Chapter No.50. Training.

Robert called an old buddy from his Marine days. Hiki Jamis had been a MCMAP training officer, and he was one of the best at Martial Arts. The good news is that Robert knew that he would train the superheroes and keep it secret.

Hiki was surprised to see Robert. "It's been a long time since we were together, Bob. Why didn't you get in touch?"

"I was in a serious accident that put me into a coma for ten years."

"That's a long time to be comatose. Most people I've know that were in long comas never made it."

"Well, while I was in the coma, I met a guy who claimed to be from God. He told me that I would be given powers to stop an evil monster from causing Armageddon."

"Sounds like a good comic book scenario."

"Yes, and it actually ended up like that. My family and I are the superheroes that the media is infatuated with."

Hiki's eyes grew large momentarily. "You're kidding me!"

"I wish I were, but we've been given the task of saving mankind from annihilation."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because we need to be trained in hand-to-hand combat. At first, we were forbidden to hurt anyone, even an adversary, but now we are permitted to engage in combat. We can fire energy beams out of our eyes, but if we meet up with super demons, that won't be much of an advantage."

"If you are a superhero, why would you need my help?"

"Because you are the top of the curve when it comes to hand-to-hand combat."

"If God gave you this mission, why wouldn't that be your guarantee of success?"

"God doesn't necessarily adhere to our laws and morals, and since He only works through humans, we're being handled by five women who claim to be Vestal Virgins, but I believe are angles. They tell us what we can do and not do, and they recently told us that we will need to engage in mortal combat."

"Well," Hiki said. "I think the first thing to do is give you and your group some demos of what it's all about."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Robert said. "I'll summon them."

Hiki's eyes grew large again when Janet, James, and Sylvia popped into existence. Robert pointed to each of them when he introduced them.

Hiki called for his son, Koka, to help him demonstrate the various hand-to-hand moves that were needed for proper combat. What surprised him was how quickly the superheroes learned. He didn't realize that they were able to memorize what they see instantly.

However, the superheroes didn't need those skills immediately. NASA summoned them for another mission, one that was rather unusual.

The superheroes popped into existence in the JPL Mission room and were met by Jason and an older woman by the name of Jody Williams. She was a geophysicist, and her interest was mostly with Earth's magnetic field.

"I'm not sure if you could even do anything about this," she said. "But we believe that Earth's magnetic field is going through a change which will result in a reversal of the poles."

"Isn't that what has happened in the past?" Robert asked.

"Yes, ferrite containing rocks indicate that it happens every so many hundreds of thousands of years, the last being approximately seven hundred and eighty thousand years. Currently, we have detected a disturbing drop in the South Atlantic Anomaly's field strength."

"I was under the impression that the South Atlantic Anomaly already had a low magnetic field," Sylvia said.

"Yes, but its field has dropped to the danger level in South Africa."

"Well," Robert said. "I don't really know what we could do to stop this from happening. The first step would be to fully understand how the Earth's magnetic field is being produced and the dynamics that cause changes in its strength and positioning."

"The magnetic field is the result of Earth's iron core heating up the liquid part of the core that interacts with the mantle. Since the Earth spins, this causes a dynamo effect that produces an electrical current. The process is complicated and how it changes is even more complicated."

"Show us the equations and the theories that determine this. You can display them at relatively high speed."

Jason and Jody stared at him for a moment before Jody typed in commands to cause the display to appear on a large screen.

The superheroes studied the information being displayed at high speed. After the display of data was complete, Robert turned to his group. "We need a plan that would mitigate this effect."

"I think the answer is in the magnetic induction equation," James said.

"That's the one with the partial differentials in it," Robert noted.

"Yeah, Lenz's Law says that a system like this can't have infinite conductivity, so the only way to increase the magnetic field is to up the conductivity, which is the result of buoyancy, which, in turn, is driven by the temperature of the core."

"So, you think that the overall magnetic field is declining because Earth's core is cooling?"

"I think so. It's the same reason that Mars lost its magnetic field."

"I suppose we could tweak the core temperature, but I don't think it would be wise to raise it too much."

"That could lead to more volcanic eruptions."

"How would you increase the core temperature?" Jody asked.

"We'll just will it to increase," Robert said.

Jason and Jody exchanged glances before Jody entered something into the computer system's keyboard. After several minutes, she had an opinion. "A 10K increase shouldn't cause any geophysical effect."

"Okay," Robert said. "It's done."

"You just did that by thinking it?" Jason asked, his brow furled.

"Yes. If it's too much, we can cool it down."

Jody turned to Jason. "It'll take quite some time to notice anything."

"Keep monitoring," Jason said. He turned to Robert. "Thank you. We'll let you know if we need any further help."

Robert nodded and he and the superheroes vanished."

"No one is going to believe this," Jason said.

"We don't have to tell anyone about this," Jody replied. "If it works, we'll just say it's a normal fluctuation."

Jason just shook his head.

The superheroes returned home to relax after an interesting day. They were somewhat on edge because of the possibility of being engaged in combat with demons. James and Sylvia enjoyed the pool while Robert and Janet relaxed on the patio.

"You seem to be well versed in math," Sylvia told James as they sat on the edge of the pool soaking up sunlight.

"It was one of the ways that I realized something was changing in me. I suddenly was able to understand complicated math without actually studying it."

"I don't know what happened to me?" Sylvia said. "I thought my days were numbered when I got sick and was near death."

"I suppose I was destined to awake you from death."

"It would suggest that you and I are bonded forever."

"I am happy to be bonded," James said with an appropriate grin.

"Does that mean we will wed?" she said with an ornery grin.

James' eyes ballooned briefly before reducing to a squint. "That's an interesting question. I'm not sure since we're supposedly in a frozen quantum state."

"Would that suggest that we could enjoy physical bonding?"

James looked away for a moment before turning to look at her. "I don't know why not, but the Vestal Virgins might not approve."

"I doubt that I could become pregnant," she said.

James stared at her. "Why not?"

"I haven't had a period since my recovery."

James smiled. "I believe that's the answer to the question."

She laughed.

Janet noted their levity. "They don't seem to be worried about this combat nonsense,"

"That's because they are coming of age," Robert reacted.

She turned to give him a confused expression. "What?"

"They aren't going to remain chaste for long. It's inevitable."

"What if she gets pregnant?"

"That won't happen."

"Why not?"

"She has had no ovulation since her cure."

Janet squinted. "How do you know that?"

"I can sense it. We are all capable of sensing hidden things."

Janet didn't know what to think of that revelation, but deep down she knew that her husband was right. They had obtained the all-knowing power of God. It was yet another disturbing fact about their new reality.