Chapter No.41. New Agenda.

President Hollis wasn't surprised to see the superheroes in the Oval Office. In fact, he seemed pleased that they had come to him.

"Nice to see you again," he said, smiling. "I see you have a dog now."

"Yeah, he's good for sniffing out victims of natural disasters."

"What brings you here?" the president asked.

"We've been informed that we're no longer forbidden to use force against enemies. The reason they told us this is because they claim that a large demon army is going to attempt to take over Earth. They also suggested that we should get ready to defend against them. So, we'd like it if you would permit us to practice combat at one of the Towpath-gunnery sites."

"I assume that this is like the force that you helped defeat in Afghanistan?"

"Yes, but evidently that was only a practice for the real attack."

The president picked up his phone and made a call. After several minutes of conversation, he looked up at Robert. "Yes. You may use the Utah facility. They've suspended any tests scheduled for today."

"Thanks. We appreciate that."

The president nodded.

The superheroes teleported to the weapons test site. They flew to a concrete bunker building at the south end of the range and were greeted by a Coronel Charis and Lieutenant Barow.

"Greetings, gentlemen," Robert said. "We won't need to use your site very long. We just want to explore some combat ideas."

Charis squinted. "Are you going to use swords?"

"These are not just swords. We can cut through solid steel with these. But that's not what we want to test."

He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Robert looked out at the range. "What sort of targets are we permitted to hit?"

"There are concrete and steel blocks out there that we use for aerial attacks."

"Okay, we'll see what we could do." Robert looked back at Janet and James. "We'll try flying at supersonic speeds before blasting the targets."

"We're ready," James said.

The superheroes literally blasted into the air and flew though the target range at speeds exceeding a rifle bullet, which is more than Mach 3. They shot energy beams from their eyes to blast the targets to bits. Sparky shot fire out of his mouth to literally melt metal.

Charis turned to Barow. "Holy shit!"

The superheroes returned and landed near them. "Thanks. I think we're ready."

"Ready for what?" Charis asked.

"For the coming Armageddon."

The two officers exchanged glances before Charis turned to Robert. "What sort of enemy does that entail?"

"They're demons and they are way more powerful than ordinary humans. I just hope that we can defeat them. We're the only super humans on this planet."

Charis and Barow watched the superheroes fly away.

"Tell me this is some sort of a stunt," Barow said.

Charis shook his head and sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't think it is."

The superheroes returned home and settled down to their normal routine for a Saturday.

Old Bob, their next-door neighbor looked over the fence. "Hey, what ever happened to that fancy grill.".

"We decided it was too large for our patio," Robert said. "We traded it in for a smaller unit."

"Yeah, some of those outdoor grills look more like a full kitchen."

"Yeah, that's what we thought."

Bob went back into his house.

"He'd probably shit his pants if he knew what that really was," James said.

Robert snickered. "Yeah, you're probably right."

They laughed.

The Steris family attended their usual 10:00 AM Sunday mass. No one paid all that much attention to them. Father Johns caught up to them after mass.

"I'd like to schedule another healing evening," he told them.

"When?" Robert asked.

"How about Tuesday evening at seven?"

"Okay with us," Robert replied. "However, we're no longer restricted from killing or harming anyone."

Father Johns squinted. "Why?"

"We've been informed that we have to defeat a large demon army that's going to try to subjugate humans and take over Earth. The reason I'm telling you this is because we might have to leave quickly if the attack happens during the healing session."

"I suppose you have no other choice."

"It appears that our little family is the only thing that can stop this take over."

"I'm sure that God has given you the ability to do it," Johns said.

"Oh, He definitely did that, but we have no way of knowing how effective we'll be. I think that the angels are allowing us to do it all by ourselves."

"Is this part of this experiment?"

"It probably is. I think it's God's way of testing us to see if we'll put our trust in Him."

Father Johns sighed. "The only thing I can do is pray for you."

"We appreciate that, Father," Robert said.

In the meantime, on Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in the Caucasus, an army of demons was preparing for the final battle for the dominance of Earth. They were dressed in black armor and held huge axes. Luthor X, the devil supreme, who had large-curved horns and eyes that glowed with red fire, spoke to his commanders.

"We must strike them when they least expect it," he said in a gruff voice. "There are not enough of them to defeat us. We are stronger because we outnumber them."

"They are puny humans," Helion, First Commander, said. "We will crush them!"

"Yes!" Luthor yelled. "They will be ours!"

The other demons yelled their approval, raising their axes to emphasize their enthusiasm for blood lust.

The Steris family wasn't celebrating anything. They were busy doing their thing, healing people with terminal illnesses.

James was especially enamored with healing young people. He particularly enjoyed curing a young teen girl his age. He realized that she had a terminal case of leukemia. Chemotherapy had robbed her of her hair.

She managed a weak smile, but her eyes revealed the pain and discomfort that had invaded her body.

James smiled back as he rubbed his hand over her bald head. Almost instantly a fuzz appeared on her head, portending what would eventually happen.

"I think you should have blond hair," he told her. "You won't need to suffer any longer."

"I can never thank you enough," she said. "My name is Sylvia. What's yours?"

"I'm James," he replied.

"Do you enjoy being a superhero?" she asked in a whisper.

James sat up straight. He had no idea how she realized that. He looked around before turning back to her. "I'm just a kid trying to survive in a crazy world."

"I will be praying for you," she said. "Hopefully, when this is over, we can get together."

James actually blushed for a moment. "Ah . . . Yeah, we can do that."

She smiled again. "I'll be waiting for you."

James wasn't sure what to think. A girl actually wanted to be friends. He was beside himself with anticipation and excitement.

Later, after the Steris family returned home, Robert and Janet noticed that James seemed to be quieter than normal.

"Something wrong?" Janet asked him.

"That girl that I cured of leukemia, Sylvia Wells, knows that I'm a superhero."

Both Robert's and Janet's eyes widened. "Oh really?" Robert reacted.

"Yes. I don't know how she could have known that."

"Maybe she's not the only one who realizes that." Janet said.

Robert sighed. "At this point, it really doesn't matter. Right now, the fate of mankind is in our hands."

Sparky barked.

"And in your paws too," Robert said.

They laughed, but it was a nervous laughter.