E.G.G Episode 23: Lightstream

AND THERE CAME A DAY, A DAY UNLIKE ANY OTHER. WHEN THREE FRIENDS ROSE FROM THEIR DOOM TO FIGHT ON, VOWING NEVER AGAIN TO GIVE IN TO THE FORCES OF EVIL. ON THAT DAY, E.G.G WAS REBORN.

When Eileen discovers that Acacia has a boyfriend and he's in danger, she'll do anything to protect her friend. After finally convincing Josh to let him stay in E.G.G Base, his mind is quickly changed when he discovers that Acacia's boyfriend is none other than Harry Osborn, son of the Green Goblin! After a series of arguments, the danger pursuing Harry eventually reveals itself: The villain known as the terrible Taskmaster! Harry sacrificed everything in a daring rescue, but after it's all said and done, Josh discovers an empty vial of Globulin Green...

Click here to read E.G.G Episode 22: It's Not Easy Being Green

Click here to read Episode 22 Q&A

-Lightstream-

Josh crept into the Feeding Pen. He snuck over to a table, then quickly looked under it.

“Gotcha!” He shouted, but no one was there. Josh frowned. “Hm, where is the little…” Suddenly he heard giggling. He looked over at the salad bar. “You think you can hide from…” He looked behind it to see nothing. “Me. Okay, where…” Then he looked up. “Aha!” He took out his Thwip Blaster and launched a web line at a ceiling tile. Then he yanked it off and Celeste came falling out. Josh rushed up and caught her.

“Aw man,” she said. “I was sure you wouldn’t find me!”

“How did you even get up there?” He asked, “Actually, never mind. Now give me back my smell good, you little klepto!” Celeste laughed and handed Josh a bottle of cologne.

“‘Smell good?’” Eileen asked, entering the room. “What, you got a date or something?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with.” Josh said, dabbing on the cologne. Eileen laughed.

“Yeah, well, okay. I need some time off.” Josh looked at her.

“For what?” He asked.

“Nothing you need concern yourself with.” Eileen taunted.

“Okay, so that’s how it is. I don’t know, what have done to deserve it?”

“Aw, I’ve been such a good girl!”

“Undermining my authority isn’t a ‘good girl’.”

“And when did I undermine your authority?”

“Well, last week I clearly stated that last Pop Tart was mine…”

“Oh here we go with the Pop Tart again!”

“You keep eating them! It’s an addiction Eileen! You need help!” Eileen laughed.

“Okay, fine, I need time off to seek help for my Pop Tart eating addiction, happy?”

“Very.” Josh said. “If you need a good therapist, I can recommend one!”

“I think I’ll manage,” she said, throwing her duffle bag over her shoulder and leaving the room. Josh looked at Celeste.

“Have you been eating Pop Tarts too?”

“No…” She answered uneasily. Josh squinted. “Hey, I think Auntie Acacia wanted me for something, I’ll talk to you later!” She skipped off.

“Psh, little Pop Tart eating thief…” Josh grumbled, when Agent Becket walked into the room.

“Oh, there you are sir,” he said. “Director Fury is on in the Communication Room.” Josh sighed.

“Alright, thank you.” He said. He walked down the tunnels and opened the door to the Communication Room, where Nick Fury’s face occupied all of the screens. “And what may I do for you today, Director?”

“Mr. Westbrook,” Fury replied. “We’ve got trouble, and it’s in your area.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“This kind of trouble.” An image of a man dressed in a black mesh suit appeared on the screen. He had a helmet with a visor covering his face, a belt with all kinds of weapons, and an S inside of a triangle on the right side of his chest.

“Who’s that?” Josh asked.

“A soldier in a new group of people popping up in key locations around the U.S. They’re called the Syndicate.”

“The Syndicate?” Josh repeated. “A bit cliché…”

“Will you focus?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“Now, S.H.I.E.L.D’s got nothing on these guys, but they came out of nowhere and they’re already hitting hard. A group of them attacked the capitol building in D.C, luckily the Avengers got there in time.”

“Any super villain affiliation?”

“No big names, but there are super villain lieutenants that lead some squadrons. Some names are Titanium Man, Bullseye, Taskmaster…” Josh looked up.

“Taskmaster?” He said. “We took him down a few days ago. You’re welcome by the way.”

“That must be why they’ve set up and operation in Chandler,” He said. “You took down one of their lieutenants.”

“But Taskmaster was after Osborn, someone put a hit out on him and Taskmaster was coming to collect.”

“It may have been the Syndicate.” Fury said. “You need to figure out everything Osborn knows.”

“Got it.”

“And keep an eye out for any Syndicate activity, they like to make their presence known.”

“Will do Director.” He hung up with Fury. “Jocasta, keep an eye out for any Syndicate activity.”

“Acknowledged.” She replied. Josh walked out and into the Inner Shell, where he saw Harry sitting in a chair, spinning in circles out of boredom.

“Is there any specific reason you’re still here?” Harry looked up.

“I still need protection.” He said.

“Right. Hey, you said you were attacked earlier, back in New York?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you remember what your attackers looked like?”

“Yeah, each one had on this creepy black outfit, with helmets… oh, and swords! Well, they had a lot of weapons on those belts of theirs, who actually wears utility belts…”

“An S in a triangle in the corner of their suits?”

“Yeah! You know ‘em?”

“I do now.”

“Attention,” Jocasta called. “Group designation Syndicate is attacking a local bank.”

“Well that was fast.”

“Who’s the Syndicate?” Acacia asked, entering the room with an apple.

“I’ll tell you on the way, suit up.” Josh replied.

“Where’s Eileen?”

“She got time off.”

“Time off? What’s that?”

“Funny, get ready.”

Josh and Acacia got off at a bus stop across the street from the bank.

“Why are we taking the bus to a crime scene?” Acacia asked.

“Because the jet packs are out of fuel and we don’t have an E.G.G Mobile, not yet anyway…”

“Whatever,” Acacia said, popping her Snikt Claws. “Let’s get to work!” She and Josh rushed up to the curb, then stopped. They waited for the hand to turn to the walking man, then they both rushed across the street to the bank. Inside people were down on their knees, hands behind their heads. Syndicate soldiers covered the bank.

“Nobody moves…” One said in a deep, muffled voice. “Nobody gets hurt.”

“What if you move?” The Syndicate soldiers turned to see Josh and Acacia standing in the doorway. “Do you get hurt?” Josh finished.

“Blast them!” One shouted. They all fired on Josh and Acacia, who dove behind a counter.

“Not one of your better plans.” Acacia said.

“I know,” Josh replied. The commander held up his fist and everyone ceased fire. He pointed two fingers and they began to close in on Josh and Acacia.

“They’re gonna kill us!” Acacia whispered. “What do we do?”

“We took a vow!” Josh said, spinning out his fighting stick. “We fight to our last breath!” Just then the Syndicate surrounded them, and aimed their guns. “On second thought, running might be a good idea…” Suddenly the window burst open. Everyone looked up to see a girl fly in and fist slam in the middle of the bank. She wore a purple suit with black gloves, boots, belt, and shorts. She had on a purple eye mask with glowing blue lenses, a blue lightning streak across her chest, and short red hair. She stood up and assumed a fighting stance, her fists glowing blue.

“Alright, which one of you trash bags wants to hit the dump first?” She asked.

“Destroy her!” The commander shouted. They all began to fire, but she formed an energy shield around herself. Then she fired two blue energy blasts and took down two Syndicate soldiers.

“Who is that?” Acacia asked, as the girl flew into the air and began blasting her opponents from above.

“I don’t know,” Josh said, eyes glowing. “But she’s amazing…” Acacia snapped in his face.

“Focus,” She said. “We’ve gotta get these people out!”

“Right,” Josh stood up and whacked a Syndicate soldier with his fighting stick. “To the doors people, let’s move!” Everyone rushed to the doors as the mysterious girl flew through the bank, blasting away at the Syndicate.

“I can’t believe you guys pass for villains!” She shouted. “You all suck!” Suddenly she was blasted from behind. “Ah!” she screamed as she fell on top of a desk, breaking it in half. She sat up holing her head and the commander walked up with a black energy sword.

“Say goodnight.” He said, raising it. Suddenly Acacia swooped by and cut it into three pieces with her claws. The girl jumped up blasted two soldiers. The commander backed up, and began to run when he bumped into Josh.

“Where you goin’?” Josh asked, punching him so hard he cracked the visor on his helmet. The commander fell, unconscious. The girl approached Josh and Acacia.

“Thanks for the assist,” she said. “These creeps were no match for us!”

“Yeah,” Josh said. “They’re called the Syndicate, they don’t like to play nice.”

“I think we should be thanking you,” Acacia said. “We woulda been toast if you didn’t…” Josh nudged her.

“We actually had complete control of the situation.” He lied. “But your help was appreciated.”

“Hey, no problem,” she said, smiling. She looked at them. “Who are you guys?”

“We’re E.G.G.” Josh answered. “Experimental Government Gadgets, division of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D?” She asked. “That’s the spy organization! Wow, that’s totally cool!”

“Yeah, I’m Josh, this is Acacia. We’re kinda like super heroes…”

“Oh, good, I thought I was the only one!” She exclaimed. Acacia shook her head.

“Nope, we got your back.” She said. “Now for the real question. Who are you?” The girl looked at Josh and Acacia for a while. Then she smiled.

“Lightstream.” She replied. With that, she flew into the air, and took off.

“Wow,” Josh said. “Lightstream…”

“You’re drooling.” Acacia said.

“What, huh? Am not!” Josh said, wiping his mouth. “Come on, let’s lickity split before the cops show.”

Josh and Acacia walked into E.G.G Base.

“I’m telling you,” Josh said. “when she blasted that one guy across the room, it was like, bam! Don’t mess with Lightstream, cause she’ll knock you into next week!”

“I’m sure it was.” Acacia said, yawning. “Either way, I’m hitting the hay. Hearing you rant on about Lightstream the whole bus ride back made me tired.”

“You wish you were half as awesome as her!” Josh shouted.

“Whatever.” Acacia replied, walking down the tunnel. Suddenly Eileen came out of the elevator.

“Eileen!” Josh said, “Aw, you missed all the fun today! We took on this crime group called the Syndicate, and there’s a super hero in Arizona! Her name is Lightstream!”

“Really?” Eileen said.

“Yeah! She’s like, super awesome! And totally hot!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it’s so!” Josh shouted. “You should have seen her!”

“I’m sure I’ll read all about it in the paper.” She said.

“Please, nobody reads papers anymore! Anyway, how was your day off?” Eileen dug into her duffle bag and handed Josh a box of strawberry Pop Tarts.

“My therapist said one a week, and he put me on a strict carrot stick diet.” She teased. Josh laughed and took the box.

“Well I’m glad you got some professional help!” He said. Eileen smiled.

“Good night Josh.” She said.

“Night!” Josh skipped off to his room, pretending to blast invisible enemies. “Look out evil, Lightstream is here!” He shouted, kicking his door open. There he found Allyson in a blue dress, sitting on his bed, eyes red from tears. Josh’s smile faded. “Allyson, oh man, our date…”

“Yeah,” She said, “Our date.”

“Allyson, I’m so sorry…”

“You said you schedule was cleared.” She said quietly.

“I know, I know,” Josh said, sitting next to her. “It’s just that these Syndicate goons came out of nowhere, and they had innocent people hostage, and…” Allyson put her finger on his mouth.

“Please.” She said. Josh sighed.

“I’m really sorry. I was looking forward to it, I got my smell good and everything…” Allyson managed a smile.

“I know your life is busy,” she said. “You’re the Director, and I knew what I was in for when we started going out. But I really care about you, and I want to spend time with you.” Josh looked around.

“Well I’m not doing anything now.” He said, smiling. “Let’s get outta here!”

“No, Josh, it’s late, and I’m in this stupid dress, and if we left…” Josh cut her off with a kiss.

“I’m not gonna miss out on spending time with my girlfriend cause some freaks wanna play hardball.” He said. “Besides, there’s a back door!” Allyson smiled. Josh took her hand they both snuck out for the night.

Meanwhile, Eileen fell onto her bed.

“Ugh, what a day,” she said, unzipping her duffle bag.

“Eileen.” She quickly zipped it back up and turned to see Acacia.

“Hey, Acacia, what’s up?”

“Harry bought me a fruitcake, and well, it’s kind of disgusting. Would you do the honors of taking it off of my hands?” Eileen grabbed a Repulsor Blaster and blew it to pieces. Acacia raised her eyebrows. “That works. Good night!”

“Night Acacia.” Eileen replied. Acacia walked off to her room. Eileen closed her door. She unzipped her duffle bag and pulled out the Lightstream costume. She smiled.

“Look out world.” She said. “Here comes Lightstream.”

Tune in on Thursday, January 22 for the Q&A for this episode, and then prepare for Episode 23.1: Friends, on Friday, January 23! Hope you guys are loving season 2 of E.G.G! See you next week!