One Down

QuickShot:

Watching as SpeedBlade falls to the ground, I look back at Silent as he aims the blaster on his wrist at me.

I move as fast as I can. An arrow already in my bow, I pull back the bowstring but Silent fires first. Silent fires his blaster and hits me, knocking the arrow from my bow and me to the ground.

"I salute your effort," Silent says, "But I'd recommend you and your friends stop now. I spent months researching and developing this suit of armor. Besides the reinforced metal, it is equipped with an arsenal of weaponry, as you have clearly seen."

"Yeah," I say, pushing myself up. "Well, as I have clearly seen, it's going to take more than blasters and taser guns to stop us."

"Believe me. I do have more. I'm just trying to be civil."

"The villain in the giant iron suit is trying to be civil," I repeat, "Are speakers broken, or did I hit my head too hard?"

"You and your friends, the OutCasts, are noble people," Silent starts. "You do your best to protect and save the people of this city, but let me ask you this. Are all of these people, all of these, really worth protecting and saving?"

"What are you talking about," I ask, finally back on my feet.

"You fight supervillains, such as Heavy-Metal, Nitro, and even myself, but do you really fight crime? Do the OutCasts really save the day? What about non-supervillain? What do you do about them? You just ignore them. They're not big enough for you to notice."

"Again, what are you talking about?"

"Well, I've noticed. I watched and I've seen and now, with this suit of armor, I will stop it all. I will make sure everyone in this pathetic city listens to me because if they don't."

Silent raises one hand and fires something into the air. It seems stronger than a blaster. Whatever he fired, it flies higher and higher into the air until it explodes.

The sky turns red and smokes rain from the explosion.

"What is that," I ask, looking as Silent lowers his hand.

"Dr. Cho's newest invention. An energy cannon if you will. Three shots are all I would need to level the whole city."

"Three shots," I repeat, looking at the cannon. "Only three shots to level the whole city. That can't be right. How can you put that much power into something so small? Nevermind. We have to destroy that cannon before Silent fires his three shots."

I step back when Silent steps forward. He rises his other hand and aims the blaster on top at me.

"He's not using the cannon," I think. "It must be because it needs to recharge. That gives us an opening. It's a small opening, but still an opening. We need to destroy the cannon before he can fire."

I pull from my quiver an arrow and load it into my bow. As I load the arrow, I hear the sound of Silent's blaster powering up. Silent shoots but I jump to the side. Falling to the street, I pull back and string and shoot.

My arrow bursts into slime and covers the head. Silent screams as he steps back and tries to wipe the slime off. While he cleans, I pull out more arrows and fire them one after the other. However, none of my arrows hit the cannon.

My hand is empty and I try to reach for more arrows but Silent can see again. He swings his hand and tries to hit me.

"Watch out," SpeedBlade yells, running and pushing me out of the way. The two of us falling, we barely manage to dodge under the swing.

"What," Silent yells before screaming again. Turning around, I see JumpStart standing on top of him. "Get off of me, you fool!"

"I will after I do this," JumpStart yells back, rising his stun batons into the air and thrusting them down.

The night sky lights up as electricity runs all over Silent but it doesn't seem to be fazing him. He's not screaming or shaking. Instead, he grabs JumpStart and throws him toward SpeedBlade and me.

"I have studied all of you for many months now," Silent says, stomping his way toward us. "I know your strengths and designed this armor with specific requirements. For one, this armor is immune to any electric attack from your stun batons, Mr. JumpStart."

As SpeedBlade and I help JumpStart to his feet, he looks down at his stun batons.

"For another," Silent goes on, "I have mini-rockest on my back that can match your speed, Mr. SpeedBlade. You can run and run all you want, but it's no use."

Hearing the sound of gears turning, we watch as something climbs higher and higher until it's on Silent's shoulders. Looking like a white box, the white box opens and reveals a bunch of small holes. Before we could do anything, mini-rockets shoot out and fly toward us.

"Get down," SpeedBlade yells, pushing us to the street. As soon as we fall, he jumps over us and runs. The rockets fly over us and chase after SpeedBlade.

"Watch out," I say, watching as SpeedBlade takes one sharp turn after another. He's trying to lose the rockets but what Silent said is right. They're tracking him somehow.

One rocket finally hits SpeedBlade and he is thrown into the air before landing back on the street. Smoking and shaking as he pushes himself up, I see the other rockets still chasing after him.

Thinking fast, thinking without thinking, concreting only on saving SpeedBlade, I shoot out my hand and focus my power.

A shining red barrier appears around SpeedBlade that protects him from the rockets. As the rockets hit the barrier, I can feel the impact of every one of them. With every hit, I feel my power fades until it happens. The entire world around me turns black as I fall to the street.

Ms. Justice:

"QuickShot," I scream, seeing QuickShot falls flat against the street. "Oh no. She used her power to shield SpeedBlade. She's out of energy."

Pushing myself to my feet, I run to the others as fast as I can and we all regroup around QuickShot.

"QuickShot," I say, throwing her onto my back. "Don't worry, we'll take you back to the OutPost. You can rest there."

"Uhh," JumpStart says, tapping me on the arm. "That might not be possible."

JumpStart points toward Silent as his blaster warms up and before we can move, he fires.