Al and Sam take a Quantum Leap

"Spirits of our Champions Past
Gather Near Assembled Cast
Cheer Squad and Athletes Unite
In these Avatars to fight
Grant them power to defeat
Alien invasion fleet
Forms from the imagination
Free us from their domination

Kangaroo Ultra Squad Attack!"

Alex King found herself watching history unwind. The spirits of student champions of Tandy Gardens appeared around her and merged into her statuesque frame. Aaron King, a football champion who had been erased from history and was as familiar as a brother, was the first and foremost. Students in polyester, denim, bell bottoms, corduroy, poodle skirts, Letterman jackets, starched shirts, leather helmets, canvas uniforms, potato sack school clothes... Cheerleaders... Football... Baseball... Hockey... Soccer... Basketball... Volleyball... Track... Other champions appeared: Mathletes... Chess Club... Rocketry Society... Marching Band... Student council. Alexandra found herself possessing the power of a thousand students. A gold medal with the initials TG rested on a red jumpsuit reminiscent of her cheer leading outfit. Looking around, she saw the rest of her original team similarly attired and sporting a futuristic version of a football helmet covering a third of the head with a barely visible face-guard/visor composed of glimmering light. Reaching up, Alexandra found a similar helm on her own head with a raised kangaroo logo over either ear.

Samantha found herself surrounded by swirling grey mist. Shadows appeared and a dark figure. Stepping into the light and suddenly beaming with light, Sam's mother stepped from what became apparent as a graveyard. Clothed in a red and gold athletic uniform, she smiled at her daughter and stepped to embrace her. Behind her mother other shadows appeared: mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, teachers, janitors, secretaries... The spectators of a thousand sporting events, from a hundred years, came toward the shy teen. Each beaming support, encouragement, acceptance, and love. Her mother melted into her daughter with a hug. Hand shakes, back pats, and side hugs followed. Each specter faded on contact filling Samantha Smith with power that she had never known. A final figure appeared: a hulking boy in a Tandy football uniform who reached out to the petite girl with clumsy ham hands. "Hi, I'm Gene. We're needed." The figure of Gene Smith faded, but Samantha could feel his presence within her. "I miss mother, too." She whispered as the mists faded to reveal her friend wearing gold and red jumpsuits and a twenty second century Kangaroo's football helmet. She could feel the helmet on her own heard and glanced upward to see a holographic heads-up display showing the location and health of her teammates and a tactical display of the battle over Tandy