Chapter 4 - Silas

"Stop right where you are!" This time it was a male a little older than Flare. My visor recognized the stranger as Tidal Wave, a son of one of High Solis' captains. This was quite the opportunity for me.

I swung my hands to their fighting position like I had done weeks ago in Kaity's room. My shields spread to cover my body this time, and just as a wall of water slammed into it as it spread to cover the whole alley. I began to press back, feeling a slight heat start to build up around my forearms.

I was about to deal with the boy when something sparking and hot shot past my head. It was a flare. I knew if I let the wall of water hit me, I was done. However, while I may have been holding it, I had lost focus on the makeshift cuffs on Emma.

I was a sitting duck here, trapped between a flare-shooting middle schooler and a sentient super soaker. I needed to try something new. I heard the sizzling first. I turned my head, still trying to keep the shield up. She was winding up to throw the sparking ball of red light. It was time to take a risk.

I let my wall drop, which would have seemed dumb if I hadn't only practiced this once behind my tiny apartment. I focused on placing the shield right where I could step back as the water crashed down. The flare caught in the far side of it, and I planted my foot on the other. I pushed off in a jump into the air just above the water as it crashed into it. As that shield disappeared, I focused on where my foot was going to hit water. Right above it, I placed a shield and ran. Placing shields just large enough for my feet, I walked on water.

I leapt at the end of the rushing tide rising in the air as I shifted the shield I was standing on up. I fell through the air right for Tidal Wave, who had been attacking without any regard for Flare's safety. A shielded fist slammed into his face as he looked up at me. A descending avenger for all the basics he looked down on. Finally, he was the one that a Basic was looking down on. Literally.

Oh yeah. I was so cool. Taking down an evolved like that guy? One punch was all it took to knock him out.

The water crashed into my back.

I was an idiot.

I had forgotten that he was the one pushing the water into the alley. I felt the rushing of the current as the water spilled into the street. I felt something knock into my helmet and it was free.

As the water thinned I noted two things. The first was my helmet, where it sat a few yards away. The second however, was Emma. While she was my enemy, she didn't deserve to drown because of me. She had been caught in the tide long before myself and I couldn't tell if she was breathing.

I decided my helmet could wait. I told her I was one of the good guys, and that would remain true. I moved over to her, and pressed on her chest, trying to force the water from her lungs. Luckily, it worked and I didn't have to do anything else. As she coughed and spluttered, I went to retrieve my helmet.

"Hey…" she weakly groaned, "did you just… save me?"

I responded with what I had been telling her all along, "I told you before. I'm a good guy." I turned and put my helmet on. I wasn't too concerned that she had seen me without it. Kaity always said I looked looked like dirty mop when my hair was wet.

"At least tell me your name!" She called out as I started to run. I stopped for just a moment.

"I told you that too. I'm Basic. The Basic."

With that, I sprinted off in a general direction towards my apartment, but not directly towards it. I didn't want anyone following me in case more than one person responded to Flare's distress beacon.

I didn't see Emma again for over a week.

I walked into Kaity's hospital room to find a new box, once again with my name on it. I tore it open hastily as I greeted my friend, gasping as I saw the contents. I lifted the plated cloth from the box. Kaity squealed with excitement as I slipped off my backpack that I now carried my helmet and bracers in.

"I'm gonna put this on right away," I told Kaity. I slipped the impressive armor over my black t-shirt, which I now almost always wore. I owned, like, twenty even before my career as Basic began. The black and dark blue plates of metal were spaced enough to allow all my joints to move freely, and I could bend freely.

The pants were a different matter. I couldn't exactly just slip those over my jeans. I grabbed one of the pillows and set it over Kaity's face. Not exactly one of the most modest ways to change with a girl in the room, but it wasn't like she could just throw it off. I slipped the armored pants on, and they actually looked pretty sweet.

"Eh… Ge dis' uhf, Si," Kaity mumbled through the pillow.

"I don't know. It seems to be keeping you quiet. Can't I go another minute with peace and quiet?" I joked before removing the pillow so she could see what I had on of my new outfit. Whoever my mysterious supplier was, they certainly had some pretty sweet style choices.

I slipped the bracers over the bare forearms of the suit, then Kaity pointed to a pair of boots in the corner that also had a tag on them. I tugged them on and looked in the mirror. There was one thing still missing, and we both knew just what. I reached into the bag I had dropped and pulled out my helmet. I slid it on and gave myself a once over.

Before I could really admire the mysterious upgrade to my armor, the door opened. A doctor stood in the doorway, and behind them were two girls. I recognized the dark curls of one, and the other bore a strong resemblance to her sister, though she was clearly the older of the two. Emma recognized me too.

She froze, not daring to breathe. It was possible she was having flashbacks of being hit with a wall of water and waking to my face. We all stood in silence, except for Kaity. She was laying in silence because... well yeah. I decided that I should play my role as a confident superhero.

"Flare, I see we have some common friends. Is this your older sister?" I asked through my black and blue dome. She only nodded slowly. It was her sister's actions that took me by surprise. She pulled a device from her pocket and took a picture. It was her phone.

She started tapping wildly at the device, possibly posting the picture to her favorite media sight, probably Snapper. Everyone used dang Snapper and I couldn't even get a phone. It was only seconds before she pocketed the phone and tapped a watch on her wrist. A super suit formed around her. Of course, she was a hero too. She hadn't been posting my picture. She was checking it against a criminal database.

"What? Did you girls come for autographs? I don't really do those yet, but I guess you could be the first ones in my fan club. My buddy Emma and her hot sister." I noted the red that showed on the older girl's face. She must not get that a lot, especially from mysterious vigilantes in dark suits.

When a metal staff appeared in her hands after she regathered her wits, I decided the time to joke was over. I thrust both of my hands after the doctor had slipped by to Kaity, whom I was sure was smiling.

I glanced back once before I left the room, and actually found Kaity scowling at me. I had said or done something that she was not happy with. I would have to see what it had been when I next visited, but not now. Now was the time to disappear down the hall, and that's just what I did. I vanished in the chaos and found my way home, the look on my friend's face digging into my mind.