Riff Lorton and his friends in the Jets gang were walking down the street one day when they ran into a young boy about their age. His name happened to be Tony and he was twelve years old. Tony didn’t tell them much about his family and Riff didn’t question it because it wasn’t a big issue. Riff didn’t even find out much about Tony’s family until one day when they were drinking coffee at Doc’s candy store and they heard arguing outside. Then two girls–one older than Tony and one about ten years old–and a little boy about eight years old came in arguing. The older girl was evidently trying to keep the peace and failing. “Hey Tony, who are these people?” Riff asked, as the trio came up to his best friend. “This is my older sister Tracy and my two younger siblings, Todd and Tara,” Tony replied, deeply embarrassed by his little siblings’ behavior. Finally things quieted down and it was time for Tony and his sibs to go home. So they did, but on the way, they heard a call for help. They looked around to make sure no one was watching and then rings of light moved down their bodies turning their clothing into suits of different colors, covering their faces with masks, and giving them streaks of color in their hair. Tony’s suit was red with a logo of flames on it, Tracy’s was pale pink with a logo of mental energy waves on it, Tara’s was pastel green with a logo of smoke on it, and Todd’s was pastel blue with a logo that shows objects passing through one another on it. The four sped off looking for the source of the disturbance, and they found it. They managed to take down the criminal and restore order, but as a result they were almost late for dinner. They quickly flew home, landed in a secluded corner of the yard, and changed back into their regular clothes. They then went in to dinner and had a normal evening till it was time to go to bed.

That night, as Tony lay asleep, his dreams turned to the night they had first become superheroes. They were in bed at home, when Tara’s cries had awakened them. They had discovered strange lizard-like creatures sneaking around their home and kidnapping their parents. The kids had been terrified and had run out of the house, where they discovered a crashed spacecraft. Lying beside it was a horse-like creature wearing a space suit. He knew who they were and had taken them aboard his ship. He had taken them away from Earth to the Snarks’ home world to confront them about getting their parents back. The Snarks were what the alien horse (who was called a Kymellian) called the aliens who’d kidnapped thier parents. Apparently the Snarks were after something their father had invented, something that could destroy millions of lives. While they were on the Smartship, the Kymellian showed them how to imagine themselves into Elsewhere, the other dimension where the Patchworld Synod, as he called it, met. The kids pleaded for the lives of their parents, but the Patchworld Synod saw no other alternative than to eliminate them to prevent the Snarks from gaining the knowledge they sought.

Ultimately, the Kymellian had been mortally injured trying to protect them from the Snarks, and had to decide what he could do before he died. So he passed his powers on to the four of them. Tracy was now able to read minds, move objects with her thoughts, and fly using her telekinesis. Tony could now project superheated energy and use the energy to fly as well. Tara could teleport from one place to another as long as she could picture where she was going well enough, and Todd could phase through solid objects. Their clothes had become suits made of the stuff of Elsewhere, and colored like their powers. They saved their parents and returned to Earth. Their parents had no memory of the device the Snarks wanted, but the children kept their powers and used them to defend the Earth.

Tony woke the next morning feeling refreshed. He and his siblings used their powers to get ready and flew to school, arriving right on time. After school, they fought crime for awhile to take their minds off school. This was what they had been doing ever since they got their powers. They decided to call themselves the Power Four, since there were four of them and they had super powers. They were hard pressed to keep their friends and family from finding out about their secret, but then one day, Tony’s friends found out by accident, when they secretly followed the super-powered kids after seeing them head for the Wyzek home. Riff and the Jets saw the four superheroes land in the yard and transform back. Riff gasped, which gave away their presence. Tony turned around in shock and beheld his friends staring at him and his siblings. “Riff, I can explain,” Tony pleaded desperately with his friends. “What? That you’ve been secretly being a superhero behind our backs? Why would you hide that from us?” Riff asked. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d be afraid if you found out, but I should have trusted you. You’re right. I will from now on, okay?” Tony said. “That’s all we can ask. Besides, it will be really cool having a best friend who’s part of one of the youngest superhero teams out there today. You really have to tell us how you guys got your powers sometime,” Riff said, caught up in the excitement of a friend with super powers. Tony promised that he would meet up with them later at Doc’s to explain it all. When they met later at Doc’s, Tony began to explain things. At first Tony’s friends weren’t willing to believe him when he said he and his brother and sisters had gotten their powers from aliens, but when Tony showed them the pendant that the Kymellian had given them, they started to believe. They all wanted to see it and were passing it around the rest of the evening till it was time to go home. From then on, whenever they saw a Power Four battle on TV, they cheered Tony and his siblings on. There were no more secrets between Tony and his friends from then on.