Washington, D.C. NSC Headquarters.

In the dream, it was 1987 and Kenneth Connell was still living in Pittsburgh. He had just finished a long day at Zayre's Auto Body Shop and went to his apartment. Debbie 'The Duck' Fix was waiting for him in the bedroom. Sometimes, it paid off to leave her a key to the place.

"You could give a guy a heart attack once in a while, Duck."

"Oh, I get it. Quack. That's a l'il joke ya jest played on me. Wanna fool around?"

"I can't stay long, Duck. I just came here to get outta these rags. I wanna apologize to Barb and the kids for yelling at them for ripping my jacket."

"Jacket? Whu jacket? Oh, that jacket, quack. Yer special jacket that the Old Man gave you." The Duck was wearing a white tank top and polka dotted panties. "Don't worry, Kenny. We can do a quickie."

"Sorry, Debbie. I have to-"

"Please, don't destroy Pittsburgh. Don't create the Pitt on my account."

Ken turned around, aghast. "What did you say, Debbie Duck?"

Ken saw the Justice Killer in his bedroom.

"You have to wake up now, Mr. Connell. The rest of the world's paranormals are waiting for you. Foreplay can wait til later."

"I have to see Barb and the kids. They're counting on me. I have to apologize for yelling at them for rippin' my jacket."

"She's dead, Ken. Her and the children. So is the Duck. She may look alive here, but she is really just a psycho-image. A figment of your imagination."

"She's not dead."

"I can prove it, Ken." The Justice Killer turned to Ms. Fix and snapped his fingers. "Go to sleep, Duck."

The Duck quacked and dropped dead.

Upon seeing that, Ken screamed awake. He was in his living quarters. Barb and the kids were dead. The Duck was also dead. He knew it. It just took time to accept.

Judge Justice was sitting on a lounge chair in his room. "I would like to congratulate you on passing your entrance exam. Now, it is time for your first mission."

"Will the Captains be on this one?" Ken asked. "What is this mission?"

"This is." The Judge tossed him the Wall Street Journal. "The guy on the front page is a Russian scientist, name of Sergei Ramikov. He was recovering from the Chernobyl accident when the White Event occurred. He was transformed into a living, nuclear battery. He is residing in a tenement building in Queens, New York."

"And my job is to stop him before he destroys the Big Apple."

"That, and to contact Kickers, Inc., for help."

"If I am going to need help on this one, I would like to use the full extent of the NSC operatives. And since the Captains operate in Manhattan, I would like to use them, you, your daughter, Playback, and Kleenex to track this paranormal."

Justice nodded. "I'm sure I can arrange it."

"When should we leave for New York?"

"After you change into your costume. No sense anyone recognizing you."

Justice stood up and walked to the door. "I'll leave you to your privacy."

"Uh, Judge. I've been having these crazy dreams, lately. About Barb and Debbie."

"I know. But we can't worry about that, now. Now, we have more important matters to attend to…"

Queens, New York

Ken Connell, Judge Justice, Angela Tensen, Playback, and Kleenex walked within the offices of Kickers, Inc. within the hour. Since they were operatives of the NSC, they dressed in appropriate attire. The men wore suits and the ladies wore dresses.

Justice Tensen approached the receptionist's station and flashed his NSC badge. 'I would like to speak with Jack Magniconte. It is a matter of national security."

The secretary paged Jack's office and within minutes, Jack and Darlene appeared within the lobby.

"What is this, a Halloween masquerade ball?' Jack laughed, as he greeted each and every member of the NSC team.

"I will ignore that remark, 'Mr. Magnificent'. Can we talk in your office?"

"Of course." Jack led the team down the hall to where his office was.

When all of the team entered his cramped office, Jack locked the door behind them, telling his wife 'Doll' to wait outside once this meeting was over. He instructed those that could do so to sit down, and the rest to stand.

"So, what can I do for you? Who are you?"

"I am Justice. I am an agent of the National Security Council. We understand that you are a war hero. We would like to call you back to service."

"What is the mission?"

"We think that we may need all of Kickers, Inc. There is a paranormal, with the powers of the nuclear facility called Chernobyl, who wants to blow up New York. He has gone underground, so we don't know exactly where he is. His name is Sergei Ramikov."

"Whoa, this is heavy. This is the major leagues. This is more complicated than the robot in the rose garden and the witches…"

"But you are a war hero, are you not? You and the Paratroopers singlehandedly defeated the man from the Middle East who said he was a parnormal, and said that he created the Pitt. You know that was a lie and we know who really created that disaster."

"Care to clue me in?"

"That's not important," Ken said. 'We have a mission to accomplish.'

Jack smiled. "Was it you?"

"Focus, Mr. Magniconte. Will you join us?"

Jack extended his hand. "I'll have to talk to the rest of the team, but I'm in."

Justice tried to suppress a smile.

As the NSC agents waited in the lobby for Jack to confer with the rest of the Kickers, Ken took Justice aside, turning their backs to the secretary and looking out the window. "Is all this red tape really necessary, Judge? I mean I could just don my special jacket and take care of that Russian infidel. I've done it before."

Judge Justice frowned. "You need to learn panache. I've tried your way, when I first started out, Ken. It got Becky killed."

"Oh, you mean Becky Chambers. Your girlfriend when you first gained your parabilities."

"Yes, Kenneth. Becky. She was killed by Damon Conquest."

Suddenly, Miriam Morse walked over to Justice with a book under her arm. She took the book from her arm and showed it to them. "I found this on one of the tables. It must be lobby reading. I think you should take a look at this."

The title read:

Power For The Preying

By Andrew Chaser

"It's all about the Psi-force children, Psi-Hawk, Emmett Proudhawk, Agent Derek Shiningstar, the Skipper, Sanctuary-uhnn-"

"Oh, no, Playback, not here, not now."

Miriam held the book tightly against her breasts, and started to run out to the elevator in the hallway. Images started to form around her peripheral vision, recessed memories of the last person who had this book.

It was a gift of Kathi Blizzard, the ice princess. After her war duty, she bought the book at a coffee shop in Manhattan and gave it to Jack Magniconte.

Jack, Darlene, and the rest of the Kickers exited their meeting room. Mary Jackson, their secretary, approached Miriam.

"You can't leave with that book, ma'am; it's Kicker property."

Justice snapped his fingers and Miriam fell out of her trance. "We're going to need that book. It's important we contact this Mr. Chaser. "

"I know. It was a number one bestseller in the New York Times," Jack said.

Miriam pulled Justice close and whispered in his ear. "Does Jack's wife know that he is in love with another woman?"

"We better keep this to ourselves, Ms. Morse," Justice whispered back.

Justice noticed a television was on in the waiting room but the sound was low. "Turn that up."

When Victor Pasko did so, President Philip Nolan Voight was speaking. "It came to our attention in the last hour that a Soviet rogue agent, who was caught in the heart of the Chernobyl accident, has illegally entered our country and is presently holding the American Embassy hostage. No one is allowed in or out. If his demands are not met within the hour, he will blow up the embassy."

Victor turned off the television.

"Dad, that has to be Ramikov. What are we going to do?"

"Jack," Justice said, "We're going to need Kickers for crowd control and helping the hostages to safety. Think you and your team can handle that?"

"We'll just kick them out."

The American Embassy

A sleek, white and black figure streaked across the heavens, surveying the damage done to the Embassy and the people housed within. That figure was the super hero named Star Brand, otherwise known to his friends as Ken Connell. He was wearing his mask so that his identity would remain a secret. He was carrying Judge Justice in a projected force bubble, and lowered him to the ground. Below him, entering the building were Captain Brooklyn and Captain Bronx. The Captains had super strength and could project force shields so that they could protect themselves, the hostages, and decontaminate Ramikov.

"ETA in two minutes," Starbrand said through his ear piece to Justice on the ground.

Then, Ken crashed through one of the front windows, as he prepared to contain the terrorist.

The wives and mothers of the Embassy Representatives wanted to get inside. Jack Magniconte was there to prevent them from doing that.

"Look, it's the Kickers, those football players who help people," one of them said. "I thought you guys were defunct."

"No, only out of commission until the War was over," Jack said, pushing them behind the police barricades.

"If you're such a war hero, why aren't you in there helping us and getting our boys out of there?" one lone woman asked.

Jack frowned. "I have my orders, ma'am."

She harrumphed. "Some hero," she said under her breath.

There was an explosion from within the building and the next thing the Kickers saw was that the two Captains, with their costumes torn to shreds, came flying out the window that StarBrand came crashing through. Jack raced to their sides.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"Man's crazy as a loon," Brooklyn said, Bronx barely awake. "He's trying to cause another Chernobyl but this time in Manhattan. Ken wants to contain the nuclear fission within the Brand."

Then, Starbrand carried Ramikov out into the open, both of their clothes in tatters. "Everyone, cover your eyes," Ken said to the huddled masses. "I'm going to bring him into outer space like I did the other one. There's going to be an implosion. The worst is over."

As Starbrand flew into space with Ramikov, the police gathered the hostages and brought them to their families. Even though the officer wasn't part of the action, he still felt like a hero.

Meanwhile, in space, Ramikov still was able to hold his breath, due partly to his nuclear battery, and Ken Connell encased Ramikov in the star brand.

It was over in seconds.

Ken absorbed the Chernobyl nuclear energy that was a part of Ramikov into the Brand and left him to die in space.

Ken flew back to the earth. He actually got lost, so he couldn't find the embassy but he did made it back to NSC headquarters.

He wore the costume.

He was a hero.

He was the Star Brand.