Death from...Below?

   (When we last left Fred, he and the boys had just zoomed around the universe and upon return to Earth, found it to be fifty-four years in the future)

   Alexander leaned forward and the ship shot down toward Earth.  On the screen Jonathan nodded his head and said something, but there was no sound.  A second later, an explosion rocked the ship, knocking them all to the floor.  Then another hit, and another.
   “We’re goin’ down!” Fred yelled.
   “Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!” Anthony screamed.
   Alexander nudged something on the wall, there was a white puff, and they found themselves sprawled on the ground in front of Jonathan.  After recovering from his initial shock, Fred jumped to his feet.
   He stuck his finger in Jonathan’s face. “You, Mr. Jonathan, are under arrest!”
   Jonathan laughed a rather feeble, old man laugh. “Under what authority?”
   Fred waved his finger in the air. “Under the authority of the United States!  Ha!  Beat that!”
   Jonathan continued chuckling. “The States have only the authority I give them now, Fred.  You’ve been gone a long time.  Things have changed.”
   And suddenly, a whole bunch of really big guys with really big guns were all around them.
   Fred laughed. “They can’t stop us.”
   Jonathan nodded. “Oh yes they can.”
   One of the men pulled out a slug.  Alexander whimpered.
   “You see, Fred,” Jonathan said. “I’ve been preparing for this day every since you left.  That would be fifty-four years I’ve been preparing.  There is nothing left unaccounted for.”
   “Oh yeah?” Fred blustered. “Well you can’t prepare for everything!”
   “Yes, I can.”
   “How about this?”
   Fred shot his fist out, right for Jonathan’s nose, but just before he connected, a blue field appeared between fist and face, and Fred’s hand was thrown back. 
   Jonathan nodded. “Oh yes, I prepared for that.”
   Fred spat at him. “How about that?”
   Jonathan wiped the spit off his chin. “No, I hadn’t thought of that.  But it didn’t help you, did it?”
   Fred shrugged. “No, but it made me feel a little better.”
   Anthony stepped forward. “I bet you weren’t expecting this!”
   Then he tripped.  And flew forward.  Into the legs of one of the big guys.  The big guy lost his balance and started flailing his arms.  Somehow his finger caught the trigger of his gun and it started firing off huge blasts.  He knocked into the guy next to him and sent him flying and soon the entire area was in disarray.  A stray shot from the gun hit the side of a tall building, breaking the support and the whole thing came crashing down right in front of Anthony. 
   When the dust settled, Jonathan shook his head.
   “No,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
   Fred and Anthony grabbed a gun each and pointed them at Jonathan. 
   “Now,” Fred said. “You are under arrest by the authority invested in me by this gun!”
   “Yeah,” Anthony chipped in.  “What he said.”
   Jonathan shrugged. “Your funeral.”
   Fred glared at him. “No.  Yours.”
   Jonathan shook his head. “No.  Yours.”
   “No.  Yours!”
   “No.  Yours.”
   “NO!  Yours!”
   “No.  Yours.”
   “No!  Yo—“
    Anthony slapped Fred on the back of the head. “Shut up already.”
   Fred glared at Anthony, then at Jonathan.  He jabbed the gun at Jonathan.
   “What do you think we should do with him?
   Anthony shrugged. “I don’t know.  Let him go and give him a chance for a new life?”
   Fred stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”
   Anthony grinned. “I’m not.”
   “I’m glad,” Jonathan said. “Because you are all going to die with me in just a few seconds.”

   To be continued…