The Adventures of Amy Jeakins

Robotic Replacements

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Amy asked.

“Yes, I'm sure.”

“Well, I suppose you're right. It could be good to have an adult or two that we can run to. I think . . . I think I'll tell them, too. Just as long as they didn't tell anyone else.”

Amy went up and into Bethany's room, where her friend was waiting for her. Then two of them walked down the hallway and into the living room. It was a long wait, but the two hours eventually passed, and the two adults came home. As soon as they entered the house, however, they stared at a certain spot on the wall.

Amy and Bethany fixed dinner for everyone, and all of Bethany's siblings were put down to bed. The girls waited until they were sure the children were all asleep before they walked up to Dr. and Mrs. Prescott, who hadn't moved since they had gotten home.

“Mom, Dad, sit down,” Bethany said, “There's something I need to tell you.”

“No,” Amy said, looking at her friend, “Something we need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Mr. and Mrs. Prescott said in monotone voices simultaneously, their gaze not deviating from a blank spot on the wall.

“Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but — ” Bethany started. Amy nudged her. Bethany restarted, “I mean, I — ”

“She means she's, um,” Amy tried to think of a reason, “She sick with the, uh, bad-cough. I heard it's super bad. I think we should call a doctor or something.”

“Oh, that sounds really bad,” both the parents said monotonously at the same time, not moving.

Bethany looked at Amy, confused.

“I better go get her some medicine with her. You wouldn't want to get sick or anything. I think I might have already caught it. Cough, cough,” Amy said, slipping away with Bethany. They went to Bethany's room.

“Okay, what was that about?” Bethany asked.

“They don't seem normal. Did you hear them? And they wouldn't even look at you. Or any of your siblings. Not even the preschooler! Doesn't that seem odd? They seemed like robots or something. So I tested your dad. I mean, what doctor doesn't know that bad-cough isn't a real sickness?” Amy explained.

“Okay, so maybe you're right. This is the first day they've done this, though. We need to find my parents. And then I need to tell them.”

“Sounds good,” Amy agreed, “Do you have any ideas of where to look?”

“Well, if whatever it is impersonating my parents are still in the living room, then we could probably snoop around my mom and dad's room.”

Amy and Bethany snuck out of Bethany's room and into the adults'. They made sure not to wake up any of the kids who were sleeping. Amy went through Mrs. Prescott's things while Bethany went through her father's.

Amy picked up a notepad with notes scribbled on it and ran over to Bethany, nearly stumbling over something on the floor.

“Beth, check this out,” Amy said, handing Bethany the paper.

“'Interview behavior-changed people. Neglected children and pets. Appointment with Dr. Xylander at hospital for medical advice.' What's this supposed to mean?” Bethany asked.

“A clue. We can search here for a few more minutes, then we can go talk to Dr. Xylander.”

“But what if someone finds two kids out there, at the hospital, with no reason to be there except to talk to a doctor who might not even be there?” Bethany asked, “Or if the doctor doesn't answer our questions? How would we get there, anyway? The hospital is across town.”

“We fly,” Amy answered, “Come on, downstairs we go.”

Bethany smiled. “I suppose you're right. We shouldn't go. It would be better if the Orange Hero and Water Lass went, instead.”

Amy and Bethany started running back off to Bethany's bedroom, but Amy tripped over something on the floor and would have fallen on the floor if she hadn't caught herself with her powers. She bent down to inspect a metal ring a couple inches wide attached to the floor. Amy pulled on it and it opened into a hole. Curious, Amy climbed down the ladder along the side. Bethany went after her.

After walking through a short hallway, the girls came upon a large room, similar to their secret hideout. However, this room had several computers, and was more organized than their hideout. Also, there was a tree growing in the middle of the room, with two people tied to it, their mouths covered with pieces of fabric. Amy and Bethany dashed over to the two people and untied them.

The one on the right had blonde hair with the slightest wave to it. She had a pretty dress and beautiful jewelry on. The one on the right was a dark-haired man with a bit of a dark-colored beard, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans.

“Mom! Dad!” Bethany squealed.

“How did you find this room?” Mrs. Prescott asked, “And how did you get past those hideous robots impersonating us?”

“I think they broke or something,” Amy said, “They didn't do anything. So we were, um . . .”

“We were snooping around to find clues as to where to look for you,” Bethany finished. She showed her mother the note Amy found.

“I still have to get to Dr. Xylander. I need to interview him,” Mrs. Prescott said, “What time is it?”

“Late,” Bethany answered, “We already have all the little ones asleep.”

“What is this place?” Amy asked, “It looks sort of — ” Amy clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Like what?” Dr. Prescott asked.

Before either of them could answer, they heard a piercing scream from up above.

“Lucy!” Bethany and Mrs. Prescott said at the same time.

The four of them scrambled up the ladder and into the living room. They were just in time to see a woman who looked almost like Mrs. Prescott, except she had a metal face, carrying a small child away. Each of them except Amy checked all of the bedrooms, and all of the children were gone.

“Come on, Bethany,” Amy said, “We have to get our you-know-whats.”

Amy and Bethany ran into Bethany's bedroom. They went down into their own hideout and grabbed their superhero suits, slipping them on as quickly as they could. Then they flew out and through the house, back to where the adults were.

“Hi, girls. Good idea, with the suits,” Mrs. Prescott said casually, “We have information for you.”

“What sort of info?” Amy asked.

“Well, I have yet to interview Dr. Xylander. I was hoping to get some information from him, but I think what Ryan was able to overhear was enough to find where he's keeping the other real people he's replacing with robots.”

“Who's Ryan?” Amy asked.

“My, I mean, Dr. Prescott,” Bethany answered, “So, Mrs. Prescott, where is it?”

Bethany's mother scribbled something down on a piece of paper and thrust it into Bethany's hand. Bethany looked at the page with a frown.

“But it's across town. And . . .” Bethany started, tears beginning to fall. She sniffed and dried up her tears with her powers, but it didn't do much good, as more soon replaced them. “And Rob and Jo and Lewis and Penny a-and Lucy. They . . . I shouldn't have left them alone.”

“It's okay, Beth. We'll get them back,” Amy comforted.

“B-but what if we don't. What if, for once, we fail our mission? I-I mean, there's a first time for everything, right?” Bethany slowly sank down to the floor, tears blurring her vision.

“We will. We haven't ever failed a mission, and we're not going to start now.”

“But this time, with . . . I mean, Lucy's only three years old.”

“And how old is Rob? Like, ten?” Amy asked.

“E-eleven. But how's he supposed to protect all of them at once?”

“Pyrokinesis,” Mrs. Prescott smiled.

“What?”

“Although we no longer have superpowers, we still pass them on to our children,” Mrs. Prescott said.

“There's a science to it, really,” Dr. Prescott said, then noticed at everyone glaring at him, “But we'll save it for later.”

“Just tell Rob that he needs to help in any way possible, and that you already know what he can do. Jo, too.”

“Jo, too?” Bethany asked.

“The powers seem to kick in at about eight or nine years old,” Dr. Prescott explained.

“Now, go!” Mrs. Prescott shooed them off.

Amy and Bethany flew off and to the address on the paper. There stood an old, abandoned building with cobwebs and old decor all over the place. After a glance at the paper again, they noticed another word on it, and followed what it said down to the basement. There they heard muffled screams from many people, all at different times. Amy knocked the door down and let herself and Bethany in.

Inside the basement, there were more people than Amy expected. There were about two dozen people, all in all. Mostly adults, although there were a few children apart from Bethany's siblings. Amy used her powers to untie them, while Bethany did it manually.

“Orange Hero! Water Lass!” each of the Prescott children called out. Surprisingly, they didn't have anything over their mouths, although there were strips of cloth at their feet.

Amy walked over to the eldest of Bethany's siblings. Bethany went up to the next eldest.

“Hey, Rob,” Amy whispered, “I know what you can do, and we could really use your help here.” She heard Bethany whispering something similar to Jo, who appeared to be about eight or nine.

At first, Rob didn't look sure about helping them, but then he pulled his hands out from behind him without any ropes on them. He smiled.

“I'll see what I can do,” Rob said.

Amy watched as Rob ran to the back of the room where no one could see him, then burnt a small hole in the cloth that had been covering one of their mouths and tied it around his head. He then tore his shirt off of himself, probably so no one would recognize many of his clothes.

The whole room shuddered as a dozen robots came into the room. They looked exactly like many of the people in there already, including Mr. and Mrs. Prescott robots.

“Which ones are the badguys?” Jo asked, a mask similar to Rob's over her eyes. Amy couldn't think of an answer.

“Fire! Fire!” Rob shouted, setting fire around himself. Screams filled the air, and many people pushed past everyone else to get out. Soon, only Amy, the Prescotts, and the robots remained.

Immediately, the four superheroes attacked. Wires, bolts, and all sorts of other parts scattered across the floor. The robots put up a pretty good fight, but with the four of them together, the robots were easily destroyed.

“No, nein!” they heard someone coming down the stairs say in a German accent, “Vhat happened?”

“Your robots were no match against us,” Bethany called back to the old-looking man. “Dr. Xylander, I presume.”

“Impossible!” the white-haired German denied, “The Roboter vas supposed to be unstoppable!”

While Amy took Dr. Xylander to the police, Bethany, Rob, and Jo took the rest of their family back home.

“Do you want to join us as superheroes?” Amy invited.

“Of course!” Rob and Jo agreed simultaneously.

So an amazing superhero team began. Throughout the years, the Orange Hero, Water Lass, Bonfire, and Gale always protected the world from villains. As time went on, Bethany's other siblings also joined them. And if you can find where they live, or perhaps if there's a superhero-needed trouble near you, you may be able to see them in action, still saving the world.