Crosshair

Micheal Peterson:

"Why do you smell like bacon," Ash asks.

"Oh, uhh," I moan, thinking of a reasonable explanation. "I, uh, I don't smell like bacon. It's your imagination. I had bacon for breakfast."

"What?"

"What," I repeat.

"What?"

"Right."

"What!"

"Oh no," I say, looking at my full cup of soda. "I'm out. I'm going to get a refill."

Biting my tongue, fighting through the pain, I wobble my way over to Rocky's soda machine. Looking at the table, making sure Brian and Ash aren't looking, I take off the lid and drink as much soda as I can. By the time I'm done, my cup is less than half empty.

"Oh wow," I think, pushing against the lever and watching soda pour down. "That really helps."

I feel a smile growing but as the soda cup grows heavier and heavier, my smile turns upside down.

"Ahh," I moan. I try to rub my shoulder but the second my hand touches my shoulder, a sharp pain shoots through my arm and I almost drop my soda. Having to bite down on my tongue again, I instead rotate my shoulder. As I rotate my shoulder, I hear the sound of my bones but I'm having trouble telling if it's my bones breaking or them realigning themselves. Either way, it still hurts a lot.

Inhaling and exhaling as I walk back to my table with a heavy soda cup, I sit back down in my chair.

"I can't believe my arm still hurts," I think. "It had been almost a week since I defeated Iron Fire. Well, since a burning house defeated him."

Taking a deep breath, I subtly rotate my shoulder as I look back up at Brian.

"I'm telling you guys," Brian starts, putting down his slice of pizza. "This is harsh. Unbelievably harsh. Look at what the police and even the Times are saying about Thrill Rider."

Brian hands Ash and me his phone. Looking at the Los Angeles Times website, Ash and I read the latest news article while she scrolls down.

The article stated that Thrill Rider destroyed a whole house while attempting to stop Kenneth Orr, better known as Iron Fire.

"That's not entirely false," I think, "But hey! 'Attempting'? I did stop Iron Fire."

The article goes on to say that Thrill Rider, I, left Iron Fire beneath the destroyed house before fleeing the scene.

"As if Thrill Rider doesn't have a long enough rap sheet," Officer Johnathan said, "Now he goes and adds arson to it."

I shake my head as the article comes to an end.

"I wasn't the one with the flame thrower," I think.

"I know, right," Brian says, grabbing Ash's and my attention. "Thrill Rider wasn't the one with the flame thrower. It was the Kenneth Orr guy. Or would he rather be called Iron Fire?"

"Did you read my mind?"

Brian clicks his tongue and shakes his head before taking back his cell phone. He sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket.

"I can't believe this," Brian moans. "Thrill Rider stopped Iron Fire but everyone cares. All they cared about was that he destroyed some stupid house. I mean, I've seen the house. It was nothing but a pile of rotting sticks. And that was before Thrill Rider and Iron Fire."

"Wait, what," Ash says. "Brian. You saw the house? You were there?"

Brian freezes with his slice of pizza in mid-air.

"Uhh, yes," Brian answers. "Why?"

"Brian," Ash starts. "You were there. Are you kidding me? Do you know how dangerous that sounds? You were there!"

"I had to be there."

"Why," I ask. "For your blog? Brian. Don't you remember what we talked about?"

"Yeah. I remember. You wanted me to stop writing on my blog!"

"I didn't want you to stop writing," I say, trying to keep myself from yelling. "I just said it wasn't safe. And honestly, I think I'm right."

"You are," Ash says. "Brian. You shouldn't have gone."

"Well, I did," Brian answers, grabbing a napkin. He wipes his mouth and gets up from his seat. "Listen, guys. Thanks for the quick meet-up but I have to go now."

Brian turns to leave but Ash stops him.

"Hey Brian," Ash says, reaching out her hand. "You haven't finished your pizza slice."

"That's okay," Brian says. "I'm full."

With that, Brian runs toward the door. Ash gets up but I stop her.

"Stay here," I say, running after Brian. Bursting through the restaurant's door, I see Brian only a few feet from the exit.

"You forget you don't have a car yet," I say, walking up from Brian. Brian turns around and looks at me. As he turns around, I see him pocketing his phone.

"I just called my mom for a ride," Brian says. "She said she'll be here in ten minutes."

"Well in that case," I say, stepping to the side and pointing at the door. "Come back and enjoy some pizza with us. It's better than just standing out here."

"Again. I'm full."

Brian pats his stomach but I roll my eyes.

"Brian," I start, "I spent the first ten years of my life inside a police department. When I wasn't snacking on doughnuts, I would watch police interrogations. Along with a few other things. I learned how to tell when people are lying."

I take a step toward Brian and lean in close. Squeezing my eyes, and making Brian lean back, I pull back myself.

"You're lying," I state. "Brian. Ash and I are just worried about you. Writing a blog about Thrill Rider is one thing but going to see him, especially when he's about to fight a literal supervillain, is all sort of crazy!"

"Well maybe I am crazy," Brian says, "But so is Thrill Rider! He risked his life to defeat Iron Fire but instead of even saying thank you, the police department is instead saying they're adding arson to his rap sheet."

"I'm sure Thrill Rider doesn't mean," I say, waving my hand. "I mean, who cares?"

"I care," Brian says. "And apparently, I'm the only one. "

I open my mouth to say something but before I can, Brian turns and walks away. I listen to his feet stomping away. About to chase after him, I stop myself and shake my head. Instead, I go back inside and finish the pizza with Ash.

Thrill Rider:

"I care," Brian said. "And apparently, I'm the only one."

It's later in the day, and at the current moment, I'm in an alleyway, leaning on my motorcycle.

"Should I care," I think, twirling my baton in my hand. "The newspaper hates me. The police department thinks I'm a menace and wants to arrest me. I don't care but should I? And why does Brian care so much?"

I sigh and shake my head. Pushing myself back onto my feet, I pocket my baton.

"Should I care? I mean, it doesn't bother me that much. In fact, it doesn't bother me at all. J.J. hates Spider-Man but does Spider-Man care? No. So why should I? And as for the police department. Well, that's something else. I can't do anything about that."

I jump back onto my motorcycle and ride into the busy city streets. Zipping and zooming past a bunch of cars, I scan the city for any signs of trouble. However, for some reason, it seems really quiet. By the time I stop again, I pull out my phone and check the time.

"3:07," the time reads. "Wow. An hour later and still nothing. Talk about a quiet night."

Wondering if I should call it a night and go to sleep early, I snap my head when I hear the sound of a window breaking, followed immediately by a car alarm. Pushing off against the sidewalk, I ride toward the sound.

Car Thief:

"Come on, come on," I say. I watch my friends as they break more windows and grab whatever they can; spare changes, a car charger, and some small bags of nuts. As I watch them, I hear the sound of a motorcycle engine. I turn toward the sound and see a single headlight quickly coming toward us.

"He's here," I shout. "Time to go! Time to go!"

My friends look where I'm looking and nod their heads. Immediately, we all start to run away.

"Remember the deal," I say, tapping my friends on the arms as we run. "We only get paid if we lead Thrill Rider to the basketball court! Come on!"

Despite how fast we try to run, Thrill Rider reaches us in almost no time. Still on his bike, he turns onto the sidewalks and chases after us. Shooting out his leg, Thrill Rider knocks one of us down. It is even a full minute later that he turns around and knocks another one of us to the ground. My last friend and I somehow make it to the empty basketball court.

Running through the fence and onto the court, we stop in the middle and look around.

"Where is he," my friend yells. "Where is he?"

My friend spins around while holding a shaking 2x4. I look around but I don't see Thrill Rider anywhere. I don't even hear the sound of his bike anymore.

"Ahh," my friend screams. I turn around only to see my friend fall and Thrill Rider standing right there.

The Black Archer:

With the push of a button, I turn on my night vision goggles and watch from the rooftop as Thrill Rider knocks out the final car thief. Still watching as Thrill Rider searches their bodies, I reach behind me and grab an arrow from my quiver. Loading the arrow into my compound bow, I pull back the bowstring. Looking through the scope, Thrill Rider in my crosshair, I fire my arrow.