Stan Goodman looked at the five cards in his hand. He didn't know what he was going to do with them. He'd better stall until he knew what he was going to do with what he had. He still had plenty of time before things got really desperate.

Quest Card One: Overt alien invasion which the characters have to repel, or reduce to no effect.

Quest Card Two: The heroes are relaxing at a local bar when they realize that some villains are doing the same thing. Do they attack, or do they let them leave and mix with the crowd on the street.

Quest Card Three: A daring robbery has gone bad and the villains are on the loose in the city. They have to be captured.

Quest Card Four: A young boy has a rock that can turn him into a rock monster. The heroes have to help him be a hero instead of taking his revenge on the local bullies

Quest Card Five: A cyber pagan ritual is being held at the edge of the city. The event must go off without a hitch.

Stan decided that before he put the quests in motion, he needed to know what his heroes were doing. That would help him decide what he wanted to do.

“All right, guys,” said Stan, rubbing his hands together and looking at the cards in their slots. “It's a quiet day in Grail City for the most part. There's a big effigy burning on the outskirts of town for later in the day, toward sunset. What are you guys doing, and where are you in the city?”

“Jonah will be on his home turf on the Southside, at a convenience store, buying lottery tickets,” said Marv Finger. “He's using his luck powers to win so he can give the money to charity.”

“Punch is at work at the local fast food place,” said George Kane. “Say on the east side.”

“We'll call it McWeeny's,” said Stan.

“All right,” said George. “I'm making hot dogs for the local crowd.”

“Sighter will be where they are setting up the effigy for later,” said Arnold Drake. “He might help out if they need it.”

“That will be going on here,” said Stan. He pointed to a spot near the Coastal Highway. “After it's over, they plan to use the debris as part of the new landfill as packing.”

“Shade will be running through the city,” said Gail Dixon. “She has to work to keep in fighting trim as a vigilante.”

“Where do you think you would be on the route at the moment?,” asked Stan.

“About the middle of the city,” said Gail. “She lives on the Northside, and runs south until she reaches the end of her route. Then she teleports back to her place.”

“Gadget will be working in his lab,” said Nick Haney. “He's always trying to improve his arsenal.”

“I'm going to need a list of what you usually carry at one point,” said Stan.

“I got it right here,” said Nick. He passed over a sheet of paper with a list on it.

Stan nodded. He put the list down next to his notes as he looked over the table.

It was time to get started.

“It's a beautiful day in Grail City,” said Stan. “The residents are going about their businesses with varying degrees of peacefulness. But our heroes are unaware of that as they are wrapped up in their personal agendas. They know nothing of the trouble that is about to envelop the city in the tentacles of doom.”

“Tentacles of doom?,” asked Marv.

“Yes,” said Stan. “Tentacles of doom. It has a nice ring to it.”

“Fine, fine,” said Marv. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” said Stan. “Let's start with you, Marv. Then we'll work our way around the table.”

Jonah scratched off the gray cover on a lottery ticket. He didn't always win big, but it was enough to pay his bills and he made sure to give the rest to people who needed it. He had good luck when he helped people, and bad luck when he didn't.

He walked out of the convenience store a few hundred dollars richer, smoothie in hand. He planned to drop most of the money at the Humane Society. What he kept would get him groceries and pay his electric bill.

He came across a boy crying. He paused. He wasn't good at helping people with emotional problems. He looked around for the boy's parents. He didn't see any likely candidates.

“What's up, bud?,” Jonah asked. “Why the crying?”

“The big kids pick on me,” said the boy. “I found a rock. It lets me turn into a rock. I want to squash them.”

“I don't see any kids,” said Jonah. “Would you like a smoothie instead? I think it will cheer you up some.”

“Why would you give me anything?,” asked the boy.

“When I do good things, other good things happen,” said Jonah. “For example, I give you this smoothie, you feel better. Then you use your rock to help someone else down the road that needs it.”

“What if I want to be a villain?,” asked the boy. “Maybe I want to hurt bullies more.”

“That's up to you,” said Jonah. “Nobody can really tell you what to do. Personally, defending yourself is okay, but hurting somebody just to get even doesn't seem that good.”

“Do you have to fight?,” said the boy.

“All the time,” said Jonah. “Sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes you don't have a choice. What I'm talking about is just hurting people because you can. There's a difference.”

A shadow blocks out the sky above the crowded street. A long aircraft hovers over the city. It vaguely resembles a fish to Jonah on the ground.

Shade, as Wicca Kidd, jogged through the middle of the city. Once she reached the center of the Southside, she would use her natural power to get home almost instantly.

A group of joggers ran ahead of her. She paced them. She didn't have any intention of joining a group. She liked to run alone.

She noted the tattoo of the number five on one of the runner's hands. She took a closer look and thought that he might be one of the Number Gang. Should she try to take them on, or call for help? She wasn't sure she could deal with the gang without her weapons.

The group took a turn and headed down a side street to a bar. She jogged by the street and used her ability to get to the roof of the bar without being seen. Did she go in after them, or wait? If she waited until they came out, the bystanders in the street would be a hazard.

She decided she needed help. She could take two, or three, of the gang, but she didn't expect to win against greater numbers with their experience as powered rogues. Punch would be perfect for this.

A shadow fell over her vantage point. She looked up and saw a long aircraft hovering over the city. This was exactly what she needed right now.

Mar Shortman, Gadget, worked in his lab. He liked the peace and quiet it gave him. He had created some of the greatest weapons known to man. He used them as a hero to protect the city.

Now he was trying to figure out how to create an energy source that ran on destroying trash. Once he had the kinks worked out, he could use the invention to clear local landfills and junkyards while helping to power parts of the city.

One of his alarms went off to let him know someone was robbing one of the city police stations. He frowned at that. It took a lot of nerve to rob the police.

He grabbed his arsenal and headed for his Gadget Mobile. He needed to get to the scene and help out. Testing his new weapons would just be icing on the cake.

He expected the others would arrive on the scene as soon as they could. His alarm patched them in so they knew something was going on. Once the five of them were together, they could take these guys down.

Gadget dropped down the shaft to where the Gadget Mobile waited in its launch tube. He fell into the command seat. The vehicle closed up around him. He told the computer pilot to get them to the scene.

The Gadget Mobile launched from its bay, flying from the lab front. A shadow covered the city. Gadget pulled on his arsenal as he looked at the large ship floating just above him.

Luckily, the auto pilot kept them from plowing into the aircraft.

Sighter stood on the edge of the work area. He watched as the people put together the large statue made of televisions, computers and other things. It reminded him of a wicker man.

He wondered what burning all that plastic and metal would do.

He thought things would go okay. Everybody looked like they were having a good time. He could see the police mixing in with civilians. He doubted there would be major problems with cops on the scene.

At least there weren't any problems to ruin his hanging out.

He spotted a small shadow on the ground. He looked up. Something was up there and coming down fast. He magnified his vision. He saw a ship shaped like a fish dropping down on top of the city.

It looked like an alien invasion was on the way.

His radio buzzed. He looked at the screen. It told him that Gadget and Shade were both asking for help at different locations. He didn't know how he was going to get over to help them with that thing floating overhead.

All he wanted was to watch an effigy burn. Now he was going to spend the rest of his day fighting.

Sighter yelled for the police to get the civilians to cover. That was all he could do until he figured out how to group with the others.

Punch put a hot dog together with love and care. He smiled at his masterpiece. Life didn't get any better than that. He put it in a wrapper and wrapped it up before putting it on a tray to send to his waiting customer. A bag of fries went on the tray beside the hot dog.

He looked out the window. The sky had gotten dark quick. Didn't the radio say it was supposed to be sunny all day? Maybe it was a big set of clouds rolling through before leaving a clear sky behind them.

“There's some big thing in the sky,” said one of the cooks, Rudy Paz. “Looks like a fish to me, like a shark.”

“You might want to get people from the windows, Rudy,” said Punch. “This could be an invasion of some kind.”

He placed his apron and hat on the front counter before stepping outside.