"I don't get it. This is just absolutely, completely insane, Heikki. What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Jesse as he prepared the Quinjet for take-off. "Look, it's just a matter of fact that no matter who they are or where they live, kids are always gonna get stepped on by all the old fogies that run this country, right, and for what, because they're underage they don't have any rights? That's bullcrap, and I know it and they know it and the governor knows it, and that's why he started the Youth Commission, y'know, so that young folks wouldn't have to cower behind their parents legs anymore when John Q. Law busts in waving a bunch of bills and ordinances in their faces, right, because now they have their own government that watches out for them, that gives them a voice amongst the higher-ups, that lets them know that we the young people in the here and now know that it's a big huge crock they're passing around as justice in this modern world of ours, and we have the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of them and help decide the future of this world we live in, because we're just not a hopeless generation rife with, y'know, gang members and junkies, despite what they might think. And now the Youth Commission is throwing away years of hard work and a reputation we've had to earn by the skin of our teeth by invading a foreign country, and not a foreign country that deserves invasion, mind you, but Australia of all places, where they're engaging the military in a firefight in a heavily populated area, not to mention the insignificant fact that I happen to be the elected Youth President, and they went behind my back while I was nearly comatose AGAIN to orchestrate this juvenile attack in the name of vengeance? Just what the hell did I miss here?!"

Heikki coughed and looked up from his work. "I'm sorry, Jesse, I didn't hear a word you said; I just finished arming your wheelchair. So you've got missiles, nets, um, a smoke screen and an oil slick, and...uh, a cyanide tablet under the left armrest in the event of capture, which, of course, was Jerome's idea. Are you sure you're up for this?"

Jesse sighed as he engaged the launch sequence. "Listen, I'm getting a sinking feeling my kids are thinking a little less of me because I've gotten my ass kicked twice now by a ninja with temperature powers, and this isn't just because I want them to do their chores when I tell them to, y'know, this is also so that they have something to be proud of everyday they step through that classroom door. I gotta set some sorta example, after all...open the bay doors, willya, I'm out in 3...2...1" The Quinjet fired its thrust with maximum force, sending both the vehicle and its crippled conductor soaring towards the toposphere, wher the slingshot maneuver would be used to overcome the great distance to Australia within a condensed amount of time.

As he approached Melbourne, the ardent billow of explosions and the soft glow of superpowers in heavy usage lit the city up from within like a jack o' lantern. He landed the Quinjet in a public park, engaging its cloaking device as he wheeled himself into a street intersection and towards the sound of heavy gunfire. The sidewalks were cracked by the tread of tanks, while jeeps and artillery vehicles were twisted and tossed about like broken toys, their passengers strewn across the street as if they were no more than candy wrappers. The flames of the burning wreckage rose higher and higher, lighting the avenue up like a runway. The gunfire drew closer, and as he moved towards it he saw Hydro Lad and Lightning Lass dispatching a squadron of troops with ease.

"Both of you, stand down!" he commanded. They turned to look at him, overjoyed that their president had arrived to lead them in battle, but as they opened their mouths to speak, their gaze was not fixed upon their president but instead behind him. "Look out!" Lightning Lass screamed. Jesse felt a large shadow overcome him, and he turned around in time to see Magnetic Boy hurl a tank directly over his head and off the expressway. "Aaaaah, goddammit all, MB, what the hell do you think you're doing?!", Jesse shouted in anger. "Jesse! You're okay, thank God, you're okay!" Magnetic Boy exclaimed. Bringing his fingers to his headset, he ordered: "All Youth Commission members, rendezvous at my coordinates immediately! I repeat, rendezvous at my 20 immediately!"

Within minutes, all twenty-five members had congregated as ordered, the lot of them hovering above Jesse's head like clouds, while Giant Boy took a seat on the Bank of America. Magnetic Boy, as vice-president and as always, spoke for the rest of the Commission: "Jesse, it's so good to see you, really it is. Now that you're here, you can help us coordinate our offensive."

"Coordinate your offensive? How do you even know if Sub-Zero's still here, if he was even ever here in the first place?"

"Oh, he's here, all right. Miss Mental was able to pinpoint him telepathically to this location, but he's somhow figured out how to scatter his encephalic fingerprint over twenty square miles, so I'm afraid this job has been strictly eyeballs thus far."

"Well, where the hell is she now? Why are you guys on radio communication instead of having her set you up on telepathic link?"

"I'm afraid she exhausted herself completely after the strain of localizaton. She's still nearby, but she's resting while we finish our skirmish with whatever's left of the local military."

"Okay, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you all about, this invasion of yours. What--what in the hell went through your minds when you committed to this operation? You do not have the authority to forcibly occupy another country's territory so you can undertake a sloppy extradition, then bully the local authorities to the point where they have no choice but to incite a military confrontation with a bunch of angry, self-righteous, super-powered kids who shouldn't be here in the first place! For goodness' sake, you're all from San Francisco; I would've thought you'd all be trying to justify the attack on my life instead of turning into the floating gestapo. Do you have any idea what you've done, how far we've been set back now? Have you all lost the capacity to reason?"

Magnetic Boy bit his lip during Jesse's entire rant. Still a young man, Jesse's words had done nothing but convert his indignant pouts into outright anger. His body pulsating with energy as he answered Jesse, he replied: "Listen to me, you ingrate, everyhing that we've been doing here has been for you, and you have the gall to not only to spit in our face, but to tell us that we're acting rashly, that we don't know what we're doing? What the hell do you know? This coup is the result of a unanimous vote that we made during your convalescence. Do you know what "our" government did after the second attempt on your life, on a pseudo head of state? Nothing, not a damn thing. They served us up to the media as further proof that we young people are only inciting more violence in our own communities, and furthermore, once we had conclusive proof that your assailant was hiding out here in Melbourne, they refused to even look at our intelligence because, and I quote, "there's no reason we should expend our resources on a bunch of kids, so go back home and do what we pay you for". Don't you get it yet? They don't give a damn about us, they never have. The whole point of the Youth Commission was to throw us all a bone and have us clean up the playgrounds and the schools so we couldn't bitch about not having a say in the country we live in. We've spent so much time preserving the status quo, hoping that change would come little by little when this whole time we've had the power to write our own laws and take power for ourselves. This is where it starts, this were the last elected official tells us what we can and cannot do. It's time for a change."

"Dammit all, but not like this! Are you stupid or something? You all used to be good examples of doing things the right way, and now you've abandoned all civility because the grown-ups grounded you? There are powerful ways to cause change, but this is not how!"

"See, this is how out of touch you've gotten with the rest of us, Jesse. What did you have in mind, a 60's-style sit-in? People only respond to one thing these days, and it's something we have plenty of: force. They gave us our authority, and now we're going to use it to chip away theirs..." Two straggling soldiers had attempted to escape during the argument, but Magnetic Boy had just noticed them, gesturing for Lunar Girl and Volcano Lad to apprehend them. "...brick by brick."

The two young officials swooped down to snag their prey, but before their fingers reached the men's collars, two vibranium nets fired from Jesse's wheelchair, restraining them against the pavement. Irritated, Magnetic Boy rent apart the nets with a wave, then lifted a rifle from the ground and pointed it towards the escapees. "I swear to God, if you fire on those men I will shoot a plastic missile right between your eyes," Jesse declared. Two shots rang out, and instantaneously a non-ferrous missile left the wheelchair and headed straight towards the vice-president. A focused manetic blast exploded Jesse's wheelchair as Solar Girl melted the missile before it could reach its target. "You don't even have any powers," she said blandly. "Yeah, well neither does Batman," Jesse replied. "You're no Batman," she responded.

The two soldiers clutched their legs; they had only been clipped. "See? I'm no killer, Jesse, it's just not in me," Magnetic Boy explained. "(sigh) Listen, we've all been acting rash, let's at least give our president a chance to make his case. We're all ears, Jesse."

Jesse looked fiercely upon the Youth Commission hovering above him in judgement. This was exactly the opportunity he needed, to unveil the air-tight, flawless contingency speech he had been practicing for just such an occasion. There was no way they'd be able to refute what he was about to say. They would have to stop and return to the proper authorities back home, so well-crafted it was. But as he opened his mouth to speak the first word, another voice rang out and interrupted: "All right, boys and girls, now you're really in deep crap! It's clobberin' time!"

"Oh, great," Jesse grimaced. "Armando."

To be concluded...