Glider into it. Greg joined her, using his Super Gekko
Muscles. Together, they managed to break the hatch open, revealing the Fulgur Gemma.

As the
Juggernaut tried to push itself back up, Connor grabbed the diamond and pulled
it out of the robot. Immediately, the Juggernaut fell back to the ground. In
the cockpit all the lights on the control panel went out. Montague desperately
pushed several buttons, to no avail.

“Looking
for this?”. Through the glass Montague saw the 3 hero’s stand on the
Juggernaut’s torso, with Connor holding the Fulgur Gemma.

“Give that
back!” Montague tried to open the dome so he could get out of the cockpit, but
without power even that part of the Juggernaut no longer worked. Montague was
trapped in his own machine.

Connors
ears picked up the sound of police sirens, lots of them. Evidently, the backup
the police had asked for had arrived. “Sorry Montague, we have to go”.

He placed
the Fulgur Gemma at the foot of the robot, where the police would surely find
it. Then the hero’s fled the scene just in time before the police arrived. From
a safe distance, they watched as 3 dozen police officers surrounded the now
motionless robot and it’s prisoner.

“We did it”
Amaya whispered. “We saved the day”

“But it’s
night” Greg remarked.

“Well, then in the night we saved the day”
Connor said. “Sounds good, we should remember that line. Come on, let’s pick up
my dad and go home”.

Inside the Totem, Diego had followed everything
on the screen. And even though it’s commonly believed that men shouldn’t cry,
right now he could not hold back some tears of joy. Never before had a father
been more proud of his son. And his son’s friends.

## Chapter 22

It was 2 Am
when Connor, Amaya, Greg and Diego finally returned to the Alvarez home. Maria
was still asleep on the couch.

“Man, I’m
tired” Greg said. “So, how do we take these costumes off? I don’t want to go to
bed dressed as a lizard”.

He grabbed
the sides of the mask and tried to pull it off his head. Immediately, there was
a green flash, and one second later Greg was dressed in just his pyjama’s
again. Connor and Amaya likewise tried to remove their masks, and just like
Greg they transformed back.

Greg tried
to lift up the couch, and found he couldn’t do it.

“Bummer,
looks like I’m not strong anymore”.

Connor
tried to run, but found he likewise no longer had his superspeed. Amaya didn’t
even try to fly.

“Sorry
kids. Your powers only work when the Night Totems are active.” Diego said.

“Speaking
of those, where are they? And why am I suddenly wearing this bracelet?” Connor
asked. Amaya and Greg likewise noticed the bracelets that had appeared around
their wrists. Each decorated with the same symbol as on their pyjama’s.

Diego laughed.
“They are in there” he pointed at Connor’s pyjama “and in there” he pointed at
the bracelet. Their power now resides in your pyjama’s and these bracelets, and
with them both you can transform into superhero alter-ego’s, just like all the
heroes who had them before you did. But only at night of course, since they
don’t work during the day”.

“So, we’re
stuck with them Mr. Alvarez?” Amaya asked.

“No, if you
are willing to give up your powers the totems will reform into the stones they
originally were and you can give them to somebody else. Or hide them somewhere,
like the last team did. But you don’t have to do that. Keep them”.

Connor’s
mouth fell open. “Really, you mean it dad?

“Yes. I
know I said we had to talk it over, but after how you defeated Montague and his
Juggernaut, I can say they are in the right hands. And besides, other than me,
Montague, Romeo and Henry, nobody knows I found the Night Totems so nobody will
come and question me were they are”.

“Speaking
of Romeo and Henry, what about them?” Amaya asked.

“I’m sure
the police will handle that now that they got Montague in custody. Especially
when I go to them tomorrow to testify against Montague. So why don’t you kids
go to bed? I know the Night Totems reduce the amount of sleep their wielders
need, but you’re still young”.

None of the
kids protested. 5 minutes later, they were back in their sleeping bags in
Connor’s room. Tired from their first night as heroes and their victory against
Montague, all of them slept well into the day.

## Chapter 23

*“And so, reclusive millionaire Douglas Montague*
has been arrested on charges of domestic terrorism, property damage, owning a
weapon of mass destruction, theft of the Fulgur Gemma and most likely many
other valuable artifacts, and a long list of smaller crimes. When searching his
mansion, the police found evidence of this madman’s plan for world conquest,
remains of a secret laboratory and a list of 2 dozen artifacts that have been
reported stolen all around the world over the past 4 years, although the
artifacts themselves were not found in the mansion.”

Watching
the afternoon news Diego and Maria both saw footage of Montague being escorted
into prison. Behind them Greg, Amaya and Connor pretended to be playing, but
secretly they too watched the news.

“He’ll be
lucky if he gets only a life sentence” Diego remarked.

“You still
didn’t tell me how you escaped honey” Maria said. Diego just smiled. “Wait and
see”.

The anchorwoman
continued: “*In a statement earlier today*
the police made it clear they had no hand in taking down Montague and his giant
robot. We also spoke several witnesses who claim they saw 3 rather unusual
vehicles fight off Montague’s robot. Simultaneously, there is this mysterious
totem pole that has suddenly appeared in the park”.

Now footage
was shown of the totem pole, with 2 police officers examining the strange
structure, trying to determine what it could be.

“*Finally, we spoke with local archeologist*
and historian Diego Alvarez, who used to work for Montague and claims to have
been abducted by his former boss last night, but thankfully was saved by 3
superhero’s who, according to him, were the ones that took Montague down.”

It was a
good thing his parent’s backs were turned to them, since Connor blushed upon hearing
this. Greg and Amaya’s cheeks likewise turned red.

Maria of
course wanted to know everything about these heroes, but Diego only told her he
didn’t know who they were or were they came from. When she asked him about the
stone box he brought home the day before, Diego claimed he gave it to the
police as evidence.

“Your
hiding something for me honey” Maria said, but decided not to press the matter
any further. After what happened last night, she was happy that her family was
still safe and sound. After she left the room, Connor, Greg and Amaya joined
Diego on the couch.

“So, how
did things go at the police station Mr. Alvarez” Greg asked.

Diego
silenced the tv. “Well Greg, with what I told them on top of the evidence they already
found, I wouldn’t worry about Montague anymore for a long, long time. And don’t
worry about him knowing your true identities. A man like Montague is way too
proud to admit he got beaten by 3 kids, even if they were superpowered kids. He’ll
keep this information to himself. The police also found Henry. He has some
broken bones, but is otherwise fine, and from what I understood he too is going
to testify against Montague in return for a lighter sentence”.

“And
Montague’s kid, Romeo?” Amaya asked.

Diego
frowned. “Unfortunately, he’s too young even for juvenile hall, and I don’t
think any jury would believe a 6-year-old boy could build such dangerous weapons
as the Juggernaut. He will probably be send to live with other relatives or in a
foster home”.

He turned
the volume of the tv on again, just in time to hear the anchorwowan conclude
her story about last night’s events. *“Of*
course, the one question that remains. If these heroes are real, who are they?”

“Yes, who
are they?” Amaya mimicked. Connor and Greg laughed. “Good one Amaya”.

“No Connor,
I’m serious. We still haven’t thought of a name for ourselves” Amaya said.

“How about
the Lizardvengers” Greg suggested.

“Greg, only
your powers are based on a lizard” Connor remarked.  “That also rules out my suggestion of Night Cats”.

“Let’s see,
our powers only work at night, our costumes are based on our pyjama’s, we wear
masks…” Amaya began, then paused. She looked at Connor and Greg, and realized
they were following the same train of thoughts.

All nodded. “We are… THE PJ MASKS!”.

Meanwhile, far away
from the Alvarez’ home, Romeo was in his new room. The guest bedroom of a
distant aunt he had been send to live with.

The boy was
angry. No, that was too light a word. He was furious. His dad was in jail.
Their house has been confiscated by the authorities. The only thing Romeo had
been able to save before the police arrived was his mobile laboratory, which he
had stored in the garage of the mansion.

“I’ll get
them. That kitty litter, that lizard boy, and that bird brain. All of them” he
thought as he examined the blueprints he had been working on for the past 3
hours. They were for a robot, with a large oval shaped body, arms and legs that
could stretch to many times their usual length, and a purple eye on top of its
head. When completed it would be Romeo’s new helper. A far more useful one than
those droids he build for his dad.

“I will avenge
you dad. And conquer the world. For the both of us”.

## Chapter 24

*Night in*
the city, and a brave band of heroes is ready to face fiendish villains to stop
them messing with your day*.*

In their
respective bedrooms, Connor, Greg and Amaya eagerly waited for the sun to set.
When it finally did, all of them used the bracelets to transform into their
superhero alter-ego’s.

Amaya and
Greg had decided not to tell their parents about their new powers, at least for
the moment. And Connor’s mother was likewise still in the dark, so only his
father was there when Connor once more transformed into Catboy.

“I’m not
sure if I will ever get used to seeing that” Diego said. “So, what villain are
you after this time son?”

“No villain
dad. But we still have to find those artifacts Montague stole and that Owlette
and Gekko accidently scattered. We can’t let them fall into the wrong hands”.

Diego
couldn’t agree more.

The rest of
the night, the 3 heroes went on a scavenger hunt through the city. With the
computer, which they dubbed the PJ Picture Player, they managed to locate and
recover pretty much all the artifacts. When morning came, the first 2 police
officers who went to work to relieve the night crew found the artifacts neatly
stacked up outside the police station, along with a note. By that time, the PJ
Masks had already returned home.

But to call
the mission a complete success would sadly be an overstatement, since two
artifacts remained missing. The Luna Magnet, of which Greg and Amaya had
already experienced what it could do, and the Ninja Mask that Diego, when
Connor told him about it that morning during breakfast, identified as the Mask
of Tengu.

“Just to be
curious, what can that mask do dad?” Connor asked as he finished his cereal.

“I’m not
sure Connor, but I believe it grants the wearer instant martial arts skills
comparable to those of a well-trained ninja, and the ability to summon an army
of smaller ninja’s to back him up” Diego said.

Connor
sighed. That was definitely not something you would like a villain to have. Just
like that Luna-Magnet with all its powers. Still, they got most of Montague’s
loot, and sure those other two relics would turn up somewhere, someday.

Just like
some new villains would likely come to town now that there were superhero’s. That’s
how it always seems to go right?  But
when they do, Connor and his friends would be ready to face them. They would
save the day…. during the night.

**The end? No, this is just the beginning.**