A/N I'm doing a reversion of my book. I hope you enjoy and if by chance you do, please leave a review. Thank you.

Prison Guard Captain:

The guards and I run through the hallway as fast as we can. The siren is going on, its ringing echoing throughout. The alarm is flashing red, and one guard behind a window shoots us a thumb-up as he pushes the gate control. The massive iron gate in front of us opens, and we all squeeze through before the guard shuts it again.

“Everyone get into position,” I order, dropping onto a knee. Half the guards drop to their knees while the other half stand behind us. On cue, we all raise our blasters and aim down the iron sights.

All of us aiming at IronWall’s outer gate, we focus every bit of our attention on it. It isn’t too long before there is a deafening roar in the cold night air, and the ground starts to shake.

“Get ready,” I scream, “Fire on my mark!”

My finger on the trigger, ready for anything, I then see the gate comes off its hinges and fly toward us.

“Everyone get out of the way!”

Screaming and yelling as we scatter to get out of the way of the flying gate, it barely misses us and instead hits the prison itself.

Moaning as I pick myself up, I look at where the gate was. Now a smoke cloud in its place, I see a massive shadow moving in it.

“Fire,” I yell, getting up and shooting my blaster at the shadow.

What guards are able to get back up in time grab their blasters and fire. All of us shoot at the smoke cloud, the shadow then erupts from it, revealing itself to be Unstoppable.

A wanted villain, Unstoppable is a massive giant, with muscles bigger than boulders. Dressed in shining, brown armor, he roars as he crosses his arms. Now charging toward us, we are nothing more than cardboard dummies for him to run over. Running right through us, he then slams through the iron gate and into IronWall.

QuickShot:

We watch for a bit as Unstoppable rams his way through the prison’s hallways, only stopping when he reaches an intersection. Five different hallways going in five different directions, Unstoppable picks one and is about to go down it but before he can, I shoot off three arrows.

My arrows hit the ground in front of him and explode, stopping him.

“Uhh,” he mutters before looking up to see us.

“Stop right there,” I say, grabbing another arrow and putting it in my bow.

“You know,” SpeedBlade starts, pulling out his sword from his sheath. “Despite being from a different time, I know that people normally break out of prison, not into prison.”

“I’m telling you,” JumpStart chuckles, spinning his pair of stun batons. “It’s all that charging and ramming he does. It’s messing his head.”

“No need to worry,” Ms. Justice adds, her blue, red, and white, star-covered shield shining. “After the four of us knock him out, the doctors here can help him.”

“You,” Unstoppable groans, apparently recognizing us. Stomping on the ground, he then reaches down and pulls out a giant piece of concrete, pieces of rebars sticking out.

“Oh no,” JumpStart says.

“Oh boy,” Ms. Justice comments.

“Watch out,” SpeedBlade screams, all of us running out of the way as Unstoppable tosses the piece of concrete. The concrete hitting the railing we were standing on breaks into two pieces and the four of us drop down onto the ground floor.

“Outcasts,” I shout, pulling back the bowstring. “Onward!”

Not wasting another second, we all attack Unstoppable.

SpeedBlade uses his super-speed to dodge underneath Unstoppable’s swing and attack his armored legs. Sparks fly as SpeedBlade hits his legs over and over again, forcing him back.

Stomping his leg once more, Unstoppable crosses his arms and blocks SpeedBlade’s swing. Screaming and uncrossing his arm, he knocks Speed back a little. Trying to hit Speed while he is stumbling, I let loose an arrow.

“Incoming,” I say, the arrow hitting Unstoppable in his helmet. Bouncing off it, it explodes a second later and blinds Unstoppable.

SpeedBlade:

A bright light blinding me, I quickly put up my hand to shield myself.

“What the?”

My vision slowly returning to normal, I can see Unstoppable swinging his arms around wildly. About to punch me, Ms. Justice yells from behind him, Unstoppable stopping to turn around.

“Head up,” she says, running to Unstoppable. Unstoppable swinging his arm, Justice drops to her knees and slides right under his swing. Immediately after, she jumps up and hits Unstoppable in his head with her shield.

Moaning as Justice flips over him, he places his giant hand on his head.

“I got this,” JumpStart says, running to Unstoppable as he stumbles around.

Spinning his stun batons in his hands, he leaps into the air and slams them down onto Unstoppable. Roaring so loud, the whole prison shakes, Unstoppable claps his hands together and squeezes JumpStart.

The attack knocks JumpStart out and he drops his batons. About to fall to the floor, Unstoppable instead catches him. Pulling his arm back, he then throws JumpStart like he is a sack of potatoes.

Seeing this, I slam my sword into my sheath and run to catch JumpStart. Jumping into the air, I prepare to catch him but Unstoppable threw him harder than I thought. Instead of catching him, JumpStart slams into me, and the two of us fly into one of the prison’s hallways.

Ms. Justice:

“There goes half of the team,” I say, watching as Unstoppable turns around to face QuickShot and me. Wasting no time, he pulls his arms to his sides and lowers his head. Now charging toward us, QuickShot and I jump out of the way, Unstoppable shooting right past.

Skidding to a stop after missing us, he jumps into the air and tries to slam his hands onto me. Bringing up my shield in time, I manage to block the attack, but because of Unstoppable’s strength, I’m forced onto one of my knees.

“Hold on Justice,” QuickShot yells, running around Unstoppable. Now right behind him, she pulls two arrows from her quiver.

“Time for a combat attack. You ready?”

“I was ready five seconds ago before he started to crush me,” I answer, Unstoppable still pushing down on my shield. Sinking down further, I have to use one hand to hold up the shield while using my other to keep me up.

QuickShot:

Pulling back the bowstring, I fire two arrows at Ms. Justice’s shield. The arrows hit Ms. Justice’s shield, landing in the center. They immediately start to blink, small lights on them going on and off.

The arrows going off simultaneously, an explosive and sonic arrow, they both blind and deafen Unstoppable. The giant turning away from Ms. Justice yells slams his hands onto his face.

“Justice,” I shout, backing away as Unstoppable blindly stomps his way toward me. “Falling Stars!”

Nodding her head, we then run toward each other. Running as fast as we can, I then lace my fingers together and put them on my knee. Jumping into the air, Justice lands on my hands and I toss her high into the air.

Pulling her shield behind her, she then slams it down onto Unstoppable’s head, the sound of Unstoppable falling over echoing throughout the prison.

“Oh yeah,” Justice says, smiling and raising her arms into the air. “Girls’ power!”

Walking up to me, she then gives me a high-five.

“See,” I say, smiling back. “I told you all that practicing we did wasn’t a waste of time.”

“I guess,” Justice laughs, “But still. Did we have to get up so early in the morning to practice?”

“Oh please. When I was training to be a pilot, I used to get up at 4 in the morning every day.”

“That sounds horrible.”

I reply with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Come on,” I say. “We should get out of here before any guards see us.”

Nodding her head, Justice runs after me as we reach the hallway where JumpStart and SpeedBlade disappeared. SpeedBlade runs out, his sword in his hand, stops when he sees us.

“Where is Unstoppable,” he says, looking around, his head snapping left and right.

“He’s down,” Justice replies, “And we’re out of here.”

“Wait up,” JumpStart yells, also running out from the hallway. “Unlike you, I don’t have super speed.”

The four of us altogether now, we quickly leave IronWall Prison.

SpeedBlade:

As I follow the others out of the prison, I stop and look back at Unstoppable. He is defeated and laying on the ground.

Clutching the handle to my sword, I look down and shake my head.

“I can’t believe I couldn’t do anything.”

2: Chapter 2: Back Home

QuickShot:

I step down on a hidden panel in the ground and push a hidden button on the sewer wall. The sewer wall beside me slowly move at first, it quickly split apart a few seconds later. The second the wall is fully open, we quickly walk in. Once in, I pull the lever and the door shut behind us.

In the dark for only a few seconds, I flip the switch and watch as hundreds and hundreds of little lightbulbs, all sting up and along the wall light up, revealing both the hideout and our home, the OutPost.

“Home sweet home,” JumpStart yells, smiling and turning around while spreading out his arms. Stopping, he then runs over to his room and jumps into his hammock.

Letting out a sigh as he swings in his hammock, he closes his eyes and places his hands behind his head. “No one please wake me until dinnertime.”

“Slight problem with that,” Ms. Justice replies, heading over to her room, which is right next to JumpStart. “According to the calendar, it’s your turn to cook dinner. For the record, I’m in the mood for some meatball sandwiches. Anyone else?”

“Yes, please,” I say all the way from my room. “I too would really enjoy some meatball sandwiches.”

Hearing JumpStart moans, I stop before entering my room to look at JumpStart as he drags himself out of his hammock and to our small kitchen.

“Hey SpeedBlade,” JumpStart shouts, “Are you in the mood for some meatball sandwiches too? Or would you prefer something simpler? I don’t know, like a bowl of, uh, what is that again? Cereal? You would prefer a bowl of cereal over some sandwiches? Please say yes.”

“I’m not hungry,” SpeedBlade replies, walking over to his room, which is next to Ms. Justice. As he enters his room, we can hear him throw down his sword like it is nothing, the sounds of metal hitting the stone wall echoing throughout the OutPoast. All of us hear this, we immediately know something is wrong. SpeedBlade would never throw his sword like that unless something is bothering him.

Justice, JumpStart, and I all eye each other.

“I’m cooking dinner,” JumpStart says, signing with his eyes. “One of you two needs to talk with him.”

Entering our small makeshift kitchen, JumpStart grabs the apron and put it on. Turning around, he starts to play with the oven.

“Hey,” JumpStart asks, looking back at us. “How does this thing work again?”

“Oh come on,” I say with my eyes. “Why me? Why not you?”

“Because you are our fearless leader,” Justice shouts with her eyes. “And because I’m busy.”

“Busy,” I repeat. “With what?”

“With making sure JumpStart doesn’t burn down our kitchen. Best of luck.”

Justice leaving her room, she runs over to JumpStart just as he turns on the oven and starts a fire. However, begin too close to the fire, his apron then catches on fire. Not wasting a second, Justice tackles JumpStart to the floor.

“Aw man,” I say to myself as I place down my bow and walk over to SpeedBlade’s room. “Why me? Why me? I’m a soldier, not a therapist. And it’s not like I volunteer to be the leader of the OutCast. You guys choose me.”

Stopping for a second, I take in a breath before entering SpeedBlade’s room. As I enter, I see SpeedBlade pacing. He is walking or running back and forth very fast. SpeedBlade’s room, and quite frankly, all our rooms, are very small. They’re also mostly filled with stuff we found in the garages. Despite all of that, however, we still enjoy living in the OutPost.

“Hello QuickShot,” SpeedBlade says as he speeds past me, the wind from his pacing messing up my long blonde hairs. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No there isn’t,” I reply. “I just came in here to see if you are alright.”

SpeedBlade stops, he turns to look at me. I can’t tell what SpeedBlade is feeling considering he is always wearing his bright-red, knight helmet.

“What do you mean by that,” SpeedBlade asks. “I am fine.”

“Are you sure,” I ask, looking at his sword. “For one, you threw your sword. You very rarely do that. Especially considering how valuable your sword is. Second, you’re pacing at super speed. You only pace at super speed when you are thinking of something. By the way, you’re making scorch marks again.”

I point at SpeedBlade as he looks down. In an almost straight line is a trail of thick, black scorch marks, leading from SpeedBlade’s bed to what he calls his “smithy area”.

“I am fine,” SpeedBlade declares, walking over to pick up his sword. “I was just tired and my sword felt a little heavier because of it. As for the pacing, I just wanted to do a little exercise before we eat.”

Immediately, I know that SpeedBlade is laying, but I decided it would be best to just leave.

“If SpeedBlade doesn’t want to talk about it,” I think to myself,” Then I won’t ask.”

“I’ll see you at dinner,” I say to SpeedBlade, waving at him as I head out and go back to my room.

As soon as I enter my room, I sit down and start to craft some more arrows. Packing some explosives into the tip of my arrow, I stop when I hear screaming coming from the kitchen. Getting up, I run out to see what is going on.

“Why did you do that,” Ms. Justice yells, hitting JumpStart in his arm. “I told you not to do that.”

“I thought you were referring to the oven,” JumpStart replies. “Don’t turn it back on yet.”

“Don’t do that either,” Ms. Justice says, “But also don’t use your stun batons to open the cans.”

“I thought it would cook the meats faster,” JumpStart screams, squeezing his head in between his hands. “Why did you put my name on the list? I told you over and over again. Don’t put my name on the list. I can’t cook.”

Silent:

“What news do you brings me,” I ask, my servant-bot slowly hovering to the base of my staircases.

“Unstoppable had been beaten,” my servant-bot starts,” The OutCasts had defeated him and now, he is begin held in a maximum-security prison cell at IronWall Prison.”

“I guess Unstoppable wasn’t so unstoppable after all,” I say, my eyes still focus on the hundreds and hundreds of screens in front of me. As I keep on watching, I see so many people walking around, doing whatever it is want. I see them speeding through the streets. I see them throw their trash everywhere. I see them act like animals.

“So now I have two reasons to break into IronWall.”

“What would you have me do next,” my servant-bot asks.

I think it over, weighing my options.

“Send in Lightning Storm,” I say after a few minutes. “Have him break out both Unstoppable and the other prisoner.”

“Understood,” my servant-bot says, hovering away and slowly disappearing into the shadow.

I bring up the remote control on my wrist and start to type in some commands. As I do, the screens in front of me switch from views of the city to a single view of IronWall Prison.

“I will have it,” I say, clenching my fist. “I will have the power to rule over this pathetic city.”

3: Chapter 3: Lightning Storm

QuickShot:

“I do not think we can eat this,” I say, poking one of JumpStart’s meatballs with my arrow. As I poke it, the tip of my arrow breaks off.

“What did you do,” Ms. Justice asks, looking at one of the meatballs. Actually picking one of them up, she stares at it. They are as black as charcoal and harder than bullets.

Slamming the meatball into the table, a little part of the table breaks off instead of the meatball breaking apart.

“Maybe we should take JumpStart off the dinner routine,” I say, using another arrow to pierce through the meatball’s outer shell.

“Oh yes,” JumpStart yells, pushing back his chair and raising his arms. “Yes. Please. I don’t belong in the kitchen. I belong in a place where I can build things. After all, I am a...What did you call me again?”

Looking at Ms. Justice, she answers.

“A mechanical elf.”

“Yeah, I am a mechanical elf.”

JumpStart then turns his head. Showing off his large pointed elf ears, he then starts to move them back and forth.

“I mean, come on. I build most of the things here. I even did all the wiring for the lights, and believe me, that was not easy.”

“We know,” SpeedBlade starts, walking over to the dinner table with us. “But what you need to know is it wasn’t easy for us to find everything you need. So don’t think your work is any more important than ours.”

“I wasn’t,” JumpStart says. “I was saying unless it’s a campfire, I don’t cook. At all.”

“Too bad we don’t cook with campfire anymore,” Justice says, laughing as she reaches over for her cup. Taking a sip, she spills when the alarms in the OutPost start going off. All the lightbulbs change from yellow to flashing red, and there’s ringing echoing throughout.

Wiping her mouth, she puts the cup down and looks at JumpStart. Nodding his head, JumpStart gets up and runs over to the makeshift computer he built. The rest of us gather behind him as he starts to work.

“What’s going on,” Ms. Justice asks.

“There’s trouble in the city,” JumpStart answers, turning back to face her. “Seriously, you don’t know? Ever since I built this two years ago, the alarms have gone off at least a few hundred times.”

Justice staring at JumpStart, he bursts out laughing a few seconds later.

“I’m sorry,” JumpStart says. “I’m sorry. I know what you meant. I just wanted to mess with you.”

While Justice lightly taps JumpStart on his arm, I punch him on his other arm.

“Ouch.”

Rubbing his arm, he returns to the computer.

“Let’s see what’s going on. Hmm, according to this, there seems to be another attack at IronWall Prison?”

“Again,” I say, looking at the computer’s screen. JumpStart is right. The OutPost computer’s screen shows a map of IronWall Prison, with the whole building highlighted in red.

“What’s going on,” I ask. “Can you bring up the surveillance feed?”

“Of course I can,” JumpStart smiles, typing away at the computer. “Did it when Unstoppable broke it.”

We all stand around JumpStart and the computer and wait.

“That’s odd,” he says after a few minutes. “There must be something wrong with the cameras. I can’t access them.”

“I guess that will mean we won’t know what is going on until we get to the prison,” SpeedBlade says, running away. Using his super-speed, he runs to his room before running over to the OutPost’s exit. In his hand is his sword.

“Come on,” he says, waving his arm. “Let’s go. Before the prison is destroyed.”

“Should we,” Ms. Justice asks, looking at me. “I mean, if we go now, it means we’ll be going in blind.”

I look at the computer screen first before turning to the impatient knight, his foot rapidly tapping against the floor.

“Come on,” he says again, “Come on.”

“We’re going to IronWall,” I say, “Come on everyone. Grab your things.”

We separate to grab our gears. I grab my bow and quiver, Justice grabs her shield, and JumpStart grabs his stun batons. Once ready, we leave and travel through the sewer to get back to Iron Wall.

Lightning Storm:

A steak of lightning traveling throughout my arm, I focus and watch as the lighting gathers in one spot. Once it does, I shoot out a bolt of lightning. The bolt hits the ground and explodes, pieces of stone flying everywhere.

The prison guards are stupid enough to stay and fight. They get up and start shooting me again.

Ducking behind the wall, I smile when the guards’ blasters start to click.

“Empty,” I say, “My time to strike.”

Jumping out, I spread out both my arms. Steaks of lighting travel throughout my arms and body, eventually shooting out, destroying everything, and striking the guards.

The ground, the wall, and even part of the prison are destroyed. The guards that stood their ground are hit. They drop their weapons and fall to the ground, moaning and groaning.

“Thanks for the warm-up,” I say, walking past the fallen guards and into the prison. Luckily for me, there wasn't enough time to fix the hole where Unstoppable had broken through. Strolling in through the giant hole, I’m about halfway through to where I need to be before someone tackles me from behind and I drop to the floor.

Pushing myself up, I look around for what happened. Turning around, I find myself face-to-face with the OutCasts.

SpeedBlade:

“Lightning Storm,” I say, pointing at him with my sword. “I wouldn’t think about going any further."

“Oh yeah,” JumpStart yells, doing a flip and landing beside me. He takes out his batons and spins them around before crossing them.

“Let’s bring this guy down,” Ms. Justice screams, running to JumpStart’s side.

“OutCasts,” QuickShot shouts, jumping into the air before landing in front of us. “On--”

“Onward,” I shout, running around QuickShot and toward the man.

Jumping once I’m close enough, I slam my sword down. However, Lightning Storm jumps back and I miss, my sword hitting the floor. As he lands, Storm brings up his arm. I watch as lights move from his body to his arm. The lights gather in one spot before shooting out. It hits and knocks me back.

QuickShot:

Watching as SpeedBlade hits the floor, JumpStart and I start trying our hardest to dodge the barrages of lightning bolts shooting out from Lighting Storm. Ms. Justice on the other hand drops to her knee and raises her shield.

“Miss me,” JumpStart says, as he leaps over a lightning bolt. “Dodge it. Too slow. Haha!”

Jumping and dodging over a few more bolts, JumpStart gets close enough to hit Lightning with one of his stun batons.

He screams and steps back. While stepping back, all the bolts around him disappear and he stops firing.

“Justice,” I yell, looking at her and pointing at Lightning’s head.

Nodding her head, Ms. Justice takes a running start before throwing her shield. Her shield hit Lightning in the head and stun him even further.

"My turn," I think, pulling explosive arrows from my quiver. Firing them in front of Lightning Storm, I wait for them to go on.

"JumpStart," I say, "Get back. Now!"

Nodding his head, JumpStart runs from Lightning Storm.

"This should knock him right out."

The beeping on my arrows gets faster with every second, I jump when SpeedBlade runs past me and toward Lightning.

"Wait, no!"

SpeedBlade:

I roar as I charge toward Lightning Storm, my sword in my hand and ready to strike.

Running right up to the villain, I shove him back and prepare to strike him with my sword. However, as I am swinging my sword, I see out of the corner of my helmet three arrows directly in front of me.

"Oh no," I say, seeing a tiny, blinking red light on them. It's too late. Even with my speed, I still can't get away in time. The arrows all explode. I scream as once more, I am knocked back. My sword falling out of my hand, I drop to the floor.

JumpStart:

"SpeedBlade," I scream, running over to help my friend. I'm about to reach him, but before I can, something hits me in the chest and sent me flying through the air. Hitting a wall before falling flat onto the floor, I look up while holding my chest.

Lightning Storm had regained his wits, and now is shooting wildly. Bolts of lightning shoot out from both his arms and body, hitting everything and almost everyone.

A bolt of lightning heading for me, Ms. Justice drops in front of me and blocks it with her shield.

"Stay behind me," she says as more bolts keep on hitting us. The bolts push Justice back, her feet skidding against the floor as she tries to keep her shield up.

A bolt hitting a part of the wall, I look up to see the same part of the wall falling toward us.

"Watch out," I yell, Ms. Justice also looking up. Wasting no time, she uses one hand to hold up the shield and her other hand to push me out of the way.

"Justice," I scream, watching as the part of the wall drops right onto Justice.

QuickShot:

"Justice," JumpStart screams.

I turn my head to see an entire section of the wall falls right onto Justice. JumpStart running to help her, he is distracted, and Lightning is aiming right for him.

"Don't even think about it," I say, quickly firing a slime arrow at Lightning.

My arrow bursting into a wad of green slime, it hits Lightning and stops him from shooting. Screaming and asking what just happened, I use the cover to run over to where JumpStart and Justice are.

When I reach them, I see JumpStart trying desperately to lift a piece of the wall off of Justice.

"Is she okay," I ask, bending down to check her pulse. It's weak but steady.

"I don't know," JumpStart replies, still trying to lift the piece of wall, "Here. Help me with this."

Nodding my head, I join him and together, we lift the wall off of her.

"Time for a retreat," I say, throwing an unconscious Justice onto my back. "Get SpeedBlade, I got us covered."

JumpStart running off, I look at Lightning as he wipes the slime off.

"You're going to regret that," he says, pointing at me. Lightning gathering in his arms, he's about to fire but before he can, I reach for smoke arrows. Throwing them against the ground instead of loading it into my bow, the hallway is quickly filled with black smoke.

4: Chapter 4: A Part of the Team

QuickShot:

"We're here," I say, slamming the buttons. As soon as the door is open, JumpStart and I rush into the OutPost.

"Hold on you two," I say, carrying Ms. Justice inside while JumpStart drags SpeedBlade. "Here. Put them here."

Dropping the two onto some chairs in our little living room, JumpStart and I then take a few minutes to catch our breath. Once I feel refreshed, I run over to our kitchen. Opening a cabinet, I reach in and pull out our first aid kit. Running back, I open the kit and pull out a large roll of bandages.

"Come on," I say, wrapping some bandages around Ms. Justice's arm. "Come on. Please. Open your eyes."

As I wrapped some more of Justice's wounds, her eyes start to open.

"What happened," she moans, her eyes opening and closing. "Are we back at the OutPost? Where are JumpStart and SpeedBlade? Are they okay?"

Justice tries to get up but she falls back down almost immediately. Screaming as she falls, she pinches her eyes.

"Sorry," I say, helping lower her back down into the chair. "Sorry. Sorry. Normally, you're the team's medic. I can't say I have much experience with treating injuries." 

"It's fine," Justice chuckles. "For a beginner, you're not too bad."

I chuckle alongside her and treat her wound as best as I can before running over to help SpeedBlade. Like Justice, he wakes up as soon as I wrap up most of his injuries. Also, like Justice, SpeedBlade groans as he wakes up.

"What happened," he says, looking left and right. "Where is Lightning Storm?"

Pushing himself up and actually walking, he starts to cry over and over.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch!"

"Okay," I say, "That's enough."

Barely taking a full step, I grab SpeedBlade and slam him back into the chairs.

"Ouch!"

"Sit," I growl, "Or you'll be getting some new injuries."

SpeedBlade stares at me but I stare back.

"Don't test me," my eyes say, "You may be hurt, but that does not mean I won't punch you."

I then shake my fist in front of him. SpeedBlade getting the message, sits down.

"Scary," JumpStart says, offering me a cup of water. I gladly take the water. Offering water to Justice and SpeedBlade, they slowly accept it.

Raising his helmet to take a sip, he places the cup down.

"What happened to Lightning Storm," SpeedBlade asks. "Did he gets away?"

"It's more like we got away," JumpStart answers. "Just barely."

"What?"

"Lightning Storm got away," I say, "It was after both you and Justice were knocked out."

As I think back to the fight, I remember something important.

"Why did you just charge in like that," I ask.

"What," SpeedBlade asks. "What are you talking about?"

"You just charged toward Lightning Storm," I start, "Without a plan. Without telling us anything. You just charged toward Lightning Storm, and ran into the explosive arrows I shot."

"I didn't know you fired any arrows," SpeedBlade says.

"If you had waited, or at least talk to us, then you would have known. Instead, you single-handed charge like a fool and got blown up."

"Hey easy there," Justice says, holding up a hand. "No need for name-calling."

"Apologizes for that," I say, turning to Ms. Justice, "But I am right You charged in without knowing what was about to happen, and that is why we lost."

"So it's my fault we lost," SpeedBlade says, slamming his hands down on the chair's armrests. As he does, he screams and rubs his hands.

"It's not your fault," Justice says, "We're a team."

"It is his fault," I correct, "And we are a team."

I stare at SpeedBlade.

"We are a team," I say, "And where I'm from, that means having your team's back. We watch out for each other. We form plans and execute them together. We do not watch as one, one, of us just swing a sword and hope for the best."

SpeedBlade turning his head, I snap my fingers in front of him.

"Hey," I say, "I'm over here."

Snapping my fingers over and over, SpeedBlade turns back and grabs my hand.

"Stop that," he says.

"I will stop when you say it."

"Say what?"

"Say you are a part of the team. Say you are a part of the OutCasts."

SpeedBlade stays silent. Once more, he turns his head away.

"Oh really," JumpStart says, all of us now turning to him. "Is that what this is about? What, you don't feel like you're a part of the team?"

Hearing SpeedBlade sigh through his helmet, he lowers his head.

"It's not that I don't feel like I'm a part of the team," SpeedBlade starts, "It's that I don't feel like I do much."

"What," we all say, looking at each other.

"You and Ms. Justice defeated Unstoppable almost entirely without JumpStart or my help," SpeedBlade says. "We basically didn't do anything. Other than be tossed around."

"So what," Ms. Justice says. "Just because QuickShot and I managed to take down Unstoppable without your or JumpStart's help doesn't mean anything. Also, it wasn't without your or JumpStart's help."

"What did we do," SpeedBlade asks. "What did we do to help? Nothing. Where I'm from, we knights are taught to be fearless and noble. To be brave in the face of danger. Not to be thrown around and humiliated."

"You weren't humiliated back then," I say, "But you are humiliating now."

"QuickShot is right," JumpStart says.

"Agree," Ms. Justice adds, nodding her head. "Though, a little harsh."

I shake my head left and right.

"My point is, we are a team."

"Yeah," JumpStart interrupts, "Remember? We did that hand-over-hand bonding thing Ms. Justice told us about. So you were the last one to put your hand down. That doesn't mean anything."

"Thank you JumpStart," I say, clearing my throat. "As I said before, we are a team. Whether a soldier or a knight or an elf or a regular person, one thing is clear. Teammates have to watch out for one another and help each other out. Charging in like that, that wasn't a really knight-like thing to do. Was it?"

SpeedBlade slowly raises his head, he looks back at us.

"No," he says, "No it wasn't. I am a fool."

"You're not a fool," Ms. Justice says. "You're just trying to do too much."

"Trying to do too much," JumpStart repeats. "What does that even mean?"

Ms. Justice shoots out her hand and hits JumpStart.

"Ouch."

All of a sudden, the lights in the OutPost change from yellow to red again. The alarms go off and we all look at each other. JumpStart running to the computer, he makes quick work.

"IronWall," I ask, walking behind him.

"No," he replies. "This is coming from inside the city. Hold on. I think I can get access to their radios."

A few minutes later, the computer's screen turns black with a single line on it.

"Requesting immediate backup," someone yells, the line going up and down. "Requesting immediate backup now. Lightning Storm and Unstoppable are here. We need help."

The transmitter is cut off by the sound of an explosive.

As the transmitter comes to an end, we all look at each other.

"We have to go," Ms. Justice says, pushing herself up. "They need our help."

"We can't," I say, "You two are still hurt, and there's no way JumpStart and I can take on both Unstoppable and Lightning Storm by ourselves."

"So don't go by yourself," SpeedBlade says, grunting as he too pushes himself up. "You said it yourself. We're a team, and as a team, we have to watch out for one another and help each other. So please help us grab our stuff and let's go defeat those two."

5: Chapter 5: Slimy

Lightning Storm:

“Get out of our way,” I yell, shooting off bolts of lightning. “Move it! Make way! Coming through!”

The bolts destroy everything in our ways. The blockade the polices put up is reduced to nothing.

“Open fire,” the captain of the polices orders. “Everyone, open fire now.”

Lining up, half standing and the other half dropping to their knees, the captain and his officers start firing at us.

Unstoppable grabbing and tossing me behind him, he raises his arms and acts as my shield.

“Careful,” I yell, watching as some of the blasts get close to hitting the containment cell. “The boss won’t be too happy if that thing is hit.”

Unstoppable grunting at me, he slams the containment cell onto the street before charging toward the officers. The blasts deflect off of Unstoppable’s armor, he reaches them in no time and starts knocking them out.

Kicking and knocking the captain to the ground, Unstoppable picks up a car and raises it over himself. Slamming it down onto the captain, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

QuickShot:

“Nooo,” I scream, shooting out my hand. My hand glowing red, I feel a surge of energy traveling between my hand and my head. I watch as, before my eyes, a red bubble appears around the captain.

Unstoppable slamming the car into the bubble, it bends and crunches.

“Help him,” I say, feeling all my energy disappears as I maintain the bubble. My arms feel like they weigh a ton, and my legs are shaking. “Go.”

Ms. Justice throws her shield and knocks Unstoppable back. Recovering fast, Unstoppable prepares to fight but Justice and JumpStart hold him back. Meanwhile, I let the bubble dispense. The second it’s gone, SpeedBlade runs to pick up the captain.

He runs to the end of the block and drops the captain off before running back to help Ms. Justice and JumpStart. I try to help them too, but I can’t. I feel too tired.

Ms. Justice:

As Unstoppable swings his arm, I backflip out of the way and land on my feet. Unstoppable taking a step toward me, he stops when SpeedBlade runs in between us and hits him with his sword.

Sparks fly as SpeedBlade hits Unstoppable and forces him back. As SpeedBlade faces Unstoppable head-on, JumpStart sneaks up from behind and hits Unstoppable with his stun batons. Unstoppable screams as electricity run throughout him.

About to throw my shield at Unstoppable, I stop when I see QuickShot. She’s on her knee and using her bow as a sort of clutch.

“Keep him back,” I say, running to her side.

“What,” JumpStart yells, jumping back as Unstoppable swings at him.

Running to QuickShot’s side, I throw her arm over myself and start to carry her.

“Are you okay,” I ask, carrying her away.

“I’m fine,” QuickShot replies in between breathes. “Had to, had to use my power. Drained all my strength.”

“Shoot,” I say, looking at QuickShot. Her face is already pale, almost looking like a ghost. “Hold on. Let me see where I can drop you.”

I scan the area, but there isn’t much cover left. Really, the only things left are smoking cars and half-destroyed barricades.

“Watch out,” JumpStart yells. Turning my head, I see a familiar bolt of lightning almost hit SpeedBlade. Barely jumping out of the way in time, we all watch as the bolt hit the street and blows it up.

“I handle these wannabes superheroes,” Lightning Storm says, stepping out from behind what looks like a giant metal tube. “Unstoppable, you take care of this thing.”

Patting the metal tube, Unstoppable grunts before leaving JumpStart and SpeedBlade and running over to Lightning Storm.

He picks up the tube before running off. Lightning Storm, however, cracks his knuckles as he steps forward.

“For the record,” Lightning starts, laughing and pointing at us. “I have unfinished business with every single one of you.”

Raising both his arms, lights start to gather in them. Before long, lightning bolts start to shoot out, hitting everything.

Parts of the street and buildings’ walls are hit, exploding into dust. Dozens and dozens of bolts fly past or toward us. With QuickShot on me, I can’t move fast. I see one bolt heading right for the two of us.

SpeedBlade:

Running past the bolts of lightning, I see Lightning Storm within the distance. As I run closer to him, I move to my right to dodge a bolt. However, as I watch the bolt, I see it head for Ms. Justice and QuickShot.

“There’s no way they can get out of the way in time,” I see, looking between them and Lightning. “I’m close enough where I can jump and hit Lightning, but if I do, then they will get hurt. I won’t let that happen.”

Turning around, I run to the two, passing the bolt. Just before it can hit them, I jump and block the attack with my sword.

Ms. Justice:

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just as a bolt is about to hit QuickShot and me, SpeedBlade runs out and blocks the attack. I keep on watching as SpeedBlade falls to the ground, shaking.

“SpeedBlade,” QuickShot says, pushing off of me and limping to SpeedBlade. “SpeedBlade. Are you okay?”

Flipping him over, he moans as he holds his sword against his chest.

“I’m fine,” he says, “My sword, it saves me.”

We let out a sigh, only to be interrupted by JumpStart.

“So glad SpeedBlade is okay,” he yells, “But in case none of you remember, there’s a bad guy here we can’t even touch!”

A bolt of lightning hits the ground beside JumpStart and explodes, sending dust into JumpStart.

JumpStart falling over now, SpeedBlade pushes himself up.

“I think I can get close enough,” he says, “But I will need your help. Both of you.”

“You don’t even have to ask,” I say. “After all, we’re a team.”

Lightning Storm:

“Another one down,” I say, pumping my fist. “Just two more to go.”

Turning to look at the two girls, I’m surprised to see the knight steps back up.

“Oh, you want more? Fine by me.”

Aiming my arm at the knight, I prepare to shoot.

“Lightning does strike twice,” I say, shooting out a bolt. The bolt heading for the knight, he uses his speed to jump out of the way and run toward me. I rise my arms and prepare to unleash a storm, but before I can, something hits me from the side. I scream as green slime suddenly covers me.

“Not again,” I say, wiping it off. The slime getting all over me, it stops my power. Without my power, the knight has a clear shot at me.

SpeedBlade:

I scream as I jump into the air, hitting Lightning with the handle of my sword. Falling to the ground, I jump back and look at Lightning. I wait for him to get back up, but he doesn’t.

“He’s out,” I say, looking at QuickShot and Justice. QuickShot, who is laying against a wall waves at me. Ms. Justice who is standing to my left also waves at me.

“Smart thinking,” she says, walking up to me.

“No need to praise me,” I say, “I’m just glad my plan worked.”

“I’m glad my aim with a bow is getting better,” Justice says, smiling and holding up QuickShot’s bow. “Thought, I’m surprised you know about the slime arrow. I thought you were unconscious when she used them against Lightning.”

“What are you talking about,” I ask.

“I’m talking about how you said to use the slime arrows to stop Lightning from shooting,” Ms. Justice says. “Wasn’t that the plan?”

“No. I just asked if you could shoot something at him so I could charge him.”

“Wait, was I just a distraction for you?”

“Yes, but only because I was confident I could move fast enough to stop Lightning before he could shoot you. I was watching out for you.”

Ms. Justice starts to slowly nod her head.

“Okay,” she says, “Not exactly what we meant, but it still works. Come on, let’s grab the other and get out of here.”

“But wait,” I say, stopping to look around. “Where is Unstoppable?”

Silent:

I watch from above as Unstoppable kneels in front of me. Besides him in the containment cell.

“Lightning Storm was defeated,” I ask. Unstoppable nods his head.

“Hmm. Too bad. Nevertheless, I got who I needed."

Turning back to the hundreds of monitors in front of me, I push a button on my remote control and watch as the monitors turn on, showing me pictures of the OutCasts.

"QuickShot," I start, "Ms. Justice. JumpStart. SpeedBlade. Watch out, because it won't be long now, and once I have what I need, I'll be the one left standing, and the city will finally be mine."

6: Chapter 6: A Slight Malfunction

JumpStart:

"So wait," SpeedBlade starts, looking at the cards in his hand. "How do I do this again?"

"I'm not sure," I reply, looking at the cards in my own hands. There is a picture of a black seven with a leaf, a red heart with a four, and a king. "Wait, when do I pull a card from the deck?"

"Draw," Ms. Justice says, "You draw a card when I say go fish."

"Wait, so do I draw a card now?"

"No. Not yet. First thing first, you need to ask one of us if we have a card."

Still confused, I look over at QuickShot.

"Do you, uh, have this card?"

I take the card with the black seven and leaf and show it to QuickShot.

"No," QuickShot answers. "Go fish. Also, that's called the seven of clubs, and you don't have to show it to me."

"Okay," I say, putting the card back in my hand and pulling a card from the deck. "Now what?"

"Now it's SpeedBlade's turn," Justice says. "SpeedBlade, ask away."

"May I go back to sleep," SpeedBlade asks.

"No," Justice cries. "Come on, you already slept five hours today. How can you still be tired?"

"I do a lot of running," SpeedBlade replies. "It makes me tired. Very tired."

Ms. Justice let out a sigh that raises her hair.

"Come on," QuickShot says, hitting SpeedBlade on his arm. "Let's just finish this game, okay? Afterward, we can all go back to doing our own things."

"Fine," SpeedBlade says, looking at the cards in his hand. "Do you have this card? It's three red diamonds."

"Who are you asking," I ask.

"Anyone," SpeedBlade replies. "I want to go back to sleep. So do any of you have this card or not."

"Here you are," Justice says, handing SpeedBlade the same card. "And it's fine. I wanted to teach you guys how to play Go Fish, and I did. You can all go now."

"Thank you," SpeedBlade says, putting his cards down and getting up. He disappears into his room a few minutes later, and we can all hear the sound of him falling onto his bed.

"Uhh," I start, rubbing the back of my head. "Can I go too?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks," I say, putting down my cards and getting up. Stretching out my arms as I get up, I turn around and head to my room.

QuickShot:

"You can go too," Ms. Justice says, reaching over for JumpStart's and SpeedBlade's cards. "I'm guessing since you're not from another world, you actually know the rules of Go Fish."

"I do," I reply, stopping Ms. Justice from gathering the cards. "And because I do, it means you won't have to explain anything to me."

I look at the card in my hand.

"Do you have an ace?"

"Go fish," Justice says, smiling as she picks up her cards.

JumpStart:

As I walk back to my room, I look at my crafting table. Scattered all over my table are parts, all different shapes and sizes pulled from trashcans all over the city. Pulling out my chair, I drop down and start building.

Grabbing a gear, I place it against a second gear and start spinning them. The two gears are now linked, I place them on a piece of machinery.

"Hopefully this work," I say, placing the machinery on my table. Looking to my left, I grab my lighting maker. I think QuickShot told me it's called a generator, but I prefer to think of it as a lighting maker. After all, back home, the only thing that can make power like this is a bolt of lighting.

I push a switch and watch as my lighting maker comes on. A humming sound starts, I grab two wires, one red and one blue. Tapping them together, they make a spark that blinds me.

Blinking a few times, my eyesight eventually returning, I look at the machinery.

"Be careful," I say, carefully aligning everything. "Be careful. Be careful."

The machinery and my wires touching, the machinery roars to life. It's shooting out smokes and the gears on the side are spinning at incredible speed.

"Yes, yes, yes," I say, looking at the gears as they soon start to move faster. "Wait. No. No! Too fast! Too fast!"

Removing the wires, the gears are still turning too fast, and to make matters worst, they seem to be shaking. Also, it looks like they are getting loose. I try to stop the gears but they're moving too fast. Without a second thought, I drop to the floor just as the gears come off and fly around my room.

Laying flat on the floor, my hands over my head, I listen as the gears fly all over, hitting and bouncing off the walls.

"What's going on," QuickShot says as she and Justice run into my room. I don't even have time to warn them but the gears are heading for them.

"Watch out," I yell, getting up. However, before I or QuickShot can do anything, Justice grabs and pulls QuickShot behind her. Bringing up her shield in time, the gears bounce off of it and stick to my table.

"Again," QuickShot says, "I ask. What is going on here?"

"Just a slight malfunction," I reply, dusting myself off. 

"A slight malfunction," Justice repeats. "What exactly were you trying to do? Besides, turn gears into ninja stars."

"That is a surprise," I reply, looking at my crafting table. Laughing as I look at the two, I wrap my hand around one of the gears and pull.

"Come on," I say, still pulling. "Come on. Come on."

The gear finally pop out.

"Yes," I smile, laying the gear on the table. "Like I said, just a slight malfunction."

QuickShot and Justice look at each other before looking back at me. As they look at me, they frown.

"Uhh, I'm missing some parts," I chuckle, pointing at my table. "Can I, uhh, please go to your room to see if you have what I need?"

"Sure," QuickShot answers, "But just don't touch anything okay. Since Lighting Storm, I've been working on a new slime formula. It supposes to be stronger than before."

"Got it," I say, running through the two and over to QuickShot's room. As I step into QuickShot's room, I see a bunch of posters all over her room. There are pictures of flying machines and women with similar clothing to QuickShot on the posters.

As I enter QuickShot's room, I see her crafting table. A rusted steel table, the parts are all organized and placed inside drawers.

"Where do you keep your spare gears?"

I open one drawer but find nothing but a bunch of arrowheads. I open another drawer but find a sharpening stone instead. After going through a few more, I finally find the gears.

"Yes," I say, grabbing a few and closing the drawers. While closing the drawer, I notice some small glass cups filled with green water.

"What is this? Oh, is this the new slime QuickShot mentioned? Hmm, doesn't look even strong."

I'm about to poke it but I remember what QuickShot said. She told me not to touch anything.

I shrug my shoulder and turn to walk around. However, as I am turning, I accidentally kick one of the table's legs. I turn back to see the cups shake before tipping over.

QuickShot:

"What is JumpStart trying to build," I say, examining the parts all over the table. They seem to be a collection of mismatched parts, and yet somehow, JumpStart had built something from them. On the table, standing out like a sore thumb is some sort of complex piece of machinery.

"I have no idea," Justice replies, "But I really don't think you should be in his room. After all, you asked not to touch anything in your room. You should do the same."

I examine the machinery a bit more before pulling back.

"I understand. We have to respect each other-"

Before I can finish speaking, a loud crash cuts me off. The crash seems to be coming from my room. It's shortly followed by JumpStart screaming.

"Nevermind," I say, stomping my head toward my most-likely destroyed room.

JumpStart:

The cup hits the floor and breaks, unleashing a flood of something green and white. It runs me and forces me out.

"No, no, no," I scream as I am carrying out. "Oh no. QuickShot is not going to be happy about this."

"I'm not," QuickShot says, her and Justice appearing before me.

"I can explain," I say.

About to explain what happened, the lights in the OutPost change colors, and the alarm goes off.

"I will explain later," I say, climbing up. "For now-"

"For now," QuickShot says, "Go and grab my gears."

I'm about to say something in protest but one look from QuickShot and Justice stop me 

"Okay. Give me a second. I'm be back."

7: Chapter 7: Gas Attack

Nitro:

"Go to sleep," I say, firing my gas gun and unleashing a cloud of purple smoke. The smoke spreads, it knocks out all the employees and they drop to the floor within a few seconds.

Stepping over them, I wipe the lens of my gas mask as I look around the 16th floor.

"Where is that server room?"

Still looking around, I stop when I hear someone yelling.

"Stop right there," a security guard says, running onto the floor. However, as he enters, he breathes in my knockout gas and falls to the floor.

Stepping over the guard, I check all the doors. After the fifth or sixth door, I find one that is locked.

"This must be it," I say, stepping back.

Opening my trench coat, I unscrew the canister of knockout gas and switch it with a canister of acid gas. Loading the acid gas into my gun, I fire.

Dark green smoke hits the locked door, I only have to wait a few minutes before the door is gone. It's melting and flowing into the carpet. Stepping over the puddle, I enter a room filled with servers. Tall, black, and covered in blinking lights, the servers all look the same.

"According to the boss," I say, reaching for a flash drive in my pocket. "I just have to put this in and wait a few minutes. Once it's done loading, I return with the information."

Looking around, I see a USB port and plug in the flash drive.

I only have to wait a few seconds before the loading bar reaches 50%. As I'm waiting, I hear something from outside. Checking the bar, already at 60%, I step out.

QuickShot:

"They're okay," I say, turning back to the others after checking their pulse. "They're just unconscious."

"What happened here," SpeedBlade asks, carefully stepping onto the floor.

"I'm not sure," JumpStart replies, "I couldn't see much. There was so sort of gas blocking the cameras."

Getting up from my knee, I wave my hand. There is some sort of purple smoke on this office floor. The whole place is deserted, with everyone laying on the floor.

"Hey," Justice says, tapping me on the shoulder. "Are you sure you should be here? Your quiver only had a few arrows in it."

"I have no choice," I say, eyeing JumpStart. Shortly after flooding my room, he rushes in to grab my bow and quiver. However, my new slime hardens unexpectedly, to the point where it's nearly unbreakable. Most of my arrows ended up stuck in the hardened slime and JumpStart could only save six arrows. Six arrows out of 30.

"I apologize okay," JumpStart whispers, "I apologize the whole time on the way over here. Will you please stop bringing it up? I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

JumpStart repeats himself, I stop him when I see someone steps out of a room and into a hallway.

"Be quiet," I say, pushing JumpStart to the side. "And it's fine. You are cleaning my room, however."

"Awww."

The person turning, I approach him and rise my hands.

"We're here to help," I say, "Are you okay? What happened here?"

"I'm fine," the person answers, his voice sounding like it's echoing. "Someone came in here and sprayed the entire floor with knockout gas."

"Knockout gas," I repeat. "Where is this person?"

"He's standing in front of him," the person answers, stepping out of the hallway and onto the floor.

The person, turning out to be a tall man, is dressed in a long black trench coat and is wearing a gas mask. On his back is a rusted green tube and in his hands is a long, black blaster.

"Take a deep breath," the man says, raising his blaster and firing. Only, it didn't fire a beam but instead, seem to be unleashing a purple gas. "And fall."

"What," I yell, jumping back. The smoke creeping toward me, I pull out an arrow and load it. Pulling back the bowstring, I shoot it at the man.

My arrow bursts out into a net and snares the man. He screams as he struggles to pull it off. Despite already being on the floor, the purple gas blocks us.

"Get back," Justice yells, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me back.

The four of us back away as the purple smoke keep on creeping toward us.

"Idea," JumpStart says, "Anyone? Any ideas at all?"

"Uhh, fans," Justice answers. "Or maybe opening a window?"

"Here an idea," SpeedBlade yells, "Run!"

With no other options, we turn to run down a hallway.

Nitro:

Finally tearing off the net and throwing it to the side, I get up and look around. The OutCasts are gone. I'm all alone. I look at the hallway they disappear into and the room with the flash drive.

"I have time," I think, switching canisters. "I'm not going to get beaten by a group of freaks."

I rise my blaster and walk down the hallway.

QuickShot:

Peeking around a corner, I let out a sigh when I see an empty hallway.

"It's clear," I say, turning back to the others. Ms. Justice, JumpStart, and SpeedBlade are all panting, trying to catch their breaths.

"Okay," Ms. Justice says, straightening herself. "What now? How do we take out Gassy?"

"I have no idea," I reply. "With that gas gun of his, I don't think it would be too smart to get close to him."

"That could be a little troublesome," JumpStart says. "You're the only one with range. The three of us are more, up close and personal."

"Maybe I could try and sneak behind him," SpeedBlade suggests, taking out his sword. "With my speed, I can run around him."

"That kind works," I say, thinking it over, "But that means having to figure out which of these hallways will lead you behind him."

I look around. With the lights above out and no signs or map, the floor is essentially one big maze. Each pitch-black hallway is to a series of more pitch-black hallways.

"If we choose wrong," I say, "You could be running right into him."

"That is true," SpeedBlade says, "But what other options do we have?"

JumpStart:

Looking up, I see the lights hanging from the ceiling. I can't be sure, but they look okay. They must be something wrong with the power then.

"If I could fix the power," I think, "Maybe that could help us. At the very least, we can see."

"Hey guys," I say, looking back down. "I think I mean have an idea but--."

Before I can finish, I see green smoke pouring out from one of the hallways. Even before I have time to warn the others, a lot of green smoke has already entered the narrow hallway we're in.

QuickShot turning around, she pushes all back.

"Get back," she yells, "Get back now."

All of us stepping back, we watch as the walls and even part of the floor starts to melt.

"What is that," Ms. Justice asks.

"It's acid gas," the man with the mask answers, walking through it. As he walks through it, he reminds completely unharmed. His coat doesn't seem to be melting at all.

"Acid gas," Justice repeats. "How on Earth did you get that Gassy?"

"My name's not Gassy. It's Nitro, and it's my own formula."

Rising his blaster, Nitro starts to fire off more of the acid gas. The gas almost instantly starts to melt the walls. They begin to collapse onto each other, folding before falling.

"Get back," QuickShot yells again when a wall right next to us falls. Reaching for arrows in her quiver, she loads three of them into her bow and fires.

Nitro seeing this quickly jumps behind a corner and watches as the arrows fly past him.

"Run," QuickShot says, turning around.

Nodding our heads, we run down the hallway before reaching a crossroads. With very little time to spare, we pick to go down the left hallway.

"Big mistake," I yell, seeing a dead-end at the end of the hallway. "Big mistake. Really, bad and big mistake."

We turn to run but stop when we see Nitro standing in front surrounded by his acid gas.

"Nowhere left to run," he says.

The four of us backing away, I look at QuickShot.

"Anytime you want to fire another arrow," I say.

"I can't," QuickShot says. "I only have two arrows left and they're the slime arrows."

"Slime arrows?"

"Yes, slime arrows, and not the ones from before. The new one from earlier this morning."

Memories of QuickShot's new slime arrow breaking apart and literally throwing me out of her room charge into my head.

"I can't use those," QuickShot says. "We're trapped."

8: Chapter 8: The New Slime

SpeedBlade:

With the strange gas getting closer, I pull out my sword.

"Move," I say, pushing Ms. Justice back. Once she is far away enough, I rise my sword before thrusting it down.

My sword going through the floor, I use my speed and run. Dragging my sword behind me, I make a circle in the ground.

"This way," I yell. Stomping my foot in the circle, it drops out and opens a pathway for us.

Wasting no time, we drop through one by one.

"We're not out of trouble yet," Justice says, dropping and landing on her knee. Looking up, we see the gas following after us.

Grabbing and helping Justice to her feet, the four of us then run down the corridor. The next few moments are filled with nothing but confusion as the four of us run through a maze of dark corridors. We turned left, right, and went straight. We kept on running until finally, JumpStart screams and stops us.

"Guys," he yells, slowing down and letting his hands fall onto his knees. Panting once more, taking in big breaths, he talks in between them.

"Gas cloud. No more. No more. Running. Please. . No, no more. No more running."

We watch as JumpStart drops to the ground.

Ms. Justice:

We all look at each other before looking down at JumpStart who already had a sweat-made silhouette.

"JumpStart is right," I say, realizing how tired I am. My shield feels like it weighs a ton, and my legs feel like they're spaghetti. I fall against a wall and slide down it.

"We'll rest for five minutes," QuickShot says, also resting against a wall. "Afterward, we'll go back out and search for Nitro. He can't be too far away."

"That a bad thing," SpeedBlade says, still standing. "If he really isn't too far, then I will keep a watch out. I don't feel tired."

"Thanks but no thanks," I say, shaking my head and pushing myself up. "I'll keep watch. You run fast, you get tired fast. You two get some rest. I'll keep watch. If I see anything, I'll wake you up."

Hesitated at first, SpeedBlade nods his head and rests. I smile as I watch QuickShot drift in and out of sleep. Looking around afterward, I notice something going on in the distance. Slowly flowing out of a hallway, I see a cloud of green acid gas.

"Oh no," I say, getting up.

By now, practically a sky full of acid gas had leaked into the hallway, and walking out of the gas is Nitro.

"Unstoppable," he says, his fingers against the side of his mask. "I got the flash drive. Tell the boss I'm heading back."

His fingers dropping to his side, he turns but stops. He freezes the moment he sees me. Rising his fingers, he places them back against the side of his mask.

"On second thought Unstoppable, tell the boss I'll be late. I got some freaks to deal with."

Opening his coat, he pulls out a metal can and switches it with one attached to his gas gun. Now shooting a blue gas, it rushes toward us.

"Time to go," I yell, grabbing QuickShot, SpeedBlade, and JumpStart and shaking them awake.

"What," JumpStart says, looking around. "What happened? What's going on? Am I sleeping in sweat?"

"Time to go," I yell again, "Nitro is here, and he got something new."

"What," SpeedBlade screams, looking at the blue gas as it pours toward us.

Realizing there is no way to fight off the gas or even defend ourselves, we turn to run. However, before we can make it far, a metal can fly past our heads and land in front. The metal can, old and rusted, starts to leak out more of the blue gas.

"No," I scream, bringing up my shield.

"We're trapped," QuickShot says, looking at the gas clouds both in front and behind us.

"There's no escape," Nitor says as he unleashes more of the blue gas. "Just take a deep breath, and fall."

Force together, our backs pushing against each other, we look for any signs of escape. SpeedBlade raises his sword high again, he stabs the floor and tries to cut another escape but something happens. As SpeedBlade is running, I hear a zip, and before I know it, electricity shoots up SpeedBlade, shocking him.

Screaming as he slams into a wall, SpeedBlade drops his sword and falls to the floor.

"SpeedBlade," I yell, QuickShot and I running to check on him.

JumpStart:

"What to do," I ask myself, "What to do? What can we do? We can't run. We can't fight. We can't touch this gas. What can we do?"

Looking at QuickShot and Ms. Justice as they help SpeedBlade, I see the two slime arrows in QuickShot's quiver. Once more, I think back to this morning, when I was pushed out of QuickShot's room.

"Pushed out," I repeat. "Pushed out. It could help, but then again. Then again, what's the alternative?"

Turning to my friends, I apologize to them.

"For what," QuickShot asks.

"In case this doesn't work," I answer.

I reach for the last two arrows in QuickShot's quiver and crush them in between my hands.

"Wait," QuickShot says, "What are you doing?"

"Something either very stupid or really smart. Ask me again if we survive this."

Nitro:

"What in the world," I say, backing away as this weird green and white foam pours out. The foam pushing my blue gas back, I have run back so the foam won't engulf me.

"What the," I say, looking at the foam as it stops. My blue gas dispensing, I wave it away and look at the foam once more. "What, what is this?"

I tap my knuckles against it. It feels like a rock. Even sounds like one.

As I think it over, I realize the OutCasts have trapped themselves. From what I saw, the elf grabbed two arrows and threw them. So either they're trapped between two rocks, or trapped between a rock and my suffocating gas.

"Easy," I say, turning to walk away. However, as I'm walking, an explosive from behind knocks me down.

Rubbing my head as I push myself up, I look behind to see the foam rock destroyed. Back on my feet, I shake my head and run over to the sizzling remains. As I approach the smoking foam rock, I see the four OutCasts.

They're all laying still on the ground, and their bodies are bruised.

"What was your plan," I ask, looking at the OutCasts.

"Our plan," someone replies, "Though a little crazy, was to lure you back here after I blew up the harden slime."

"Uh," I say, watching as each and every member of the OutCasts sits up.

"Now," the elf yells, looking at the little girl. The girl throws her shield and it hits my gas gun. My gun dropping out of my hands, I grab it off the floor and look up.

QuickShot:

While Nitro is grabbing his blaster from the floor, SpeedBlade gets up and runs toward him. Before Nitro can fires, SpeedBlade cuts his blaster in half.

"Nooo," he screams, before SpeedBlade punches and knocks him out.

"Ha," JumpStart says, snapping his fingers and pointing at Nitro. "You lose, Gassy."

Chuckling as he looks around, his smiles turn when he sees our faces.

"I know, I know, it was a crazy plan," JumpStart starts, holding up his hands, "But hey, you know, it works."

Getting up, I walk up to JumpStart. JumpStart lending back, he holds up his hands again.

"I'm not going to punch you," I say, JumpStart's eyes opening. "You were right. It was a crazy plan, but it still works. Smart thinking."

His smile returning, he sighs.

"Come on. We're done here. Let's go."

JumpStart turning to leave, I grab his shoulder.

"Smart thinking," I say again, "But you're still cleaning my room."

"Awww."

Letting JumpStart go, I stop myself when Ms. Justice grabs my shoulder.

"Hey," she says, "Uhh, about what happened back there."

"Uhh," I say, backing away and looking down. "Uhh, can we please talk about this later? I mean, we should probably leave before any law enforcement shows."

"Sure," Ms. Justice says. "Let's talk about it later."

As Justice walks past, I think back to what happened.

"This is a crazy plan," I said, watching as JumpStart pulled cables from the floor. "There's no way this is going to work."

"Have some hope," Justice said.

"Yeah," JumpStart added. "Besides, it's too late to be saying anything. Brace yourself."

Placing all the cables against the hardened slime, JumpStart pulled out his stun baton. As he prepared to power the cables, I look at Justice.

While looking at her, I noticed her eyes behind her mask. I noticed her short, wavy hair. I notice her lips.

Lending forward, I kiss Ms. Justice, just as JumpStart powered up the cables, and altogether, they blew up the slime.

9: Chapter 9: Minus 1

QuickShot:

With my bow in my hand and an arrow in my other hand, I place the end of the arrow on the bowstring. I close one eye and line up the shot.

"Gotcha," I say, looking down my arrow at the target at the other end of my room. A big, red, circle, I release the bowstring and watch as my arrow soars through the air.

I nod my head when my arrow hits the target.

"These seem to be working fine," I think, looking at the set of newly crafted arrows. All evenly lined up, placed neatly next to one another, I reach down to grab another arrow.

I repeat the process, loading my bow and pulling back the bowstring. The target once more in my sight, I count down.

"One. Two. Three."

Releasing the string, I couldn't believe it when Ms. Justice walks in. Without realizing it, she had accidentally walked in between my arrow and the target.

"Watch out," I yell, using my telekinesis power to grab Justice and throw her out of the way.

Screaming as she hits the wall, I look at my arrow as it hits the target.

"Ouch," Justice cries, rubbing her arms. "Really?"

"Justice," I say, tossing my bow aside and running to her side. "Justice? Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I was practicing my archery, and then you came in, and, and then-."

"Relax," Justice says, bringing up her hands. "It's okay. Really. It is."

I help Justice to her feet. Once back on her feet, we stand near each other for a while. Just standing and staring at each other.

"Soo," I start. "What, what brings you to my room?"

"Oh, nothing much," Justice answers. "Just wanted to see you. See how you're doing."

"I'm doing fine," I say, "I was just practicing some archery, testing my arrows, uh, some other stuff."

I laugh before suddenly feeling very tired. My arms and legs feel heavy and my vision goes blurry.

I shake my head, hoping to recover but it's no use. I drop to my knee, and this time, it's Justice who helps me.

"Whoa," Justice yells, catching me. "Easy there. Easy. Come on, this way."

Grabbing an arm, she tosses it around her head. Carrying me to my bed, she pats my pillow before placing me down. Afterward, she sits down beside me.

"Hey," Ms. Justice says. "Are you feeling better? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," I reply. I think I'm smiling, but I can't be sure since I'm too tired to even think.

"You know," Ms. Justice starts, "Sometimes, I have a hard time telling if your telekinesis power is a pro or a con. Do you know what that means?"

"Of course, I know what that means. I'm from a different time, not a different place."

"Okay," Justice says, nodding her head. "Just checking. Anyway, as I said, I'm having a hard time deciding if your telekinesis power is a pro or a con. On the pro side, you begin able to move things with your mind and make force field is awesome. On the con side, however, using your power completely drains all your energy. So I guess it half and half."

"I guess so.

We both laugh.

"Uhh," someone interrupts. "Should I not be here?"

"What," Justice yells, looking behind and jumping off my bed. "Oh. Hi JumpStart. What's up?"

"Nothing much," JumpStart replies, walking into the room. "Again, should I not be here?"

"What do you mean by that," Ms. Justice asks.

"I mean," JumpStart starts, looking at me and then at Justice. He then grabs her by the arm and drags her away.

Ms. Justice:

"I mean," JumpStart repeats, this time whispering. "I mean, does QuickShot..."

JumpStart stops talking to peek over my shoulder. He looks at QuickShot as she rests on her bed.

"Does she have some sort of illness?"

"What," I ask, looking at the now sweating elf.

"Because if she does, then considering me gone."

JumpStart then nudges his head at the OutPost's exit.

I roll my eyes before looking at QuickShot and then back at JumpStart.

"QuickShot is not sick," I say, "She accidentally used her power. You know they take a lot out of her."

"Are you sure," JumpStart asks. "Are you really sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Because I still don't know much about your 'modern-day' disease. The flu. The common cold. The Black Death. Oh, and don't even get me started on those chicken pox."

JumpStart starts to scratch himself. Meanwhile, I shake my head.

"Okay first," I say, counting my finger. "The Black Death was from a long time ago. Back before people knew about soap and washing their hands. Second, you get chicken pox only once in your life."

"People get chicken pox once in their life," JumpStart says, scratching his back. "People. Humans. I am an elf. A wood elf!"

Since his hands are busy, JumpStart starts to flap his ears back and forth like they're wings. He keeps on flapping them over and over until I push him out of QuickShot's room.

"Okay," I say. "That's enough. Come on, get out of here, you germaphobe."

Bringing up my foot, I literally kick the panicking, scratching wood elf out of the room before returning to QuickShot's side.

"Thank you for that," QuickShot says, smiling as she starts to push herself out of bed.

"No problem," I answer, running over to help her. "Well, almost no problem. What are you doing? You need to stay in bed."

"I'm fine," QuickShot declares, clawing out of bed. "I am, I am fine. Watch me walk."

Back on her feet, QuickShot takes a few steps before dropping onto a knee.

"Nope," I yell, running over to help my friend. Once more, I have to toss one of QuickShot's arms around my neck and carry her to bed. The whole time, as I'm carrying Quickshot, she is moaning.

Carefully and as gently as I can, I lay her down on the bed. Once tucked in, I place my hand on her forehead.

"Wow," I say, pulling back my hand. "QuickShot. Your, your forehead. It's burning hot. Are you okay?"

"I'm, I'm fine," QuickShot replies, her breathing slowing. As she does, she closes her eyes and pulls up her blanket. "I, I just need sleep. Please wake me in one hour. Okay?"

"Got it," I say, shooting a thumb-up as I turn to walk away. However, before I can make it far, QuickShot grabs my waist.

"One hour," she says, "Okay?"

"Yes," I whisper, putting her soft hand at her side and tip-toeing away.

As I tip-toe out of QuickShot's room, I take a look back.

"So much for the talk," I say, thinking back to when QuickShot kissed me. As I think back, I remember feeling something new and explosive. It was strange but comforting. It was hard yet soft. It was something. "It's fine. We can talk later."

Walking into the OutPost's living room, I drop onto the sofa and cross my legs. I lay back my head and close my eyes. As I rest, a beeping sound knocks me out of it.

The beeping gets louder and the lights to the OutPost turn red.

"Shoot," I say, pushing myself up and running over to the computer.

"What trouble is there," SpeedBlade asks, looking at the OutPost's computer as JumpStart types away on it.

"Hold on," he replies, "Hold on. I'm having trouble typing."

JumpStart brings up hands that are covered by oven mitts.

As he finishes, he steps back and we watch as surveillance cameras pop up on the screen. They reveal someone standing in an electronic store, with people running from him. The person the people are running from is shooting both ice and fire from his hands.

His body is split into two, ice on the right and fire on the left. While he burns some flatscreens with his left hand, he freezes some bystanders with his right hand.

"Time to fight," SpeedBlade says, running off before returning with my shield and his sword. "Here."

He offers me my shield and looks at where the man is before looking at the map of sewers.

"According to this map, this route is the fastest. Let's go."

About to run, SpeedBlade stops.

"Wait, where is QuickShot?"

I'm hesitant to answer, but I have no choice.

"She's too tired to even leave her bed," I say, looking at JumpStart and SpeedBlade. "I'll check up on her later, but for now, let's go help those people."

I run through SpeedBlade and JumpStart and slam my foot down on the button and the wall opens.

"Come on," I say, clutching my shield. "Let's take this guy down."

10: Chapter 10: Knock-Knock

Hot Ice:

"Where are they," I think, flipping my left hand and forming a fireball above it. Throwing the fireball, I set a shopping cart on fire. As the people run, some accidentally step onto the ice and slide around. A man screams as he slides right into the cashier's counter.

"They're coming," the boss replies, speaking through the earpiece he gave me. "Be ready, and remember the plan. To retrieve the flash drive Nitro lost."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I say, flipping my right hand and forming an ice ball. Throwing the ice ball, it hits and breaks a t.v screen.

Shooting out my hands, I unleash streams of both fire and ice. While fire rains down on one half of the store, it starts to snow on the other half.

On the verge of melting some more t.v and freezing some people, something hits and knocks me to the floor.

"What in the world," I yell, holding the back of my head as I push myself up. Looking around, I see a girl with yellow hair and google on them. She's wearing a sleeves-less white shirt with red pants. Also, in her hand is a blue, red, and white shield.

"Let's me guess," I say, back on my feet. "You're Ms. Justice. Where are your friends?"

"Behind you," someone answers, and I turn around. Standing behind me is a knight in a red suit of armor and an elf with a black shirt and grey pants.

"Weird," I thought, "There's only three. I thought there were supposed to be four."

"Give it up, buddy," Ms. Justice says, lowering herself as she prepares to throw her shield. "You're outnumbered. Three to one."

"That's true," I say, smiling as I flip my hands, "But in this case, this one guy can more than handle the three of you!"

Ms. Justice:

Even before SpeedBlade can stop him, 'Fire Ice Man', fires fire at him and forces SpeedBlade back. JumpStart charges toward him but he freezes the floor and causes JumpStart to slip.

While JumpStart screams as he slides, SpeedBlade screams because he's starting to smoke! Smokes raising from his armor, he quickly runs to the other half of the store and jumps into the snow.

Yelling as I charge toward 'Fire Ice Man', he turns around and fires an ice beam. Jumping and flipping over it, I hit his hand with my shield and knock it down. With the ice beam stopping, I punch him across the face and knock him back.

Silent:

I watch as Hot Ice and the OutCasts battle each other. Ms. Justice hits Hot Ice, he stumbles back and raises his left hand. Shooting a stream of fire, Ms. Justice blocks it.

"Strange," I think. "Ms. Justice, JumpStart, SpeedBlade, but no QuickShot. Where is QuickShot? Hmm."

I conclude that since QuickShot is not here, she must be in the OutPost. I take a minute to reevaluate my plan.

Turning away, I walk down the stairs and down my lair's hallways. As I walk, I pass Unstoppable and my servant-bot.

"Master," my servant-bot asks.

"Remind here for now," I command, "I have an errand to run."

Moving in and out of the shadow as I make my way through the city, I stop at a manhole cover located in the center.

Grabbing at the cover and pulling it off, I jump down into the sewer. As I run through the sewer, I ignore the water splashes while wiping a few droplets off my mask.

Finally, after making my way through the sewer's many different passageways, I stop at a brick wall.

"Knock knock", I say, stepping on the button.

QuickShot:

Yawning as I rub my eyes, I push myself up and look around. I feel a bit more energetic now so I decide to get out of bed.

Leaving my room, and stepping into the living room, I'm surprised to see it empty.

"Where is everyone," I ask, looking around.

The base is completely empty. No one is here. JumpStart. SpeedBlade. Not even Ms. Justice. They're all gone.

As I wonder where they could have gone, I look over to OutPost's computer.

"There must be trouble in the city," I think, running over to the computer. Cracking my fingers, I start typing.

"I may not have JumpStart's skill," I think, "But that doesn't mean I also can't hack into surveillance cameras. Yes."

The screen changes and I see Ms. Justice, SpeedBlade, and JumpStart fighting someone half-blue and half-orange. I watch as JumpStart tries to attack the man from behind but he must have heard JumpStart.

He jumps out of the way and swings his left hand. As he does, a wave of what I can only guess are flames shoot out and knock JumpStart back.

"I have to help," I say, running back to my room. Grabbing my bow and quiver, I run to the OutPost's door. About to push down the button, the wall splits open by itself.

"What," I say, watching as the wall fully opens. "Who opens the door?"

While looking at the open door, I'm caught off guard when someone in a white mask with red eyes runs in. Even before I can load my bow, the man uppercuts me.

Screaming as I fly into the air, I only stop after dropping onto the floor. Rubbing my chin as I push myself up, I look at the man.

It's just one man, blocking the exit. He seems to be wearing some sort of orange and black armor, and he had some sort of belt with a dozen components attached to it.

"Hello QuickShot," the man says as he steps into the OutPost. "Don't worry about your friends. For what it is worth, I'm more than positive they can handle Hot Ice."

"Well thanks for your vote of confidence," I say, quickly getting back on my feet. As I stand up, I look around for my bow. It's only a few feet from me. Looking at the man, I jump and roll. Grabbing my bow along the way, I load an arrow while landing on a knee.

"By the way," I say, pulling back the bowstring. "Who are you? How did you get in here? How do you know my name? How do you know my friends' names? Who are you?"

The man stays completely silent. He only starts to look around.

"The flash drive," he says after a few minutes. "The one you took from Nitro. Where is it?"

"The flash drive," I repeat. "What are you talking about? We didn't take a flash drive from Nitro--JumpStart!"

Looking over at JumpStart's room, I look back at the masked man. He must have seen me looking at JumpStart's room because now he's looking at the room too.

"Thank you," he says, taking off with almost unmatched speed. Running toward JumpStart's room, I aim my bow at him.

"Stop," I yell, shooting my arrow. As my arrow flies toward the masked man, he stops and grabs my arrow with his bare hand.

"What," I stutter, not believing my own eyes. "He, he caught my arrow. In mid-flight."

Breaking the arrow with his one hand, he throws the two pieces to the floor before running toward me.

Screaming as he jumps into the air, the masked man pulls back his fist. I barely have enough time to jump back as the masked man punches the floor.

Despite missing me, he raises his foot and kicks me. Falling to the floor, I ignore the pain in my head and reach for my quiver. Pulling out an explosive arrow, I place it in my bow.

"Let's see you catch this," I yell, shooting the explosive arrow.

I watch as the masked man quickly pushes himself up onto his feet. With my explosive arrow flying toward him, the masked man must know what it is.

He didn't try to catch it. Instead, he grabs one of our living room chairs and throws it. The chair hits my arrow, it bursts into a fireball that swallows everything in the living room.

"Nnooo," I cry, watching as the flames quickly eat our sofa and chairs. "I like that chair. I was just getting used to sitting on the string."

Pushing myself up, I look around for the masked man. As I scan the OutPost, I see him winding up. I barely have time to bring up my bow and block the masked man's roundhouse kick!

The kick is so strong it nearly knocks me down. Pushing me back, the masked man turns around and grabs my bow. Now, the two of us are struggling for my bow.

Thinking fast, I try punching the masked man in the chest but instead, I hurt myself. The masked man doesn't even seem bothered. Before I know it, the masked man grabs my fist with both his hands. Stepping back, he tosses me over him.

I land in the living room, surrounded by our burning chairs and sofa. I try to get up to defend myself but I don't even have time to raise my head before the masked man stomp on it and forces it back down.

Looking up, the last thing I see is the bottom of the man's boot before it hits my face.

11: Chapter 11: The Talk

Ms. Justice:

Running, I leap into the air and slam my shield down onto Fire-Ice Man. He screams as he stumbles back. Hitting an empty shelf, he looks back at me and raises his right hand.

Ice shooting out, I bring up my shield and block it. Ice covering my shield, I push back.

JumpStart:

Landing on some snow, I slam my body against the shelf and pushes it.

"Come on," I say. "Come on."

Hearing something coming from behind me, I turn around to see SpeedBlade running toward me at super-speed. Jumping into the air, he also slams his own body onto the shelf, the whole thing tipping over.

Ms. Justice:

"Timber," I yell, smiling as I watch the shelf tips over. Fire-Ice Man still trying to freeze me shoots out his other hand and burns the shelf.

"Noo," he screams as now, a burning t.v shelf falls on him. He pulls back his ice hand and tries to stop it but it's too late. The whole thing drops right onto him.

With Fire-Ice Man buried under a shelf, I let out a sigh and start to break the ice off my shield.

"Awesome job guys," I say, shooting SpeedBlade and JumpStart a thumb-up as they approach me. Stepping onto the fallen shelf, it starts to shake.

"Oh no," JumpStart says, a stream of fire shooting through seconds later. Before the fire could hit him, SpeedBlade grabs JumpStart and runs away.

The two of them running to my side, we prepare for another fight as Fire-Ice Man bursts through the shelf.

"You're," he starts, stumbling toward us. "You're going, you're all going to regret that."

Raising both his hands at us, he takes another step before falling down.

"Uhhh," JumpStart says, looking at me. "Is he down?"

"I think so," I answer, lowering my shield. I couldn't be sure, but the fire on Fire-Ice Man's left side seems to be dying down. It's only a few minutes later before they died out completely. "Yeah, I think he's down for the count."

"Awesome," SpeedBlade says, sheathing his sword before dropping to his knee. "I'm feeling very hot."

Looking at some melted snow on the store's floor, SpeedBlade grabs a small handful and slams it down on his armor.

"You know what might help with that," JumpStart says, smiling. "If you took off that armor of your."

"I will not," SpeedBlade replies, grabbing some more handfuls and slamming them all over his armor. As he does, I see a little smoke come off each time.

"Come on," I say, nudging my head. "There are cups of water waiting for us at the OutPost. The police will take it from here."

Leaving the store, we find a manhole cover and jump down it. While walking through the sewer, my mind finds its way back to someone else.

"It had been a week since we fought Nitro. One full week since the four of us took down that gassy bastard. One full week since QuickShot and I, since we kissed. Ever since then, I feel things between the two of us have been awkward. I mean, I don't know about QuickShot, but whenever we're together or even when I look at her, I feel butterflies in my stomach."

I pause for a bit to listen to JumpStart SpeedBlade as they talk.

"Ice and fire," JumpStart says, "Wow. You know, that's actually my first time ever seeing snow. I've heard of snow before but never seen it until now."

"I've seen snow before," SpeedBlade says, "Many times in fact. It snows every winter back where I lived. We never really like it. It was always too cold."

"Yeah," JumpStart says, "That's snow for you."

"I want her to know," I think, "I want to know what that kiss meant. I mean, she kissed me, so had to mean QuickShot had feelings for me, right? Maybe I'm overthinking this. No, I'm not. QuickShot kissed me! She kissed me."

While still overthinking it, I stop when I see the wall wide open.

"What in the world," I say, bringing up my shield. "Why is the door open?"

"I don't know," SpeedBlade replies, pulling out his sword.

"Maybe it was QuickShot," JumpStart adds, spinning his stun batons. "Maybe she accidentally left it open."

"Doesn't sound like her," I say, "Be careful."

The three of us carefully approach the door before walking inside. As we enter, we see the OutPost is a total mess.

Our living room is destroyed. All our chairs and tables and even our rug are either burning or turned over.

"I'm getting really sick of fire today," I say, stomping out a small blaze on the rug.

"What happened here," SpeedBlade asks, kneeling to pick up a piece of one of our chairs.

"Hey," JumpStart says, waving his arm. "I found QuickShot. She looks bad. Get the medical kit."

Not wasting a second, I run to the kitchen. Thankfully, the mess seems isolated to the living room. The kitchen is fine.

Grabbing the medical kit, I run to where QuickShot is. As I approach her, I see her eyes closed. She's laying on JumpStart's knee, and she seems a little beaten up. I notice her bow nearby and she's wearing her quiver. I ignore them and focus on applying some rubbing alcohol to QuickShot's cut.

"QuickShot," I whisper, "QuickShot. Can you hear me? Are you okay? Please, say something."

Seconds later, QuickShot's eyes snap open.

"What," she screams, shooting up and knocking us back. "What happened? Where, where is he?"

"You mean JumpStart," SpeedBlade asks. "He's right there."

JumpStart waves.

"No, not JumpStart," QuickShot yells, getting up and running to JumpStart's room.

"Hey," JumpStart screams, running after her. "What are you doing?"

By now, we're all standing side by side and looking into JumpStart's room. His ransacked room.

"My room," JumpStart yells, dropping to his knees and pulling his hair. "What happened? All my stuff. My drawers. My hammock. My, my boots?"

"Those are my boots," I say, recognizing the star-covered red and blue boots. "Why do you have my boots?"

"I'll tell you later," JumpStart answers before turning to QuickShot. "QuickShot, what happened here? Who did this?"

"I don't know," QuickShot replies. "Someone entered the OutPost, we fought and he won, and then I guess he stole a flash drive from your room."

"The flash drive," I repeat, "What flash drive?"

"Uhh," JumpStart says, getting on his feet. "I'm guessing the flash drive I stole from Nitro."

"Nitro," we all repeat.

Stepping back and holding up his hands, JumpStart starts to explain.

"Shortly after we took down Nitro, I learned he was trying to steal some information from the building, and out of curiosity, I copy the information onto my own flash drive."

"Really," I say, crossing my arms. "You stole that information."

"I, I did steal it," JumpStart says, nodding his head. "But honestly, it was just pointless stuff and I'm not even sure what to do with it."

"What are you talking about," QuickShot says, "What did you find on that flash drive?"

"It was nothing more than just a mixture of a bunch of different metals," JumpStart answers.

"A mixture of metals," QuickShot repeats. "Wait, what is that?"

"A mixture of metals," JumpStart says again. "A bunch of metals all mix together. I think it was supposed to be for something else but I couldn't be sure. The mixture is the only thing Nitro tried to steal."

"Why would someone like Nitro want to steal that," SpeedBlade asks.

"Call it a hunch," I answer, "But I don't think it was for him. It must have been for him. The man who attacked the OutPost. My question is, how did you know where to look? I thought we were the only ones who knew about the OutPost."

"I thought the same," SpeedBlade says. "The button is hidden, and even upon closer look, it looks like another part of the wall. Despite this, however, he knew where to push."

"He also knew who we are," QuickShot adds, all of us turning to her now. "He knew all our names, and which room is JumpStart."

"This guy knew everything about us," JumpStart says. "Where we lived. How to get in. Who we are. How?"

"No idea," I start, "But now that I think about it. Guys, I think everyone we fought recently is connected to the man who broke in. I mean, think about it. Unstoppable and Lighting Storm working together on the same night to break one prisoner out of IronWall. Nitro attacking that building to steal some recipe for some special metal, and even tonight. While Fire-Ice Man was attacking, we were all out of the base so he could come in and grab the drive."

"If that is true," QuickShot says, "Then we need to find out who was in that cell."

"I'm on it," JumpStart says, turning to leave but QuickShot grabs and stops him.

"But before you do that," QuickShot says. "Do you think you can add some security to the OutPost first? The three of us will help any way we can."

"Of course," JumpStart says.

Letting JumpStart go, QuickShot turns to SpeedBlade.

"For now SpeedBlade, please clean up."

SpeedBlade nods his head and runs to the living room.

As QuickShot turns to me, I talk first.

"Hey, can we talk for a bit? You know, about what happened."

"Yeah," QuickShot says, nodding her head. We walk out of JumpStart's room and into mine. Once inside, we stand facing each other.

Taking a deep breath, trying to figure out what I say, QuickShot beats me to it.

"I am so sorry," QuickShot says, "I am so sorry about what I did. I, I didn't know what I was thinking. It just happen, and I'm sorry."

"What," I say, swallowing a lump in my throat.

Without saying another word, QuickShot turns to leave.

"Come on," she says, "It's going to take a while to clean everything. The sooner we start, the sooner it'll all be over."

QuickShot leaves and I stay for a while. Eventually, I wipe a tear and follow after her.

12: Chapter 12: Crafting

QuickShot:

"How are things," I ask, handing JumpStart a cup of water. "Did you find out anything about that person in the stolen cell?"

"I'm afraid not," JumpStart replies, taking the cup with one hand while typing with his other hand. "And believe me, I've tried. Whoever was in the cell Unstoppable walked off with must have been very important and dangerous. The people at IronWall were making sure the person's records stay sealed."

"Keep trying," I say, tapping JumpStart on his back. "We need to know who we're up against."

With a nod of his head and three gulps of water, JumpStart returns to the OutPost's computer. With his eyes on the screen, he hands me the empty cup and I place it in the kitchen sink.

It had been a little over a week since the break-in, and ever since then, the four of us have been working non-stop to do whatever we can to even the odds.

When JumpStart isn't trying to hack into IronWall's records, he, Ms. Justice, and I have been trying to install the OutPost with a security system. We implanted traps and alarms all over the base. Meanwhile, SpeedBlade had been running all over the city, collecting everything we would need. It was difficult explaining what a few of the parts we needed were, and after a while, he just grabbed whatever he could find and brought it back. Still, we got the parts we needed.

"Hey," I say, waving at Ms. Justice who is sitting on our living room's floor due to our lack of chairs. "How's that new trap coming along?"

"Hey," Ms. Justice says, looking up. "Not too bad. I think it's almost ready for testing. I just need a few more things from SpeedBlade."

Returning to the new trap, she starts to tie metal wires around each other. Once finishes, she gets up to her feet and shows me a large metal net.

"Not bad," I say, stepping back to admire the net. It's huge. It looks big enough to capture the four of us and maybe even one person extra.

"Yeah, well, wait for the kicker," Ms. Justice says, smiling. "Since this is a metal net, I was thinking I could somehow modify it to stun any intruders."

"Awesome."

"Yeah. I just need those wires I asked SpeedBlade for. I wonder where he could be."

As soon as Ms. Justice finishes talking, a gust of red wind appears and blows our hair all over.

"Here," SpeedBlade screams, throwing everything in his arms right in front of Ms. Justice. The two of us, at first stun by his sudden appearance, barely have time to get out of the way as SpeedBlade throws everything down. A pile of machine parts; gears, pipes, some sheet metals, and other things, all collapse onto Ms. Justice's metal net.

"This is everything I could find that resembles what is it you asked for," SpeedBlade says, bending over to place his hands on his knees. I can hear him panting as he pushes himself up. "Use it well because I ran all over the city for it, and now I'm about to collapse."

"Hey," I say, looking between the piles and SpeedBlade. "That was rude of you. What was that for?"

"All of that," SpeedBlade pants, "Was for Ms. Justice. It's everything she asked for. It's what I could find after digging through trashes, and it wasn't easy to carry it all back here. How about before giving the OutPost a defense, you make me something I can use to carry all of this?"

Silent:

"I'm sorry," Ms. Justice replies, "But for the record, I only asked for wires. I didn't ask for all this other stuff."

"Forget this," SpeedBlade yells, walking around. "I'm too tired to do any more running. I'm going to sleep."

I watch as the speedster knight walks away, leaving behind the shield-bearer and the telekinesis archer. As soon as the knight is gone, the archer and shield-bearer start to sort out the parts the knight brought.

"Add all the traps you want," I say, turning away from the monitors and walking down the stairs. "It won't work. With the cameras I installed, I will know where they are and how to avoid them."

Walking through my hideout, I make my way to Dr. Cho's makeshift lab. As I enter the lab, I'm surprised to see the doctor taking down notes instead of working on the project.

"Dr. Cho," I scream, my voice echoing through the room and startling the doctor. I stomp my way over to her.

"Dr. Cho," I start, staring her down. "I ordered two of my men, one of which is now stuck in IronWall, to break you out. I had another one break into Giga-Tech to retrieve your work on the metal mixture formula. I had a fourth distracted the OutCasts while I personally retrieve the flash drive. Almost all of my men are in IronWall Prison because of the OutCast. Because of you! And yet, here you are, repaying the debt, by taking note."

I push her aside and slam my arms on the table. Tossing everything, including her precious notes onto the floor, I grab her by shirt collar and pull her close so she is mere inches from me.

"When," I whisper, rising my fist so it's next to my face. "When will it be ready?"

"It will be ready when it's ready," Dr. Cho replies, seemingly almost unfazed by me. "I am working as hard as I can, but there are still a few key components I need before I can start building it. Yes, you do have the metals required and now with the data back, I can begin the mixture, but without any proper welding equipment and some help, the project will take some time."

"Welding equipment," I repeat, pushing Dr. Cho into a cabinet directly behind her.

Steadying herself, she goes on.

"Yes, welding equipment. Such things as arc welders, blowtorches, and some welding sticks. And I will need the help of my assistant, assuming, of course, he's still in the city."

Dusting herself off, I start to plan.

"I can get you the welding equipment," I say, turning around to leave the lab. "I will have one of my men gather everything you need."

"And my assistant," Dr. Cho asks.

"No. You will have to complete the project by yourself. With your powers, that shouldn't be too hard. Understood?"

"Understood," Dr. Cho repeats, returning to her notes. "Get me the welding equipment I need, and I will be able to start building."

I exit the lab and bring up my wrist. A screen flipping out, I start to type a name into the computer. Hitting enter, I watch as an IronWall Prison's record comes up, a profile picture and information side-by-side.

"Heavy Metal," I say, reading over his information. "You should be able to retrieve everything, and you should more than be able to beat down the OutCasts."

13: Chapter 13: Simpler Time

SpeedBlade:

“Here,” I say, throwing everything in my arms right in front of Ms. Justice and QuickShot. The two of them jump back as I throw everything down. The second I tossed it all away, I immediately feel better. My back is still hurting, but throwing everything helps.

“This is everything I could find that resembles what is it you asked for,” I say, bending over to place my hands on my knees. Taking a breath, I breathe before pushing myself up.

“Use it well,” I say, “Because I ran all over the city for it, and now I’m about to collapse.”

Taking another breath, I turn and walk to my room but stop.

“Hey,” QuickShot says, stopping me. “That was rude of you. What was that for?”

“What was that for,” I repeat to myself. “What was that for?”

I spin around.

“All of that was for Ms. Justice. It’s everything she asked for. It’s what I could find after digging through trashes, and it wasn’t easy to carry it all back here. How about before giving the OutPost a defense, you make me something I can use to carry all of this.”

Turning around, I wave bye to them as I head for my room.

“Enjoy your technology,” I say, entering my room.

Throwing my sword onto my bed, I start to pace back and forth.

“I hate that,” I think, rubbing the sides of my helmet. “I really, really hate that piece of junk. I hate technology. I didn’t even know about technology six months ago, and now, I am completely surrounded by it.”

I stop and close my eyes. I then think back to before. Before I became SpeedBlade. Before I met QuickShot, Ms. Justice, and even JumpStart. Before I become an OutCast.

I open my eyes and find myself outside, standing on top of a grassy hill. The sun is starting to set, with the blue sky turning orange. I’m not wearing my armor, so I can feel the wind as it hits my bare skin.

“Javin,” my brother yells as he runs up the hill. “Javin, come on. If we don’t hurry, we will miss her.”

“Maybe that would not be such a bad thing,” I say, slowly running down the hill toward my brother. Reaching him, we walk side-by-side into the forest. “After all, our father will not be happy if he finds out where we’ve been.”

“Our father will not find out,” my annoying brother yells, “I’ve told father we would be in the wood training for knighthood. That’s not a lie. We will train. After this. Come on, Javin. You’re so slow.”

“This is as fast as I want to go,” I say, shoving my brother. Almost hitting a tree, he pushes me back and I actually hit a tree.

“You okay,” he asks.

“I’m fine,” I answer, spitting out some bark. “Besides, why do you want to see her so badly? We both heard horrible rumors about her. The things she had done. I am not in a rush to meet here.”

“There it is,” my brother screams, hitting me in the arm and pointing forward. Looking ahead, I see the old rope bridge. It’s not too far away. As we approach the bridge, I immediately regret it.

Very little is known about the rope bridge. From what I’ve been told, it’s decades old, build even before my grandfather. What remains of the bridge now is a little more than flimsy pieces of wood held together by thin ropes.

Carefully walking up the bridge, I lend to the side and peek over the edge. The bridge linked two cliffs together, and in between these two cliffs is a rushing river, with jagged stone spikes all over the sides and even some in the river.

“The Passage to the Underworld,” my brother says suddenly, making me jump.

Holding my hand over my chest, I punch my brother over and over again.

“I’m sorry,” my brother says, shielding himself. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m started to understand why the people called this place the Passage to the Underworld.”

“And yet,” I say, looking at the rope bridge. “Here we are.”

“Yeah,” my brother laughs. “I know. Come on, let’s go.”

Even before I can do or say anything, my brother steps onto the bridge, his two hands instantly grabbing the rope handles.

“Wait up,” I say, following after my brother. Stopping as I look through the bridge, I shake my head and step onto the bridge. “Remember. We’re just going to see her. We’re not going to talk with her, wave at her, or do anything. Okay?”

“She won’t even know we’re there,” my brother replies, more than halfway across already.

Before I know it, my mind is distorted by what happened next. I see myself meeting with the woman for some reason I can’t remember. We’re talking about something, something bad had happened. I then see myself running from the people of my villages. They’re chasing me down, hunting me. I have no choice but to run back to the rope bridge. I tried to cross it, but with my armor, I’m too heavy and one of the wooden steps break. As I fall, I see a strange blue light, and then find myself here.

My eyes open and I feel my heart running faster than I can. As I look around, I see my room and everything in it; my bed, my sword, my anvil.

“Why did I have to remember that,” I ask, shaking my head as I breathe. “I don’t want to remember that.”

About to go to sleep, I stop when the alarms ring and the lights turn red.

I grab my sword from my bed and quickly run to the other three. As expected, they gather around the computer.

“Uh, technology,” I whisper.

“What is it now,” QuickShot asks, sliding on her quiver.

“There’s a break-in right here,” JumpStart answers, playing with his technology. He points at the computer. “But I’m not sure what this place is.”

The pictures on the screen switch over to moving ones. These pictures show a tall man surrounded by screaming, running people. The tall man is grabbing things and loading them onto a vehicle.

“Wait,” Ms. Justice says, “I think I know this place.”

“Really,” QuickShot says, “How?”

"From a long time ago," Ms. Justice starts, “I can’t be sure but I think it’s a warehouse. It’s supposed to be filled with welding supplies if I remember correctly.”

"Welding supplies," QuickShot repeats.

"Welding supplies," JumpStart also repeats. "Like, the things needed to work with metals."

"Or a mixture of metals," QuickShot goes on.

"You think it had anything to do with our 'guest'," Ms. Justice asks.

"I believe so," QuickShot says.

"Then let's go," I say. "To this Ware's house. Which way is it?"

JumpStart plays with the computer for a bit longer before he turns to me.

"It's not too far," he says, "We should be there in no time. Follow me."

"This is where I fit in," I say, clutching my hands as we all follow after JumpStart.

14: Chapter 14: A Heavy Metal Villain

Heavy Metal:

Tapping the side of the truck, I yell.

"It's loaded. Drive!"

The servant-bot driving away, I turn back to see police lining up. They get behind cover and pull out their blasters.

"Surrender," a police captain with a megaphone yells. "You're surrounded and outnumbered."

"Your blasters will do nothing," I say, walking back into the courtyard. Walking up to some supplies under a roof, I grab the supports and rip them from the ground.

"Open fire," the police captain yells. The officers shooting their blasters, their attacks bounce off my iron skin. They hit the ground, hit some other supports, and a few even hit the cars the officers are hiding behind.

"Watch out," an officer shouts, dropping to his knees as a car's window breaks.

"Hold fire," another officer screams. "Hold fire. Everyone, hold fire."

The officers withdraw, they all watch me as I walk toward them with a roof in my arms. Pulling it back, I throw the roof through the air.

The officers all scream as they run. The roof crushes a car as it lands. With no real options left, the officers all run away. Meanwhile, I look at welding supplies.

"I think these are it," I say, picking one of them it. It looks like a long metal stick. "Welding rods?"

Hundreds of welding rods all laying side-by-side, on top of each other, I spread out my arms and grab as much as I can. Carrying the rods from the courtyard to another truck, I drop them in before turning back.

Bending down to grab another armful, I stop when something suddenly lands in front of me.

"Uh," I say, looking and seeing a beeping arrow. The arrow explodes and forces me back. Shielding myself, I slam my arms down and look around.

SpeedBlade:

"You know," Ms. Justice says, "If you need these so badly, you can just buy them."

"I doubt being a supervillain pay very well," JumpStart adds.

"Whether or not it pays well," I go on, stepping forward. "It's no excuse for stealing."

"Give it up," QuickShot orders, preparing another arrow. She pulls back her bowstring and aims an arrow at the villain.

The villain closes his hands as he prepares to charge us, he instead turns around and grabs something. Grabbing what looks like a bunch of long metal sticks, he starts to swing them wildly around.

"Watch out," Ms. Justice says, jumping over one of the sticks. Landing on her knees, she brings up her shield and blocks another swing. However, due to the man's strength, she's still forced back a little.

"OutCast," QuickShot shouts, backing up. "Onward!"

Shooting her bow, her arrow flies and hits the villain. It explodes and covers him in green slime. Screaming, he drops the metal sticks and tries to get rid of the slime.

"I'm going in," I say, running and jumping into the air. Pulling back my sword, I slam it down and hit the villain.

Sparking flying off as I hit him over and over again, he once more back away. His back hitting a wall, I pull back my sword and send it forward.

The metal man grabs my sword in mid-thrust and pulls it back, along with me. Screaming, he then throws both the sword and myself.

Ms. Justice:

"Head-up," JumpStart yells, the three of us watching as the man with metal skin grabs SpeedBlade's blade. He pulls both the sword and SpeedBlade back before throwing them forward.

SpeedBlade dropping his sword, I run to catch him in mid-air. The two of us fall to the ground. I help him up.

"You okay," I say, getting back on my feet.

"I'm fine," SpeedBlade answers. He said he is fine, but he doesn't look fine. Without any warning, he starts spinning around, his head going up and down.

"My sword," he cries," Where is my sword? Where is it?"

"I have no clue," I say.

"No, no, no," SpeedBlade yells, rubbing the sides of his helmet. "Where's my sword? I can't fight without my sword. Where did my sword fall to?"

I'm about to help SpeedBlade look for his sword but stop when I hear JumpStart.

"Head-up," JumpStart yells again.

Turning, I see the Metal-Man charging toward QuickShot. She tries to stop him with some more slime and explosive arrows but it's no use.

Charging right through the arrows, he reaches QuickShot and swings his metal arm. Hitting QuickShot, she's sent flying through a wooden support beam.

"QuickShot," I scream, leaving and running to help her.

However, Metal-Man blocks me off. He gets in front of me and spread out his arms.

"Leave," he says. "Now. Your shield cannot do much against my iron skin."

"Let's see about that," I say, running toward Metal-Man. Metal-Man seeing me swings his fist but I rise my shield. Holding my shield at an angle, Metal-Man's fist slides right off and into the ground. Now with him hitting the ground, I take the chance to attack.

Spinning around and jumping, I hit Metal-Man with my shield. Hitting him right in the face, he steps back while holding his mouth.

"Not bad for just a shield uh," I say, landing on my feet.

Putting down his hands Metal-Man then charges toward me. I bring up my shield and prepare for whatever he's going to do.

His footsteps cause earthquakes as he runs, he pulls back his arm. Only a step from punching me, JumpStart jumps in from the side and hits Metal-Man's arm as he shoots it forward.

Screaming as the electricity from JumpStart's stun batons travels throughout his body, Metal-Man trips over and falls to the ground.

I jump to the side and barely dodge Metal-Man as he falls. JumpStart landing on his feet, he runs to my side and twirls his batons.

"If I remember correctly," JumpStart says, "You, or QuickShot, or maybe the both of you, told me once that electricity and metal don't mix. Too bad for this guy."

"Well, actually they do kind of mix," I say, "I mean, you're a mechanic elf. You practically build the whole OutPost."

"Yeah," JumpStart replies, his head shaking right and left. "But, well, you know what I mean."

"Sure I do," I say, nodding my head. Hearing Metal-Man grunting as he pushes himself up, he slams the ground with both his arms and prepares himself.

JumpStart and I bring up our weapons. JumpStart taps his batons together and they crack with electricity.

"Save yourself a visit to a doctor and give up now," JumpStart says. "As long as I got these, you can't win."

"You're right," Metal-Man says.

"I am," JumpStart asks, looking at me. "Wait, did you just say I'm right? So you're actually going to give up? Yes!"

"Of course not," Metal-Man says, raising both his arms into the air. Slamming the ground, a wave of dust and rocks erupts and sent both of us into the air.

Falling to the ground, I get up as fast as I can and wave my hand. However, despite my best effort, I can't get rid of the dust in the air. It's blinding and making me cry a little.

"Don't rub my eyes," I tell myself, "Don't rub my eyes. Don't rub my eyes."

Fighting the burning itches in my eyes, I rise my shield and look around. It takes a while, but eventually, the dust does settle. As it settles, I see Metal-Man holding JumpStart by his neck collar.

"JumpStart," I yell, watching as JumpStart hits Metal-Man over and over with his bare hands. "Wait, where are JumpStart's batons?"

Looking around, scanning the surrounding area, I see JumpStart's stun batons on the ground, far from where JumpStart is.

"JumpStart must have dropped his batons," I say, turning back to see Metal-Man walking with JumpStart in his hand.

"Hold on!"

I run and pick up the stun batons before running to where JumpStart is. It's too late though.

Metal-Man reaching some wooden supports, he pulls back his hand and throws JumpStart right through the wooden supports. As JumpStart flies through and breaks the wooden supports, the roof they're holding collapses and falls right onto JumpStart.

"JumpStart," I yell, skidding to a stop as Metal-man turns around.

"You're next," he says as he stomps his way toward me.

15: Chapter 15: From the Past

SpeedBlade:

"Where are you," I say, looking everywhere. "Where are you? Where are you?"

Despite my best efforts, despite crawling on my knees, despite my begging, I can't find my sword anywhere. It's like it just disappears.

"SpeedBlade," someone yells, grabbing my focus. I look up to see Ms. Justice jumping over the metal man's punch.

The mental man hits the ground instead and Ms. Justice tries to hit him with JumpStart's stun batons but he swings his arm and knocks her back.

While the batons drop to the ground, Ms. Justice is sliding along the ground. Pushing herself up, she sees Metal-Man standing over her. Raising his foot, he stomps on Ms. Justice.

"Hey," I scream, using my super speed to run toward the metal man. "I don't have my sword, so I must fight without it."

Jumping and wrapping my arms around the metal man's neck, he screams and tries to pull me off but I hang on. I punch him over and over on the head, trying to knock him out, but I can't. His metal skin is too strong.

While the metal man swings wildly around, myself flying all over, my legs swing in front and the metal man must have seen them because he grabs them. Pulling me right off of him, he brings me up until we're face-to-face.

The metal man pulls back his fist and punches me hard in the chest. Like everyone else, I'm sent flying through the air before landing on a roof. Luckily, I think my armor absorbs most of the attack since I can still move. However, as I push myself up, I slip on something and fall off.

Hitting the ground, I flip myself over and see the metal man walking toward me. I get up but I can barely stand. Instead, I lend against a wooden beam while holding my chest.

"This is the end," the metal man says, pulling his arm back. Sending his arm forward, I bring up my arm and try to shield myself.

Heavy Metal:

About to hit the knight, something happens and a cloud of sparking, blue, smoke appears. I hit the smoke but not the knight.

"What happens," I say, waving the smoke away. The last of the smoke fading away, I see only an empty space. "Where did the knight go? He looked too wounded to run, and even if he did, I would have seen it. So where did he go?"

SpeedBlade:

Moaning as I wave away some blue smoke, I look around.

"Where am I," I ask, pushing myself up. It looks like I'm hiding behind some piles of rocks. I can hear the metal man as he walks around, his footsteps causing some of the rocks to fall.

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you here," a familiar voice answers.

"No," I say, looking around. "It can't be."

There, standing before my very eyes is my brother.

"Hello," my brother says, "It had been a while since we last saw each other."

"I have to be seeing things," I say to myself, shaking my head. "It's impossible. You can't be here."

"Why not," my brother asks, "You're here. Why can't I be here?"

"I am here because of what happened shortly after we crossed the bridge," I answer. "But why are you here?"

My brother kneels in front of me. He looks me right in the eyes.

"I am here to help you," my brother answers.

"How?"

"By giving you these."

My brother raises his hand and offers me JumpStart's stun batons.

"JumpStart's stun batons," I say, looking at them.

"Yes. As much as you don't want to hear it, your sword will do very little against Heavy Metal. These, however, will do. Here."

He offers me JumpStart's stun batons but I slap them out of his hand.

"I can't use those," I say, pushing myself to my feet.

"It's not that you can't use them," my brother says, kneeling to pick up the stun batons. "It's that you won't."

"No," I say, "I can't use them. I don't know how they work. I'm not from here. We're not from here. All this technology, all this machinery, all of this wiring, it's too much for us. I can live without them."

I try to take a step but my brother shoots out his arm and stops me. About to ask what he's doing, my brother pushes me back before I can. With my back hitting a wall, my brother forces me to listen.

"Maybe you could live without them before," my brother starts, "But that was before. Time has changed, dear brother."

"I know," I say, "Please don't remind me."

"Time has changed," my brother repeats, "But some things do stay the same."

"Like what? What had stayed the same? Everything is gone. Everything is different. I'm not supposed to be here. Things are too complicated to understand. It's too hard. I'm just too simple. I'm just a knight. No, I'm not even a knight."

I look down at my hand, my hand in red armor.

"You're right," my brother says. "You're not a knight."

Looking at my brother, I prepare to take off my helmet. Placing my hands on the sides, I raise my helmet but my brother stops me.

"You're right," my brother says. "You're not just a knight. You are a knight with incredible speed, with newfound knowledge and weapons ready for you."

Grabbing my hand, my brother forces it open and slams JumpStart's stun batons onto them.

"We may not live in simpler times anymore, but there is one simple thing that has not changed. It is that, no matter what, you will always protect those you cared about."

As I take in my brother's words, I look down at the stun batons in my hands. As much as I want to drop them, I can't. They seem stuck to my hands, and somehow, I force myself to hold them. My hands wrap around the handle.

"There are switches beneath the guards," my brother says. "Flip them and then hold down the buttons. The rest, I am sure you can handle."

"Thank you," I say, looking up but seeing no one. "Wait, where is my brother? Where did he go?"

I look around but I can't see him anymore. It's like he just disappears into the air. As I continue to look for him, I hear Heavy Metal's voice.

"That's everything," he says. "Fine. I'm coming back."

"He's leaving," I think, "No. I cannot let him get away. I will stop him."

Preparing myself, I look around one last time. I can't see my brother anywhere, but even then, I can strangely sense someone is watching me.

"Thank you," I say, bowing my head before running.

Running out from behind cover, I stop in front of Heavy Metal before he can leave.

"Stop right there," I order, holding out JumpStart's stun baton. I cross them.

"You again," Heavy Metal says, "I thought you ran away. That would have been the smart thing to do."

"No," I say, "I am a knight, and we knights do not run from danger. Prepare yourself, villain, for this knight runs fast."

16: Chapter 16: The Stunning SpeedBlade

SpeedBlade:

Screaming as I push myself off the ground, I jump into the air and pull back JumpStart's stun batons. Heavy Metal blocks his arm, he tries to punch me but using my speed, I run out of the way.

"Oh no," I say, tapping the batons against each other. "Something is wrong. They're not working. Wait, what did my brother tell me? Something about switching and buttons."

I examine the batons, but I don't see anything. I don't see any switches or buttons.

"How do I use these," I say, looking all over them. "How do I use these?"

As I search all over for anything, I feel the ground shaking. Looking up, I see Heavy Metal He running toward me. Pulling back his arm, he sent it flying forward.

Barely dodging his giant metal fist, I turn around, and that's when I see his other arm. Swinging it, it hits me and sent me flying through the air.

I sail through the air before falling onto a roof.

"I am thankful I have armor," I say as I push myself up. Thankfully, despite being hit and flying through the air, I still have the stun batons in my hands.

Now, standing on the roof, I look around for Heavy Metal. It seems he disappears. I can't even hear his footsteps anymore.

"There is no way he walks away," I say, standing on my toes to look past the walls. As expected, there isn't anyone. "So if he didn't want away, and he's not in the open, where is he?"

Still scanning the area, I stop when I hear something coming from beneath me.

"No," I say when a hand breaks through the roof and grabs my leg. Pulling me through the roof, I find myself dangling in front of Heavy Metal.

"You and your friends were no match for me," Heavy Metal says, pulling back his fist. Looking around, thinking of what I could possibly do to escape, I forget about everything when I see Heavy Metal shoots his fist forward.

Crossing my arms, I prepare for another trip through the air. However, before Heavy Metal can hit me, something else hits him instead.

A net hitting and covering Heavy Metal, he screams and drops me. While Heavy Metal steps back, I look behind me to see QuickShot limping. She's limping, but she also had her bow in her hand.

She smiles and nods at me.

"Thank you," I say, smiling and nodding back.

"Don't thank me yet," QuickShot says, pointing past me. I turn back to see Heavy Metal ripping off the net QuickShot fired. Tearing it in half, he drops the two halves.

"QuickShot," I yell as I step back and examine the stun batons. "You know machines, right? You know how technology work."

"Sure," QuickShot says, twitching as she prepares another arrow. "Why?"

"Because I need your help. How do I turn the electricity on for JumpStart's batons?"

"I actually don't know," QuickShot replies, "I never use them before, so I never ask."

"Wonderful," I say, watching as Heavy Metal stomps toward me. "So you can't tell me anything?"

QuickShot:

"No," I say, looking around, "But I know the best person who can."

Still looking around, I see JumpStart getting up from under a fallen roof. He pushes the roof off and dusts himself off. Moaning as he tries to gather his bearing, I fire an arrow that lands near his foot.

"Hey," he screams, looking at me. "I thought we were friends. Why?"

"JumpStart," I yell, "Quick, tell SpeedBlade how to use stun batons!"

"My stun batons? Wait, what?"

I slap myself in the face before pointing to SpeedBlade running around the Metal-Man. Since the batons are off, all he is doing is annoying Metal-Man. He's a little more than a buzzing fly.

"Oh," JumpStart says, snapping his fingers. "I got it. Hang on, Speedy."

JumpStart:

While running toward SpeedBlade, I shake the extra dust out of my hair. Skidding to a stop, I look at the fight between SpeedBlade and Metal-Man.

"SpeedBlade," I shout, backing away when Metal-Man punches the floor and sends more dust into the air. I have to stop to split out the dust.

"SpeedBlade, listen to me. There are switches right beneath the batons' guards. To turn the stun batons on, they need to be pointed up."

"Up," SpeedBlade repeats, ducking under a swing.

"Yes. Up! You know."

I then point upward.

SpeedBlade:

"Up," I say to myself. "Beneath the guards."

Feeling around, I think I find what JumpStart is referring to. There are these levers beneath the guards. At the current moment, they're pointed down. I push them up and wait for Heavy Metal to punch me.

Jumping to the side, I stab Heavy Metal with the baton but still nothing.

"JumpStart," I yell, "I found the levers but there is no power."

"That's because you need to also hold down the buttons," JumpStart shouts. "You need to flick the switches and hold down the buttons. It's a two steps thing."

"Now I have to find buttons," I cry. "I hate technology."

"Enough," Heavy Metal yells, slamming his hands into the ground. The ground around him erupts, it sent a wave of dust heading toward me.

I brace myself. I stomp my own foot against the ground and cross my arms. Staying on my feet, I wave the dust away. As I swing the batons, I feel something like a line on the handles of the batons.

"What this," I ask, "Wait, could this be the buttons?"

The lines forming circles, I push them down and watch as the batons crack with lightning.

"I'm finally ready," I say, watching as the dust clears and Heavy Metal is standing before me.

Heavy Metal:

It seems the knight finally learned how to turn the batons on. However, it matters very little. Even if he manages to hit me, it'll take more than a few hits to bring me down.

"Let's dual," the red knight says, charging forward.

As he runs at such speed, I look to my side and grab a wooden beam. Pulling it from the ground, I swing the beam but the knight jumps over it. Jumping over it, he hits me with the batons and I feel the electricity running through me.

Screaming as I step back, I raise my leg and kick the knight away. Falling to the ground, he rolls back before landing on his feet and pushing himself up.

This time, I manage to hit the knight with the wooden beam, knocking him down. With him on the ground, I rise the beam over my head and slam it down.

SpeedBlade:

Seeing the beam falling toward me, I roll out of the way and the only thing Heavy Metal hits is the ground. Stopping, I climb up and lunge at Heavy Metal with the batons.

The two of them hitting him, he screams as he glows with powers. Dropping his beam, he instead grabs my arms and pulls me up.

"Enough," Heavy Metal yells.

"I agree," I say, "Enough. I win."

Putting my feet against Heavy Metal's head, I use my speed to stomp against it over and over. Force back, Heavy Metal lets me go as he falls to the ground.

Jumping into the air, I land and run toward Heavy Metal. As he gets up, I rise a baton before thrusting it down. With one final scream, Heavy Metal falls to the ground.

As I stare at the metal giant laying on the ground, I look at the batons in my hands.

"Not bad," someone says. Turning around, I see QuickShot, JumpStart, and even Ms. Justice walking up. As the three of them walk up, I see Ms. Justice holding something in her hand.

"My sword," I yell, running up to her. "You found it. How?"

"I honestly don't know," Ms. Justice replies, looking down at it. "When I woke up, I find it laying on top of me."

"Laying on top of you," QuickShot repeats. "Wait, that can't be right."

"I don't get it myself, but I'm telling you guys the truth. When I woke up, I find the sword in my chest. Like someone places it there."

"But who," JumpStart asks.

"Who cares," I say, giving JumpStart his batons back and taking my sword. "It may be simple, but I still like this."

I stare at my sword as it shines.

The Watcher:

I watch from a distance as the OutCasts all congratulate each other before leaving the courtyard. They run out and disappear down a manhole while the police show up to arrest the down Heavy Metal.

"You're welcome," I say, changing back into myself from SpeedBlade's brother. Once the transformation is finished, I wave my hand and summon a cloud of blue smoke. Once blanketed, I teleport away.

17: Chapter 17: The Secret is Out

SpeedBlade:

I roll around and around, trying to get some sleep but I can’t. As I stare at the ceiling, I think back to a few nights ago.

“Time has changed,” my brother said, “But some things do stay the same.”

“I still can’t believe it,” I think, “I saw my brother. My actual brother. I still don’t get it. I haven’t seen my brother in nearly two years, and then, out of nowhere, he appeared right before me. How? And where did my brother goes afterward?”

Shortly after the police officers arrested Heavy Metal and left, I run back to the courtyard and searched for my brother. I run around the whole place, looking for him, but I can’t find him anywhere. Most likely, I would have spent the whole night looking for him if the others had not come and gotten me.

I push myself up and sit.

“Could I have been seeing things? No, that can’t be right. My brother gave me JumpStart’s batons. He handed them to me. He couldn’t have been a fake. But still. If he was real, if my brother wasn’t just my mind playing a trick on me, then where did he go? Where could he have gone? What if he’s in trouble? It took me months before I learned how to properly live here, and that’s only because my friends help me. My brother is alone. What can I do to help him? Assuming my brother was really here, and not my mind playing tricks?”

QuickShot:

“Hey,” Ms. Justice says, standing at the arch leading to my bedroom.

“Hello Ms. Jusitce,” I say, turning to her and nodding my head. I put my screwdriver and arrow down. “What’s going on?”

“You can’t hear that,” Ms. Justice asks, pointing. “Seriously?”

“I can hear it just fine,” I answer, getting up from my chair and walking over to Ms. Justice. As I approach her, she turns and looks over at SpeedBlade’s room. I join her. Together, we listen as SpeedBlade talks to himself. I can’t hear exactly what SpeedBlade is saying, but judging from the tone, it doesn’t sound like sweet dreams.

“Should we do something,” Justice asks. “I mean, maybe one of us should go and talk with him?”

“I don’t know about that. To be honest, I think we should leave SpeedBlade.”

“What are you talking about? How can you say that?”

“I know it sounds harsh Justice, I really do, but I think if SpeedBlade wanted our help, or at the very least, wanted one of us to talk with, he would ask.”

“I guess after all these years,” Justice says, “You still don’t know any of us.”

Justice leaves me, and for some reason, I feel a little hurt.

“You still don’t know any of us,” I repeat, watching as Justice heads for SpeedBlade’s room. “Wait, what?”

I chase after Justice. About to grab her hand, she enters SpeedBlade’s room and I stop.

Ms. Justice:

“Knock-knock,” I say, knocking on the archway of SpeedBlade’s room.

As I enter the room, I see SpeedBlade sitting up, his head is on his hands. This is strange considering that normally, SpeedBlade is sleeping. I think as a part of his super speed, Speed had to sleep a lot. During one of our slower days, SpeedBlade slept for 18 hours straight.

“Hey Speed,” I start, “How are you doing? Is everything okay?”

Speed takes a while before he answers with a sigh.

“I’m fine,” he says, shaking his head. “Just, having trouble sleeping.”

SpeedBlade falls down and throws his blanket over himself. He tries to get comfortable, but the fact that he tossing and turning tells me more than enough.

“Is everything okay,” I ask again.

“Everything is fine,” SpeedBlade replies, looking away. “Please leave. I’m trying to sleep.”

“Here’s an idea. A warm cup of milk. Do you want me to get one for you?”

“I am okay,” SpeedBlade says, “Really. I just want to get some sleep, and I think I’ll sleep a little better if you weren’t here.”

He points toward the exit.

“SpeedBlade, I’m not as straightforward as you, but let me give it a try. Speed, ever since our fight with Heavy-Metal, you’ve been acting weird. And, do remember, one of our friends is a wood elf with expert computer skills. What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing is bothering me,” Speed replies. “Well, almost nothing. Listen.”

SpeedBlade pulls himself up and turns to face me.

“It’s nothing I want to talk with you or any of the others about. I know how that sound, but this is something that only concerns me. Not the rest of you guys. This is my problem.”

“We’re a team,” I say. “No, we’re a little more than just a team. We’re family and as a family--”

“Hold on,” SpeedBlade says, interrupting and putting up his hand. “I don’t know if I would consider us a family. I mean, none of us are really related to one another.”

“Being a family isn’t only about related,” I say, “Or at least, to me, it isn’t. It’s whether or not we’ll be there for one another, and right now, I’m trying to be here for you.”

“I rather you not be here for you,” SpeedBlade says before turning away and covering himself again.

“SpeedBlade, come on.”

This time, SpeedBlade doesn’t say anything. Instead, he snores the fakest snores I have ever heard. His fake snore is so loud his helmet shakes.

“Fine,” I say, getting up. “Sorry for bothering your sleep.”

About to walk out, QuickShot appears in front of me.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, “Don’t rub it in.”

“No,” QuickShot says, “I’m not here for that. Also, that’s not me.”

She enters SpeedBlade’s room and shakes him awake.

“Come on,” she orders, waving her arms. “JumpStart found something and he wants all of us to see.”

“Why not,” SpeedBlade says, throwing his blanket and getting up. “It doesn’t seem like I’m getting any sleep.”

JumpStart:

“Okay,” I say once I see the other standing before me. “It took a while, and a lot of work, but I’ve finally done it. Do you remember the prison break-in at IronWall?”

“With Unstoppable and Lighting Storm,” Ms. Justice asks, rubbing her arm. “Yeah. I think we all remember them.”

“Well, you told me that apparently, when Unstoppable disappeared, he disappeared with some sort of small jail. A special kind of jail.”

“A containment cell,” QuickShot says. “They’re used to hold villains with special and dangerous powers.”

“Oh, you’re right about that,” I say, turning around to enter a few commands. Once finished, I step aside. “It took a lot of fake papers, but I learned who was in that jail.”

“Who was it,” SpeedBlade asks.

Silent:

“Dr. Kolohe Cho,” I say, reviewing her files on the monitors on my wall. “A brilliant engineer, focusing mostly on robotics."

I push buttons on my wrist and some pictures come up. They show Dr. Kolohe Cho's achievements. There are dozens of pictures of her building and designing robotic parts side by side with her hundreds of awards in the field.

"Such a gifted person," I think while reading her file. "But with one flaw."

I bring up her criminal record.

SpeedBlade:

"She can control machines," Ms. Justice repeats after JumpStart.

"According to the files I've found," JumpStart says, "Yes. She somehow learned how to control machines and used them to try and destroy the people she worked with."

Looking up, I see pictures of machines attacking people. The people are running away, but a giant metal hand managed to grab someone.

"Why did she attack her co-workers," Justice asks.

"It's because, apparently, they wanted to destroy the machines she was working on."

The pictures disappear and switch to a picture of the doctor. She had pale skin and long black hair. Besides the picture, there seems to be a diary of what happened.

"When Dr. Kolohe Cho was arrested and asked why she did what she did, she replied by saying her 'pathetic humans co-workers try to end the life of her machine. Her only friends and she wasn't going to allow it'. They did try to put her in a normal jail, but she used her power to escape and it was months before they found her again."

"Hence, why she was put in a containment cell," QuickShot finishes, and JumpStart nods his head.

"So this doctor can control machines," I say, "Right?"

"Yeah," JumpStart answers.

"A doctor who can control machines, a recipe for some sort of metal, and things used to build machines? What does all of that mean?"

18: Chapter 18: Time Crunch

Silent:

I watch with crossed arms as the infamous Dr. Kolohe Cho uses her technological power to complete the suit of armor.

“The Iron Fist armor is nearly ready,” Dr. Cho says while looking at a metal claw. Her eyes and head glowing a blueish-green color, the claw starts to turn by itself. It grabs a massive iron hand and screws it into the wrist of the armor. Dr. Cho thanks the claw machine before it spins around.

“How much longer before it’s ready,” I say, looking the armor over. Despite the dim light in the workshop, the Iron Fist armor is still shining. Easily towering over both the doctor and myself, most of the armor seems to be done. In fact, the only things that seem to be missing are the left arm and the head. Also, the chest plate is open with wires coming out of it.

“Only a few more hours,” Dr. Cho starts, “As I’ve said, it’s nearly ready. The head and left arm are begin made as we speak. While they are begin made, I must upload some final programs into the armor. Once all of that is done, then the armor will be ready, and you can rule this city.”

“Excellent,” I say, looking at the towering armor once more. As I look at her, I place my hand on the chest plate.

“With your power and skills, and the formula for the reinforcement steel, this armor will truly be unstoppable. No one will get in my way. Everyone will have to listen to me. Everyone.”

Dr. Cho’s eyes and head glow once more as she looks at a computer. Immediately, the computer monitor comes to life and the keyboard is typing itself. I follow the glowing red wires from the computer to the armor. A second later, the right arm rises all by itself and the hand closes.

“Don’t just thank me,” Dr. Cho scolds, the glow fading and the doctor returning to herself. “Thank them too.”

She points at all the machines in her workshops. As if ordered, they all stop what they’re doing and turn to face me. I nod my head and say thank you for all their hard work. Once I do, they get back to work. Seeing this, I leave.

While walking through the dark hallways, I make my way back to my command center. Walking up the stairs, I stop and stand at the top where I can see all the monitors as they record everything happening in the city. As I check the monitors, I see the ones I have installed in the OutPost.

“Strange,” I think, seeing the Outcasts all standing in a circle. “What’s going on?”

I press a button and listen closely.

QuickShot:

“A doctor who can control machines,” SpeedBlade starts, “A recipe for some sort of metal, and things used to build machines? What does all of that mean?”

“It can only mean one thing,” I answer, “The man in the white mask is building something. Something big. Something that only a doctor who can control machines can build. Something that had to build with a special metal.”

“And what exactly would that be,” Ms. Justice asks. “What is so big it would need all three of these?”

“I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “I really don’t.”

“We may not know what the man in the white mask is building,” JumpStart says, smiling as we all turn to him. “But I might have a way we can find out who he is. At least, I think I do.”

“Really,” I say, “How?”

With a nod of his head, JumpStart guides our attention back to the screen.

“As it turns out,” JumpStart starts, typing away at the computer. “Very few people actually know about Dr. Cho, and I do mean very few.”

JumpStart working his magic, he brings out Dr. Cho’s criminal record once more.

“According to these records, Dr. Cho doesn’t have any family, and she spent almost all of her time at work. You know, before she was arrested. Anyway, because of this, not many people know about her.”

“So if not many people know about her,” Ms. Justice starts, “How does the man in the white mask know about her?”

“Exactly,” JumpStart says, smiling and nodding his head. “He knew about the doctor and her power. Also, he knew exactly where the doctor’s cell was. IronWall Prison is huge. There’s no way he could have stumbled upon that information. He had to have known beforehand. I think I might be able to make a list of all the people who knew about the doctor.”

“And once you do, he can cross reference the names."

"Yeah," JumpStart says. "I can do that. Whatever that means."

Silent:

"Yeah," JumpStart says, "I can do that. Whatever that means."

"No," I say, stepping back. "The OutCasts are smarter than I thought. If that list is formed and they stumble upon my name, it could ruin everything. I can't let them do that."

I turn off the monitor and run down the stairs. Jumping over the last few steps, I land and push myself up. Running again through the hallways, I stop when I reach the doctor's workshop.

"Dr. Cho," I yell, walking in.

"Silent," the doctor says when she sees me. "What brings you back to my workshop?"

"The Iron Fist Armor," I answer, "Is it ready?"

"What," Dr. Cho says, "Of course not. I said I would need a few hours and it hadn't even been one yet."

"I need the armor now," I yell, "The OutCasts are getting close to finding me, and I rather they not."

"It doesn't matter," Dr. Cho says, "The armor isn't ready yet. The head and arm are still taking shape."

I see the cold in Dr. Cho's eyes. She doesn't care about the armor. She doesn't care about order. All she cared about are her precious machine.

"Work faster," I yell, pointing a finger at her. "Or this is what will happen to your friends."

Looking at a small machine crawling on the floor, I rise my foot and stomp on it. Dr. Cho screams as I lift my foot and reveal nothing more than scrap metal and sparking wires.

"How could you," Dr. Cho yells, "How could you?"

Dr. Cho pushes me back and picks up the mix of scrap metal and wires. She examines it for a few seconds before turning to face me with glowing eyes.

"You will pay," she says, all the machines turning toward me once more.

"No," I say, bringing up my fists. "I have already paid, but unfortunately, it wasn't with my life."

Dr. Cho and I stare each other down. She must have known I wasn't going to back down, despite all the machines eyeing me, and must not have wanted any of them to break. Seeing this, I lower my hands.

"Complete the Iron Fist Armor immediately," I say, "Before I have unwanted company."

With that, I leave the workshop.

19: Chapter 19: Silent and Dangerous

QuickShot:

“Anything,” I ask, looking at JumpStart as he types away at the OutCast’s computer. “Are you finished with that list of names?”

JumpStart stops typing. He lets out a sigh before raising his head and turning around.

“No, I am not done,” JumpStart says, nodding his head. “I wasn’t done when you asked me a little while ago. I wasn’t done when you asked a while ago. I wasn’t even done when you asked me a long while ago. By the way, that long while ago was not a long while ago. When I am done, I will tell you. Please leave me alone until then. I work better when there aren’t people looking over my shoulder. It makes me very uncomfortable.”

“How can you not be done? I thought the list of names would be short. I mean, you said how few people know about that Dr. Cho.”

“Yes, but as it turns out, those few people who know Dr. Cho apparently are all high-ranking officials. Their information is secured. It’s not going to be easy for me to break through. Even with my skills.”

“So many names do you have?”

“Uhh. None. I’m still working on my first.”

“Would it be mad of me if I told you to work faster?”

“Yes, and pointless. You told me to get the information without setting off any traps because we’re supposed to stay hidden. Well, that is no small task. So again, I ask you to please leave while I work my magic. My computer magic, not actually magic. I don’t have any magic.”

“Do elves back home have magical power?”

“Some of us do, yes.”

“Okay.”

I nod my head before turning and walking away. Heading for my room, I stop when I see SpeedBlade and Ms. Justice. They’re in their own rooms, polishing their weapons. Thinking it over for a bit, I walk over to Ms. Justice’s room.

“Hey,” I say, waving at Justice before stopping at the doorway. “How are you doing?”

“What do you mean by that,” Justice asks, stopping to look at me.

“I mean, how are you doing? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

“I’m fine too. Just wondering what we’re going to be fighting soon. And who exactly?”

“May I offer you a bit of advice,” Justice says.

“Sure. What is it?”

“Don’t think about that kind of thing. Be focused on the here and now. Don’t worry too much about what’s going to happen or what could happen. Believe it. It’ll drive you nuts.”

“How can I not worry,” I ask. “I’m a soldier. Part of being a soldier is knowing what I’ll be facing.”

“I thought you were a pilot. You know, given your old-fashioned helmet and jacket.”

Justice taps the top of her head and immediately, I know she’s referring to the google I have on top of my helmet.

“Whether a soldier or pilot, we still like to know what we’re facing. Or flying into.”

Justice opens her mouth. About to say something, she is cut off by flashing red lights and alarms.

“Speaking of what we’re facing,” Justice says, putting down her towel and getting up. “Let’s see what we’re facing this time.”

“Go ahead of me,” I say, “I need to grab some extra arrows.”

Justice nods her head and we split.

Ms. Justice:

“What’s going on,” I say, looking to my left as SpeedBlade joins JumpStart and me. “Who is it?”

“I have no idea,” JumpStarts answers, turning around with his stun batons in his hands. “This is a new person. Here. See for yourself.”

Typing and then stepping to the side, JumpStart shows us what looks like a giant silver robot standing in the middle of a city street. The police are already there trying to stop it, but it’s no use. Grabbing a whole car, the robot slams it down, the impact knocking a few officers to the ground.

“A giant robot,” I say, “Don’t suppose that the thing our friend in the white mask worked so hard to build?”

“Possibly,” QuickShot says, walking up to us with a quiver full of arrows. “But it can’t only be a robot. There had to be more, given all the trouble he went through.”

“There’s only one way to learn,” SpeedBlade says, pulling out his sword. “Let’s go face that giant robot.”

Silent:

“Apologies officers," I say, raising my hand, the blaster on top coming to life, "But you're all in my way. Don't worry. I asked the doctor to modify this the best she can so you shouldn't feel too much."

Activating the blaster, I shoot out an electric current that hits and knocks out all the officers. They all fall onto the street. With all the officers down, I look toward the crowd of people as they all step back.

Holding out my hand, I turn the speakers on.

"Bow before me," I order, "Bow. Now!"

The people scream as they drop to their knees. While they drop to their knees, sensors in the armor come on, showing me four dots directly behind me.

"The OutCasts," I say, turning around. "A pleasure to meet most of you for the first time."

QuickShot:

Seeing it face-to-face, this is more than just a giant robot. Easily bigger than the four of us, its arms alone look like boulders. Also, there seems to be no end to the gadgets attached to it. I see blasters, launchers, and other things on the arms and even the legs.

"Most of us for the first time," I repeat, holding my bow and arrow in my hands. "It is you."

"Yes QuickShot," the man answers, "It is me. Allow me to finally introduce myself. I am Silent, and I am very, very dangerous."

Silent shoots out his arms and a component opens on his back. Tiny rockets shoot out from the component, flying into the air before heading for us.

"Watch out," I yell, hitting one of the rockets before rolling out of the way.

Ms. Justice:

Jumping and rolling out of the way, I land on my feet and look toward a crowd of people as they watch from the sidewalk.

"Keep him busy," I yell, running past Silent. Reaching the crowd, I start to yell at them.

"Show over! Come on! Come on! Run! Move it! Get out of here!"

Screaming and waving my arms around, I practically shove the people out of here. The last person running, I hear something coming from behind me and look.

"What in the world," I say before a giant metal hand hits and knocks me into a building's wall.

JumpStart:

"Justice," I yell, watching as Ms. Justice is knocked into a wall before falling onto the ground. I hear myself sighing when I see Justice pushing herself up.

"JumpStart," she shouts while rubbing her head. "Incoming!"

Turning and looking at Silent, I see something slides open on the knees. I don't even have time to ask before the knees start shooting at me.

Jumping and dodging out of the way, I leap forward and try to hit Silent with my stun batons. However, he brings his arm around, and his waist glows. A moment later, a pale-blue shield appears and blocks me.

Bouncing off the shield and falling onto the street, the knee blasters turn on and hits me. Once more, I fall onto the street.

QuickShot:

"Weak spot," I say, looking around. "Weak spot. Where is the weak spot?"

An arrow already in my bow, I keep looking for any weaknesses. Seeing JumpStart as he is blasted and Silent turns, I cross my fingers and fire arrows all over.

Hitting his arms, his back, and even his head, I watch as my arrows explode and engulf Silent in a cloud of smoke.

I prepare another arrow while waiting for the smoke to clear. The wind picking it up and sending it away, I step back when I see Silent unfazed.

"This armor is made from an incredibly dense, reinforced steel," Silent says, "You're going to need so much more than your pathetic explosive arrows to put a dent it in."

"Let me guess," I say, grabbing a few more arrows. "A secret, stolen formula."

"For what I want," Silent says, "I need this armor to be invincible."

"And what is it you want?"

"I want order."

SpeedBlade:

"Here's my order," I say, running and jumping into the air. Pulling back my sword, I prepare to swing at the giant calling himself Silent but as I raise my sword, I see Silent's hand glowing.

Turning and punching me, I scream as I feel electricity run throughout my body. The electricity shoots and sends me flying before I fall down.

20: Chapter 20: 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 just some 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 this 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. 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, 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 SpeedBlade, I shoot out my hand and focus my power.

A 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.

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 as fast as I can to the others. We 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 over and over. "That might not be possible."

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

21: Chapter 21: Years Ago

Draven Ines:

I put down my cup of coffee and return to reading the new proposal.

“This can’t be right,” I think as I keep reading. “If this is passed, then medical clinics all over the city will lose funding and hospital will be overflowing with patients. No.”

I slam the proposal close and throw it into my trashcan. Grabbing my cup of coffee, I practically swallow the whole thing before also throwing the empty cup into my trashcan.

Once I do, I get up and leave my office. Entering the hallway, I nod my head toward my friends and colleagues.

“Hello, Councilman Draven," one of my friends says as he passes me.

"Hello, Gavin," I say with a nod of my head. I walk past him and toward Councilman Dolon's office. I enter his office and slam the door shut.

"Councilman Draven," Councilman Dolon says, smiling as he spreads out his arms and lends back. "How can I help you today?"

Noticing piles of papers in front of him, I start sifting through all of them. Councilman Dolon didn't even try to stop me. Eventually, I find what I'm looking for.

"What is this," I yell, holding up the same proposal I threw away. "Why would you even propose this? Are you serious?"

"I am," Councilman Dolon says. He lends forward, still smiling. "It's not bad, right?"

"Wrong. This is bad. This is horrible. What is wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?"

Councilman Dolon's smile finally disappears. He gets up from his desk and stares me down.

"Excuse me," he repeats.

I place my own two hands on Dolon's desk and stare right back at him.

"I asked what is wrong with you."

I bring the proposal up between the two of us.

"What you're asking for is to shut down medical clinics all over the city. Why? Why would you ask for something so irrational?"

Councilman Dolon shakes his head and snatches the proposal out of my hand. He gently places it back on his desk.

"Do you know how many medicinal clinics there are all over this city?"

Councilman Dolon turns around and points out toward his window.

"There's one less than five miles from city hall and one less than three miles from that one. There are too many clinics around here. They're a drain on the taxpayers' money. I'm not suggesting we shut down all of them. Just a few."

"How many is a few," I ask.

It's subtle. It's easy to miss. If I wasn't me, then anyone else would have missed it, but for a brief second, for only a brief second, I see Councilman Dolon's flinches. He recovered fast but I know what I saw.

"Councilman Draven," Councilman Dolon says, pulling back and adjusting his suit. "Excuse me but I'm afraid I need to leave now. I have a meeting with someone."

He walks around the desk but when he reaches for the door, I grab his arm and pull him close.

"This isn't over," I whisper.

"Oh, I think it is," Councilman Dolon replies, snapping out of my grip. "Please get out of my office."

Dolon grabs the door and holds it open. He points toward the hallway, and I leave. I look back at Dolon as he leaves his own office and locks the door.

"See you soon," Councilman Dolon says, walking away.

I shake my head as Councilman Dolon disappears around a corner. As much as I want to keep talking with him, I too have a meeting with someone. I turn and walk away, heading for the parking lot. Getting into my car, I drive as fast as I can to my brother's house.

Parking in front, I get out and walk over to the front door. It takes only a second after I push the doorbell that the front door open and I see Rosabella.

"Rose," I say, spreading out my arms and hugging my sister-in-law. Rose smiles and hugs me back.

"Draven," Rose says after we split. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here," I ask. I pull from behind a wrapped present. "I'm here for Ticha's birthday. Did you think I wouldn't come to my own niece's birthday?"

"Honestly," Raymond says as he comes from behind Rose and gives her a kiss on the lip. "Yes. I figure you, the busy councilman, wouldn't have time to visit us."

I let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'll admit. I am a little busier than usual thanks to a certain councilman but hey, that doesn't mean I'm going to miss this."

I hear footsteps running up to us and look past Raymond and Rose. Coming up from behind them is Ticha. She smiles when she sees me.

"Uncle Draven," Ticha says, pushing past Raymond and Rose and giving me a hug. "Hey. Long time no see."

"It hadn't been that long," I say, pulling back. "At the very most, it had been a few months. Hey, I got you something. Happy birthday, Ticha."

I give Ticha her present.

"Uncle Draven," Ticha says with a chuckle. "Thanks but you know I'm officially 18 years old now. Right?"

"I'll take it back if you don't want it."

I try to grab the present but Ticha steps back.

"Nevermind," she says, running up the stairs. However, before disappearing, she turns back toward me.

"Thank you," she says with a smile and a nod.

I nod my head as well.

"So any plan for tonight," I ask. Raymond opens his mouth, about to say something, but before he can, both his and Rose's phones go off at the same time.

"Hello," Raymond answers.

"This is Detective Rosabella," Rose says.

They listen closely before they hang up.

"Work?"

"Work," Raymond says with a nod. "There's something going on. Some sort of weird lights. They need us to check them out."

"Ticha," Rosabella shouts. "I'm sorry honey but we have to go."

"Okay," Ticha says, her head popping out from over the railing. "I understand. Stay safe, mom and dad."

"I'm sorry Draven," Raymond says, "But-"

I put up my hands and step to the side.

"Go," I say. "Save the city, little brother."

Raymond and Rosabella smile at me as they grab their coats and blasters and head for their car. Meanwhile, I say bye to Ticha and leave. I head home and call it a night.

During the next few months, it's a fight between Councilman Dolon and myself as we try to convince the other members how to vote on the new proposal. Somehow, Councilman Dolon managed to convince two other councilmen to vote yes, meaning it's now three versus two. Outvoted, I can only lower my head in shame as I watch one medical clinic closed after the next.

"Dolon," I yell, stomping into the city hall's lunchroom. Everyone stops eating and turns to look at me as I approach him. Dolon must have expected me because while he was eating, two men in black suits are standing over him. The second they see me, they run and hold me back.

"Dolon," I yell, struggling to push back his hired thugs. "You bastard! What did you do? What did you do?"

"Whatever are you talking about," Dolon smiles as he enjoys his lunch.

"Don't play dumb," I yell. "I know what you did. I know. Tell me. Tell me where my brother is. Tell me where my sister-in-law is. Where did you take Ticha?"

Dolon stops eating.

"Okay. Seriously now. What are you talking about?"

I feel everything in me boiling. My vision starts to turn red and a crosshair appears, with Dolon's head right in the center of it.

His thugs still holding onto me, I pull back my head and headbutt one of them. He screams as he lets me go and steps back. One arm free, I punch his other thug and knock him into a table. Free now, I charge toward Dolon.

Despite getting up and trying to run, I jump over the table and pull him down.

"I know everything," I yell, grabbing his neck collar and shaking him. "I know everything. That proposal to shut down those clinics. It was all for money."

"You can't prove that," Dolon shouts back. He grabs my hand but I punch him across the face.

"This isn't over," I say, pulling his face close. I punch him across the face again, knocking him to the floor. His thugs recovering and running over to me, I grab the chair Dolon was sitting on and throw it at them. While they push themselves up, I run for the lunchroom's window. Bracing myself, I jump right through.

22: Chapter 22: Retreat

Ms. Justice:

Grabbing JumpStart and throwing him behind me, I rise my shield and manage to protect the others from the blaster fire. Despite my skidding feet, I stay on my feet.

"JumpStart," I yell, "SpeedBlade. Get QuickShot out of here! I'll hold Silent back and regroup with all of you back at the OutPost."

"No," SpeedBlade shouts, "I will not leave you alone!"

"This isn't for debate! QuickShot needs to get back to the OutPost. Go. Go. Go."

SpeedBlade is about to shout again but he is cut off by Silent's blasters. The two of us duck under the blaster's fire as JumpStart grabs and carries an exhausted QuickShot toward a manhole cover.

"Again," I say, kicking SpeedBlade away. "This isn't for debate. Go!"

SpeedBlade finally takes the hint and using his super speed, run toward JumpStart and QuickShot. Reaching the manhole cover, he uses his sword to pry the cover off.

"You made a foolish mistake," Silent says, walking toward me. "A brave but very foolish mistake."

"You know," I say, stepping forward and staring Silent down. "For someone who called himself Silent, you should do talk a lot. You sure you have the right name."

"I'm a silent worker," Silent says before rising his arm and firing his blasters. Jumping and rolling out of the way, I run around Silent and throw my shield at him.

SpeedBlade:

"I'll bring QuickShot back to the OutPost," I say, "You go back and help Justice."

JumpStart nods his head and gives me QuickShot. I tied her hands around my neck before running back to the OutPost. I get back to the OutPost in only a moment. Pushing the button, the doors open and I place QuickShot down on a chair.

"Stay here," I say. I turn to walk away. Reaching the door, about to run back, I stop when an arrow flies past and sticks to the wall.

"What?"

I turn around and see QuickShot standing. She's shaking and breathing heavily, but she is still holding her bow.

"Do you really think you can just leave me here while my team fight?"

JumpStart:

Jumping up and out of the underground tunnel, I land back on top to see Silent holding Justice. Justice is stuck in between Silent's giant metal hands. Despite her best, she can't break out.

With Silent's back to me, I run up to him as far as I can.

"Behind you," I say, jumping and latching onto Silent's back. Silent realizes me, he starts to shake left and right to try and get me off. In doing so, he accidentally drops Justice.

"You're welcome," I yell after grabbing onto one of Silent's launchers.

Silent stepping to the side, he throws himself into a wall over and over. I have to rise my arm and shield myself from falling rocks.

"Get off of me you idiotic elf," Silent shouts, rising his blasters and firing. Getting as low as I can, I manage to duck under the blaster fire. Pulling from my belt one of my stun batons, I'm preparing to hit the launcher and hopefully shock Silent. However, before I can hit the launcher, Silent once more throws himself into a wall. Only, he didn't just throw himself into it. He threw himself through it.

While Silent disappears through a dust cloud, I hit a wall and fall down.

SpeedBlade:

Climbing up the ladder and out of the underground tunnels, I see JumpStart flying out of a dust cloud. Falling onto the ground, Ms. Justice sees this and runs to help him.

As she helps JumpStart, I see a shadow moving in the dust cloud. Seeing the shadow moves toward the two, I run and stop in between them. Pulling out my sword and holding it out, I look at Silent walking out of it.

"The speedster knight," Silent says. "The last OutCasts. Your leader is exhausted, the elf is down, and Ms. Justice is wounded. Once I take you down, then the city is mine."

"Maybe," I say, positioning myself. "But as you said, you'll first have to take me down, and you'll see. I'm not so easy to defeat."

Jumping and running toward Silent, he fires those same small rockets from before. They fly into the air before coming down toward me. Skidding to a stop, I look at the rockets as they fly toward me.

"I can't outrun them," I think, "I have to do something else."

Looking down at my sword, I pull it back and swing it. Despite destroying all the rockets, they still explode. The explosion knocks me back and I fall off my feet.

"As I said before," Silent says, standing over me. "I have studied the moves of you and your friends. I have designed this armor to counteract all and any of your power. Your speed is no exception."

Still talking, I swing my sword but Silent somehow sees this and matches my speed. He shoots out his hand and grabs my wrist. Pulling me up, he spins me around before throwing me.

I'm scratching against the ground as I roll to a stop.

"SpeedBlade," Ms. Justice says, running over to me with JumpStart in her arms. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, pushing myself up with my sword. "Are you okay? Is he?"

"Just give me a second," JumpStart moans, waving at me before putting his hand over his hip.

"Where's QuickShot," Ms. Justice asks.

"Back in the OutPost," I answer. "She tried to stop me, tried to convince me to take her, but I ran and left her."

"You left QuickShot," Ms. Justice says. "Oh, she's not going to be happy about that. Still, thank you. Chances are, I would've done the same. You know, if I could run super fast like you."

"Uhh, guys," JumpStart says. "Hate to interrupt but there's still the one big bad guy we can't seem to defeat. Any idea, 'cause I got nothing."

"You lose," Silent says, aiming his blasters at us. All of them warming up, I push Justice and JumpStart back and hold up my sword.

"For what it is worth, I am sorry about this."

Dr. Cho:

"For what it is worth," I say, watching the whole fight from the monitors in Silent's hideout. "I am not sorry about this."

On top of his throne, surrounded by my friendly machines, I use my power. I feel my eyes glowing. I feel the energy running through my body. The power is traveling, like electricity in machines.

Silent:

"What is going on," I say, pushing the button but the blasters not firing. I push again but they do nothing. In fact, through the monitors in front of me, I can see the power fading from the blasters. All of a sudden, the armor starts to move by itself. It's taken control over and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

"What's going on," I yell, pushing all sorts of buttons. The buttons don't seem to be doing anything. The armor, it's like it had a mind of its own.

"Wait. A mind of its own. No, not a mind of its own but a mind of someone else's. Dr. Cho. Dr. Cho! Answer me!"

"Hello Silent," the infamous Dr. Cho says, her face appearing before me. "How may I help you today?"

"What are you doing? I know it's you. I know it's you who is controlling the Iron Fist armor. What are you doing? What is the meaning of this?"

I try to push the eject button but as expected, nothing happens. I'm trapped within the armor.

"You can push all the buttons you want," Dr. Cho says. "I wired them to work until I take control of the armor."

"Why do you want control of the armor?"

"Because I have better plans for the armor," Dr. Cho says before her face vanishes. As Dr. Cho disappears, the armor turns around by itself and starts to walk away.

"No," I cry, pushing the eject button over and over again. "No. No!"

SpeedBlade:

"What just happened," I ask, looking at Ms. Justice and JumpStart before looking back at Silent. "Why is Silent walking away?"

"Is he running," JumpStart asks.

"Why," Ms. Justice asks, "He was winning. He had us on the rope. One blast and he would have destroyed the three of us. Something isn't right."

"Whatever the reason," I say, lowering my sword. "Silent is retreating so we shall do the same."

23: Chapter 23: Change of Plans

QuickShot:

My eyes snap open when I hear the OutPost’s doors slide open. Immediately, I reach for my bow and an arrow and aim at the door.

“Hey, hey, hey,” JumpStart says, stepping back and holding up his hands. “Peace. We come in peace. Uhh, I don’t have anything for a peace offering. Do you guys have something?”

Ms. Justice searches her pockets for a while and pulls out a chocolate bar.

“I have this,” Justice answers, turning from JumpStart to me. “Do you want it?”

“I’m fine,” I say, lowering my bow. “What are you guys doing back here? No offense or anything, but I doubt it’s a victory.”

“You’re right,” SpeedBlade says, walking in and sitting down. “It’s not a victory. It’s a retreat.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d use that word exactly,” Ms. Justice interrupts, joining SpeedBlade and sitting down too.

“What do you mean,” I ask.

“For some reason,” Ms. Justice says, making circles with her hand. “Silent, the guy in the giant metal suit who was kicking our butts, just walked away.”

“He walked away,” I repeat. “What do you mean by that?”

“She means what she said,” JumpStart answers. “Silent just walk away. He was one shot from destroying the three of us, but instead of taking the shot, he just walked away. He turned and left us alone.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I say. “If what all of you said is true, if he was one blast from destroying the three of you, then why would he walk away?”

“I don’t know,” SpeedBlade answers, “But I do know this. We can’t defeat Silent with any of our usual attacks. That armor of his was able to counter JumpStart’s batons and even my speed.”

“So if we can’t fight with our weapons or skills,” JumpStart starts, looking from head to head, “Then how are we going to fight? Does anyone have a plan? Or even an idea?”

Unfortunately, none of us could answer JumpStart. The only thing that answers JumpStart is the OutPost’s alarm. The lights switch to red and the bells start to ring.

“What’s going on,” I ask, getting up from my seat. Still feeling a little tired, I have to use my bow as a crane and walk up to JumpStart. “JumpStart, what’s going on?”

“It’s Silent,” JumpStart answers, turning back to face me. “He’s attacking again. This time, it’s a building.”

“Silent is attacking a building,” Ms. Justice asks, coming up from behind us. “What’s the building?”

“It’s the building where Dr. Kolohe Cho used to work,” JumpStart says.

Silent:

“Come on,” I say, grabbing at a panel and trying to pull it open. “Come on. Come on!”

Finally, prying the panel open, I throw it aside and look inside to see a bunch of wires. The opening is small so I can only reach in with one hand.

“What are you doing,” Dr. Cho yells, her face appearing in front of mine. “Stop it immediately.”

“Bite me,” I shout, grabbing at many wires as I can and pulling them out, screaming only a little when a loose wire hits and electrocutes me. Dropping the wires, I look around but everything is still the same. Nothing happens. I'm still trapped within the Iron Fist armor.

"Did you really think a simple trick like that would be enough to stop the Iron Fist," Dr. Cho laughs.

As Dr. Cho laughs and I look around for more panels, I feel the world outside shaking. Looking past Dr. Cho's face, I peek outside and see the Iron Fist armor attacking a massive skyscraper. It fires the mini-rockets I used against SpeedBlade, and destroys a wall, exposing the people inside.

"What are you doing," I yell, looking at Dr. Cho's face. "What are you doing?"

"Do you recognize this place," Dr. Cho asks. "Do you?"

"Do I recognize this place? What?"

I repeat what Dr. Cho asked me and look at the building. Looking around, I see the building's logo and recognize it immediately.

"This is where you worked," I say, turning to the doctor. "This is Futuright."

It takes only a moment before I realize what Dr. Cho wants to do.

"You're here for revenge," I say, looking at Dr. Cho. "You're going to destroy Futuright."

"They destroyed my friends," Dr. Cho says. "The friends I made, the only friends I had, they destroyed all of them, and then they send me to IronWall Prison. No. I will make them regret all of their idiotic and foolish decision."

"You can't do this," I say.

"Why not? How is this any different from what you were going to do? Society betrays both of us, and now, now we're getting back at society."

"My plan never involves hurting innocent people. Only the people who truly deserve it."

"These people do deserve it," Dr. Cho yells. The next thing I hear is the sound of people screaming as Dr. Cho fires off more mini rockets. The Futuright building is smoking and the walls are starting to crumble.

"Come on," I think, "Come on. What can I do? What can I do?"

I look at all the torn wires on the floor.

"Dr. Cho said none of the wires I pulled will stop the Iron Fist armor. Maybe that's it. Maybe I just haven't pulled the right wires."

Looking at the opened panel, I reach in even further and grab as many wires as I can. As I pull, I hear wires breaking and snapping. The loose wires are shocking me but I bite my tongue and pull as many out as I can.

"What are you doing," Dr. Cho shouts as her face appears in front of me. "What do you think you are doing? Something is happening to the right arm of the Iron Fist armor. I can't seem to operate it anymore."

I ignore the yelling doctor and pull out the wires completely. Throwing them to the floor, I scream and look at my burnt hand.

"That was all for nothing," Dr. Cho says. "Even if the right arm is down, I still have control over the rest of the armor. Including the weapons."

Sucking in air through my teeth, I look at the monitor as it shows the left arm rising. I expect her to use the mini rockets launcher again but I was wrong. I was horribly wrong.

"The energy cannon. Dr. Cho, you can't. The energy cannon won't just destroy the building. It'll destroy everyone on the inside. That wasn't the plan."

"That wasn't your plan," Dr. Cho replies. "This had always been my plan."

I watch as energy build in the cannon and Dr. Cho aims it at the building. I can still see people inside. While most of them have fled, there are still a few insides, trying desperately to help others that have been buried.

My hand still sizzling, I shake it off and pull it back. About to reach in and pull out some more wires, I stop when I hear Dr. Cho screams. It wasn't her gloating but her begin taken by surprise. Looking out, I see the four OutCasts charging toward me.

"They sure took their time," I think as I reach in.

24: Chapter 24: The 5th OutCast

QuickShot:

“Three shots are all I would need to level this city,” Silent told me. “The energy cannon. I can’t let him get a shot off.”

Pulling back the bowstring, I let go and fire a bunch of arrows. The arrows hit the cannon over and over, causing Silent to miss.

“OutCasts,” I yell, stopping a little to catch my breath. “Onward.”

Wiping my forehead, I reach for more arrows and fire them at Silent. I hit Silent with a volley of trick arrows. Slime arrows burst and covered him in green slime. Explosive arrows land all over and engulf him in thick black smoke. Net arrows wrapped around Silent and weight him to the ground.

“He’s down,” I shout, dropping to a knee. “Attack him. Hit him before he had a chance to fight back.”

SpeedBlade:

“I understand,” I yell. Running toward Silent as he tries to rise his arm, I myself try to cut off his metal arm. However, as I swing my sword, it bounces off his metal arm. “Ahh, I hate technology.”

There isn’t even a scratch on the metal arm, and because of my failed attack, Silent rises his giant arm and swings it. Hitting me, I find myself flying through the air before falling back onto the street.

Shaking my head to regain my sense, I pick up my sword and charge back toward Silent.

“Incoming,” Ms. Justice screams, she and JumpStart running toward Silent. Still pinned to the ground, Silent prepares to use those mini-rockets from before. His shoulder opens and the same large box moves up.

Justice and JumpStare are too far to do anything against the large box. Instead, I jump into the air and once more, swing my sword.

Screaming as I swing, I slice the box right off Silent’s shoulder. Hearing Silent screams as the box falls onto the ground, I skid to a stop near the two.

“Thanks for that,” Justice says after bumping my arm.

“No need for thanks,” I say, rising my sword. “I was looking for a weak point and found it.”

Silent:

“The OutCasts are troublesome,” Dr. Cho grunts with glowing eyes. “Why didn’t your pathetic men destroy them? Unstoppable. Nitro. Burning Ice. All of your men are pathetic! And so are you!”

“And yet,” I say, my hand still deep within the Iron Fist Armor. “I’m not the one controlling the armor.”

Despite Dr. Cho’s eyes staying the same blueish-green, I can see them turning red.

“Pathetic,” she shouts again. “All of you are pathetic! Machines are superior! Machines are better than humans! Machines are--”

Before Dr. Cho can finish her ranting, I pull out some more wires and her ugly face vanishes.

“Finally,” I say, “She shut up.”

With Dr. Cho now gone, I reach into my pocket and pull out some small bombs. Activating them, I then throw each and every one of them into the open panel. Looking around, I see the cover I pulled off and grab it. I put the cover back on and slam my shoulder against it.

“A broken shoulder follows by smoke inhalation,” I think. ”Yeah, this is going to be painful few minutes."

Ms. Justice:

Raising my shield high into the air, I bring it down and slam the doorknob off. Grabbing and swinging the door open, the first thing to greet me is a wave of thick smoke. I have to step back for a second to catch my breath.

Grabbing my shirt collar, I hold it over my nose and enter the half-destroyed building. Running up the emergency stairs, I scream and check every floor to make sure they're clear.

"Hello," I shout, grabbing and opening a door. The whole floor is a mess. There are desks and chairs thrown everywhere. Also, since there's a small fire from the hole in the wall, the sprinkles are on and everything is soaking wet.

"Hello," I shout again, "Is there anyone in here? Can you hear me?"

At first, there isn't a sound. I'm about to leave to check the other floors when I hear something.

"Help," a voice shakily sounds. "Help me."

Looking back, I turn and run into the floor. Jumping over a fallen filing cabinet and sliding across a desk with a broken leg, I come to a stop when I see a young man bury under some debris.

"Help me," he says weakly, struggling to pull the debris off himself.

"Here," I say, dropping to a knee. "I can help. Watch out."

Grabbing and throwing most of the debris to the side, I uncover the main problem. It's a part of the wall. It's pinning the man's foot, making him stuck. Even without touching it, I know from its size it's too heavy for me to lift by myself. I have to think of something else. Remembering the shield I have on my arm, I get an idea.

"Watch out," I say, "Again."

Slamming my shield between the floor and the piece of the wall, I push against it.

"Pull your foot out," I say, "Hurry."

As soon as the young man pulls out his foot, I step back and watch as the wall falls back down.

"Are you okay," I say, offering the man a hand. "Can you walk?"

"I'm fine," the man says, taking my hand. I pull him up and he thanks me.

"Get out of here," I say, pointing toward the exit stairs.

He nods his head and runs. Watching as he reaches the stairs and disappears, I look around for any more trapped people. As far as I can tell, this floor is empty. About to run to the stairs and check on some more, I hear an explosion coming from the outside.

"QuickShot," I yell, running to the hole in the wall. "SpeedBlade. JumpStart. What happened?"

I don't know what I was expecting, but what I see is very confusing. My friends are all standing at least six feet from Silent, but for some reason, Silent is smoking.

JumpStart:

"Did I do that," I ask, "Or did you?"

I point at QuickShot with my stun batons.

"We didn't do anything," QuickShot answers. She shows me her bow with an arrow still in it. "What's going on?"

"I do not know," SpeedBlade says, "But whatever is happening, it's given us an opening. The smoke is blinding Silent. Charge!"

SpeedBlade then runs toward the giant robot. He ducks under a wild swing and thrust his sword upward. QuickShot and I watch as SpeedBlade hits Silent right in his big metal head.

"No way," I say, watching with my own eyes as one of the eyes on Silent's robotic head comes flying off.

"SpeedBlade is right," QuickShot says, shooting an arrow. Her arrow hits Silent in his elbow, the arrow getting stuck, and causing the arm to get stuck itself. "JumpStart, quick! You see that giant blaster on the right arm. You need to disable it before it can charge again!"

"On it," I say with a nod of my head. Doing the same as SpeedBlade, I run toward Silent as he keeps on smoking and spinning. Waiting for the right moment, I jump and land on the right arm. Raising my stun baton, I stab the weird-looking blaster and turn it on. Electricity pours out and the blaster starts to shake and lights up.

It doesn't take long before the blaster itself starts to smoke as well. Taking my baton back, I jump off and land on my feet. Looking back, I see the blaster breaks right off.

Dr. Cho:

"No, no, no," I say, slamming my hands down over and over. "The energy cannon! They destroyed it! And what did Silent do? Why is the inside smoking?"

No matter what I do, I can't seem to see the inside of the Iron Fist armor. Silent must have finally pulled the right wires.

"That idiot," I say, slamming my hand down again. "No matter. I control the Iron Fist Armor. It is mine, and I still have a few targets to destroy."

Using my power, I order the Iron Fist Armor to eject the pathetic pilot. I can only imagine the fool's face as the body opens up and kicks him out.

"Enjoy being an outcast among the OutCasts," I say.

25: Chapter 25: Trade-Off

QuickShot:

Firing rockets at the ground, Silent blankets himself in a cloud of smoke. Despite not being able to see Silent or his giant robot suit, I can still clearly hear the sound of rockets.

I pull back my bowstring and scan the sky. I expect rockets to be shooting out and heading toward us any second now, but I’m wrong. Instead of rockets, Silent himself shoots out from the smoke cloud. He flies into the night sky before disappearing from sight.

“He’s escaping,” I say, lowering my bow. “Come on, we can--”

Before I can finish, I stop when I see the smoke clearing away. There, laying on the ground right in front of us, hidden at first because of the smoke, is a man.

The man appears to be wearing some sort of weird, black and brown armor, with a large belt with a dozen pouches. He also is wearing a white mask with red eyes.

“A white mask,” I think, “Red eyes? Guys, this is Silent!”

“Silent,” SpeedBlade repeats, looking at the downed man. Silent isn’t unconscious but he seems to be hurt. He’s holding his arm.

“This is Silent,” JumpStart asks, pointing at him with his stun batons. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod of my head. “This is Silent alright. I’d recognize that white mask anyway.”

“Okay,” JumpStart says, “Okay. Okay. Quick question. If this is Silent right here, then who is driving the giant robot suit?”

“Doctor,” Silent says, his sudden voice scarring JumpStart. “Doctor Cho. She took over the Iron Fist Armor.”

“Dr. Cho,” JumpStart repeats, holding his hand over his chest. “Dr. Kolohe Cho?"

"Yes," Silent pants. "Dr. Kolohe Cho. She had the power to control machines. She tricked me. She took over the armor."

Silent stops talking and rolls over. He's trying to hold it in, but I can clearly see him in pain.

"What are you guys doing," Ms. Justice shouts. I turn around and see Justice running toward us. She walks past us and kneels down to help Silent.

"What are you doing," SpeedBlade says, reaching to grab Justice but she slaps his hand again. "Justice, that is Silent. You must be careful."

"Yeah," Justice says, "I'll remember that. Meanwhile, help me move him."

"What," I say, "Justice, that's Silent. You know, the villain that broke into the OutPost. Also, the same villain that hired Unstoppable, Lighting Laser, Nitro, and Heavy Metal to steal things to build that giant robot suit. The same giant robot suit that almost destroyed us."

"Silent may be a villain but that doesn't mean we can leave him here."

"We're not leaving him here," I say, "We're leaving him for the authority. They can take him to a hospital after they arrest him."

"No," Silent says while limping over Justice's shoulder. "No. This is not how I go down. I will not be arrested."

"You don't have a choice in the matter," I say, "You committed a series of crimes, the latest being destruction to that building over there. It's a miracle it's still standing despite all the rockets you fired at it."

"I didn't do that," Silent says, "Dr. Cho did. This was where she worked. She came here to get revenge on those who destroyed her friends. Her robotic friends."

"Okay. So was it you or her who attacked that crowd of innocent people?"

"That was me. I'll confess, that was me, but I never intended to hurt them."

"If you didn't intend to hurt them," Justice says, "Then why built a giant suit of armor with a thousand weapons on it?"

"To rule this city," Silent answers.

"I'm from a different world," JumpStart interrupts, "And even I know that's a bad answer."

"Let him go," I say, grabbing Justice's hand. "We leave him with the authority and go find Dr. Cho before she can use that armor again."

"No need to search," Silent says, pushing himself off of Justice. He's still holding his arm and he stumbles a little but he manages to stand on his own. "Chances are Dr. Cho is still hiding at my base. I will lead the four of you right to her, but only on two conditions."

"And what are those exactly," SpeedBlade asks.

"Get me some medicine," Silent starts, "And then, allow me to join you."

Ms. Justice:

"This is a bad idea," QuickShot shouts while leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

"I know you think this is a bad idea," I say, returning from the OutPost with some medicine. "You said those exact words the whole time we carry Silent here."

"And the whole time you've been gone," JumpStart adds.

"I agree fully with QuickShot," SpeedBlade says who is playing with his sword. He slides it back into his sheath the second he sees me. "We should've just left this villain to the authority. I do not understand why we had to carry him all the way to this alleyway."

"Because he had the information we need and can really use," I answer. "And also, he agrees to help us."

"He's going to help us," QuickShot says. "You believe that. No way. He's lying."

"I am not lying," Silent moans. As Justice offers him a bottle, he practically snatches the bottle right out of her hand and opens it. A white cream pours out and Silent rubs it all over his hand. "Thank you. Now, I am not lying."

"You already said that," QuickShot says.

"And I will keep on saying it. I am not lying. The reason I had both Unstoppable and Lighting Laser break Dr. Cho out of IronWall was so she could build the armor. With her unique technology power and engineering skills, it would take her almost no time to finish it. All she needed was the metals and plans on that thumb drive."

"Heavy Metal delivered the metals," SpeedBlade says.

"But we stopped Nitro from delivering the plan," JumpStart adds.

"Hence why I send Burning Ice out. To distract all of you while I was breaking into your base. Never would have guessed the archer was left behind."

"I was tired," QuickShot says. "Anyway, why are you telling us all of this now? We already know all of this. We figured it out already."

"So you don't need me to tell you where my hidden base is," Silent screams back. "Or how to defeat the Iron Fist Armor?"

"How to defeat the Iron Fist Armor," I repeat. I clap my hands together and lower them, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"What do you mean by how to defeat the Iron Fist Armor," I ask. "You said you built it from reinforcement metals and specifically to counter us. How do we defeat that?"

"From within," Silent answers. "I never trusted Dr. Cho to begin with. That is why shortly before Unstoppable delivered her to my base, I install a secret program onto the computer in her lab. When the Iron Fist Armor was near completion, I download the program from the computer onto the Armor. It's disguised as an anti-virus software so Dr. Cho shouldn't know about it.."

"This program," I say, "It sort of like a shut-off switch."

"It's exactly a shut-off switch," Silent says. "All we need to do to shut down the Iron Fist Armor is to break into my base and activate the program. I imagine the job will be no problem for you."

He points past me and we all turn our heads toward JumpStart.

"Oh," JumpStart says, realizing we're all looking at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I mean, assuming we can reach the computer, I can easily shut it down with the program Silent made."

"So that's the plan," QuickShot says, "The four of us will go to Silent's hidden base to access the program and shut down the armor and stop Dr. Cho."

"Five of us," Silent says. "The deal was I will come with you.

"We're not coming with us," QuickShot says. "We're turning you over to the authority."

"If you do, then our deal is off. Best of luck finding my base without me."

Silent turns around to walk away but I grab his shoulder and stop him.

"No," I say, looking back to eye QuickShot. "The deal is on. You tell us where your base is, and altogether, the five of us will go and take down Dr. Cho."

26: Chapter 26: Invited Guests

Silent:

“Be careful,” I say to the OutCasts as the five of us approach the doorway to my hidden base.

“Why,” QuickShot asks with a scoff. “Is it booby-trapped?”

I stop and turn to face the archer.

“Yes. My front door is booby-trapped with automatic turrets. Unlike you four, I plan to keep people out of my home.”

I see the elf crosses his arms but I ignore it.

“Stay back,” I order, putting up my hand. “As I said, there are automatic turrets. I’ll deactivate them so wait here.”

“Okay,” Ms. Justice says, rising her arms to stop the knight from approaching. I move forward by myself, deeper into the forgotten tunnel. Coming up to a reinforced set of iron doors, I look at a part of the wall beside the doors. Pushing a hidden button, a keypad flips open and I enter the code.

"Strange,” I think as the light on the keypad goes green. ”Dr. Cho didn’t change the passcode."

I hear the sound of the turrets turning off and see the iron doors split open. I check the inside to make sure there aren’t any traps. Once I know the coast is clear, I turn back and wave my hand. One by one, the OutCasts come and enter my base. I follow after them.

“This is your base,” the elf asks, looking around. “Wow. You really like tunnels.”

Finding ourselves in a dark hallway, I look around a bit for a light switch.

"Find it."

I turn the lights on, revealing a small narrow hallway.

“Yeah,” the elf says, “This really isn't any better.”

“Shut up,” I say, taking the lead. The four pull out their weapons and follow after me as I guide them through. We walk through the hallway for a bit, completely unobstructed.

"This can't be right," I say stopping after a while. "At the very least, Dr. Cho must know I would've come back here, and yet, no defense."

"Maybe she thought we would have arrested you before you could come back here," Ms. Justice answers. "That's why there aren't any defenses."

"If that's true," QuickShot says, "Then we have the element of surprise on our side. We can take down Dr. Cho before she even realizes we're here."

QuickShot tries to take a step past me but I shoot out my arm and stop her.

"Don't be so sure of that," I say. I nudge my head and point up. Looking up, QuickShot and the rest of the OutCasts see a camera with a tiny, blinking red light.

As if on cue, speakers turn on and Dr. Cho's voice echoes throughout the hallway.

"So you survive," Dr. Cho starts, "And it seems you bring guests. Well, all of you will regret ever coming here! My machines will tear you apart!"

"Her machines," Ms. Justice says. A few seconds later, we hear the sound of metal grinding, gears turning, and footsteps. Looking further up the hallway, we see a bunch of scrap metals robot moving toward us. They seem to be made completely from rusted and left parts. Despite this, I can clearly see sharp teeth, dangerous weapon arms, and even a few laser eyes.

"Move, move, move," I yell, dropping to the ground as one of the scrap metal robots fires a laser beam at us. I try to get back up but the archer keeps me down.

"Stay down," she orders, pushing me down. She pulls an arrow from her quiver and loads it into her bow. Pulling the bowstring back, she fires the arrow and destroys the robot with laser vision.

"OutCasts," she yells, "And, uhh, you. Onward!"

Right away, Ms. Justice, SpeedBlade, JumpStart, and even I charge forth. We slam, crush, and destroy the scrap metal robots as fast as we could, but somehow, there seems to be an endless amount of them.

"Get off of me," SpeedBlade yells as one robot jumps and grabs onto his shoulder. Before the scrap metal robot could bite down, he grabs and throws it to the ground. He then slices the robot in two.

"Watch out," I say, pointing as two more scrap metal robots jump and bite down on SpeedBlade's sword.

"Hey! Get off!"

SpeedBlade tries to shake them off but their teeth are practically embedded into the blade. The sudden added weight must have thrown SpeedBlade off balance. As he tries to shake them off, he instead falls to the ground himself.

"My sword," he shouts. His sword is only a few feet from him. He reaches over to try and grabs it but I grab his feet and pull him back. "What are you doing?"

"Saving your shining butt," I answer. I look back at the sword as the two scrap metal robots drag it away. It disappears into the group of oncoming robots. I check the other two and see they're not doing much better.

Like SpeedBlade, Ms. Justice is struggling with robots that have also bitten down on her shield. JumpStart is managing to keep the robots at bay but only barely. He swings his batons at them but every time he pulls back his arms, they advance.

I reach into some pouches I have on my belt and pull out a small handful of pellets.

"You two," I say, pointing at Jumpstart and Ms. Justice. "Get back. Now!"

The two turn and look at me. I show them what I have in my head and immediately, they back away.

Once they're clear, I throw the pellets and watch as they roll for only a few seconds before exploding. Exploding and destroying a bunch of the scrap metal robots, the explosions also force more of them back.

"There's too many," I scream, regrouping with QuickShot. "We can't face them all."

"I know," QuickShot says, loading an arrow and shooting. "Is there another way to Dr. Cho's lab?"

"No, there isn't," Dr. Cho answers over the speaker. "This hallway is the only way to my private lab, and my guards will make sure none of you will ever reach it."

"In that case," Ms. Justice pants as she kicks a small robot off her shield and stomps on it, crushing it. "Let's get out of here! We can regroup and figure out a new plan of attack!"

Ms. Justice runs for the front door but before she can reach it, the iron doors close. Stopping before she could run into them, she tries to pry the doors open but it's no use.

"You're not escaping," Dr. Cho says, "None of you are. I want the last thing for the five of you to see are my machines as they take over everything!"

Once she said that the scrap metal robots all get up and show off their teeth. They run toward us and jump into the air once close enough, attacking us.

27: Chapter 27: Machine Overload

QuickShot:

I see all the sharp and shining teeth of the little robots as they jump into the air. It’s like they’re showing them off as they attack us.

With no time to spare, I throw down my bow and focus my power. I feel myself building up with the red energy, the power flowing throughout my body. My mind becomes more focused, and when I open my eyes, I spread out my hands and the red energy shoots out.

It turns into a red barrier that shields all of us. Even Silent. The robots that jump are knocked back. They fall onto the other robots and knock them down as well. The other robots nearby that weren’t knocked down start attacking the barrier. They bite and bump their heads against the barrier.

Despite being in the barrier, I can still feel every bite and every single bump. It’s become too much for me to handle. I drop to my knees a few seconds later.

“QuickShot,” Ms. Justice says, turning toward me. She kneels down in front of me so we’re face-to-face. As she kneels in front of me, I can see the worry in her eyes. They’re shaking.

“How long can you keep this up?”

“Not long,” I answer. Already, I feel tired. My arms and legs are shaking, and I feel beads of sweat flowing down my face. One bead reaches my eyes, I try to shake it off but Ms. Jusitce stops me. She wipes my eyes for me.

“Come on,” Ms. Justice says, standing back up. “We need to get out of here! We can come back later!”

“Ahh, no we can’t,” JumpStart yells, all eyes now turning to him. “The doors are closed, and I can’t get them open. We’re trapped!”

I look toward the iron doors we came through. They slammed shut, and despite both JumpStart’s and Silent’s best efforts, they stay shut.”

I feel myself running out of breath. It feels like the air is literally being squeezed out of me. I can hear myself panting like a dog in the summertime.

“Breath,” Ms. Justice says, holding my face in her smooth hands. “Calm down and breathe. One step at a time. One step!”

I look past Ms. Justice’s head and see the barrier starting to flash. Some of the robots attacking manage to push through. Their little heads are phasing through my barrier.

“Breath,” Ms. Justice repeats, making me face her. “Breath. Breath.”

Looking at Ms. Justice right in her soft, blue eyes, I stop for a minute and start to breathe. I stop panting and instead, start to breathe. I slowly breathe in through my mouth and then out. I repeat this over and over again, and as I do, I notice the barrier stop fading. The robots that manage to get their heads through are now missing their heads.

Silent:

I watch as Ms. Justice reassures QuickShot, that somehow making it so the barrier protecting us stops flashing.

"Adorable,” I think as I look around. ”But I doubt that will last long. If we don’t do something fast, the barrier will fall again and we will be chopped liver."

I turn toward the elf as he tries to use one of his stun batons to pry the iron doors open. He gave the other baton to the knight and together, they both try.

"They can leave if they want, but I won’t. I need to end that evil doctor before she can use the Iron Fist armor to hurt innocent people, but how?"

As I look around some more, I tilt my head up and see the fire sprinkles in the ceiling. The fire sprinkles do look a bit rusty, but as far as I know, they should still work.

"Fire sprinkles,” I think to myself. I look at the line of fire sprinkles and see them covering the whole hallway and more. I then look down at the scrap metal robots.

"Dr. Cho built these from parts I have laying around. She built them fast so when the OutCasts came, she would be ready. With that tight deadline, there’s no way she could have waterproofed them!"

I check my pockets for any pellets but stop when I eye QuickShot’s quiver.

“Excuse me,” I say, stepping forth to go through QuickShot’s quiver.

“Hey,” Ms. Justice shouts, standing up. “What are you doing? Why are you going through her quiver?”

“Because I need something,” I answer, going through all of QuickShot’s trick arrows. “No. No. No! Where do you keep your explosive arrows?”

“Explosive arrows,” JumpStart repeats. “Wait, what are you going to do with explosive arrows?”

“Right side,” QuickShot answers. “Upper corner.”

“Thank you,” I say, pulling out an arrow with a silver cylinder as the tip. “What’s the blast radius for this?”

“It goes from a foot to a few yards.”

As QuickShot answers, I see the barrier starts to fade again.

“How long do you need?”

“I don’t even need a full foot.”

I break off the tip from the rest of the arrow and throw it at the fire sprinkles. The tip explodes and unleashes smoke. The smoke triggers all the fire sprinkles and I watch as water begins to pour out.

“Water, water, everywhere,” I say, watching as the scrap metal robots start to short-circuit. They spark and shake and their eyes flash on and off before finally falling over. “More than enough to take down those junk bots.”

Seeing the scrap metal robot down, QuickShot lowers her arms. As she does, she too falls but Ms. Justice and JumpStart catch her in time.

“Are you okay,” Ms. Justice asks.

“I’m fine,” QuickShot whispers. She nods her hanging head.

“Come on,” Ms. Justice says, carrying QuickShot toward the iron doors. “Let’s get out of here. Before anything else show up.”

“Fine then,” I say, bending down to grab QuickShot’s bow. I give her bow back. “I need to stay here.”

“No,” QuickShot shouts.

“What,” JumpStart asks.

“We can’t leave,” QuickShot says. “We need to take down Dr. Cho before she can finish repairing the armor.”

“With all due respect, fearless leader of the OutCasts,” I say as I turn and start to walk, “But I know about your power. You used them even a little and you’re wiped out. You can barely stand. Do yourself a favor and get out. I’ll handle Dr. Cho.”

“No way,” QuickShot screams. As I walk away, QuickShot grabs my shoulder and turns me around.

“I’m a soldier,” she pants. “In case you didn’t know. Do you know what that means?”

I eye the old fashion pilot helmet and googles on top of her head.

“Please put your trays back in their upright position?”

“No. It means we do not leave anyone behind. Listen up here, Silent because I don’t want to repeat myself. I may have been against you working with us at the start. I still am but for the time being, you are one of us. You are an Outcast, and we Outcasts help one another. So lead the way. You and the rest of the team can fight in front. I’ll cover us from the rear.”

I stare at an exhausted, slouching QuickShot who is using her bow as more of a walking stick than an actual bow. I look her in the eyes, and then in the eyes of the other threes.

“As a knight,” SpeedBlade says, stepping forth. “I am to give my life to my fellow warrior.”

“As an elf,” JumpStart goes on, raising his hand. “Well, we don’t really have anything like these two, but it’s implied. Don’t leave your brother or sister elf.”

“I was taught two things,” Ms. Justice adds, putting up two fingers. “Don’t run from your problems, and don’t run from those who need your help.”

“Funny,” I say with a chuckle. “I was taught those two things as well. Fine then. Follow me.”

I turn back around and stomp on the head of a scrap metal robot, crushing it as the five of us venture through the raining, flooded hallway of my base.

Dr. Kimberly Cho:

“I can’t believe it,” I shout, slamming my fists down on my table. “I can’t believe it! The stupid, stupid sprinkles!”

I look up and see the sprinkles still showering me and everything in my workshop. Everything in here is soaked, including my computer and all my tools.

“They’re useful,” I scream, throwing them to the side. “Argh! Fine! It’s time to end this pathetic fight!”

I look up at the Iron First armor. Using my technological power, I bring the armor to life, the hand closing and turning into a fist.

28: Chapter 28: Hopeless

Silent:

I wipe the water from my mask as I guide the OutCasts through the flooded hallways of my hideout.

"How's your courageous, fearless leader," I ask. I stop and check inside a room. "It's clear. No trap. Only wet, soggy, robots."

I kick one of the scrap metal robots in its head. It sparks and shakes but it doesn't move.

"I'm fine," QuickShot says. She pushes herself up and off his bow/ walking stick. She then wipes the water from her eyes. "How much longer until we reach Dr. Cho's workshop?"

"Not much further," I answer. "Should only be a few more doors. Are you all ready to get beaten up?"

"No," SpeedBlade answers. "I've been searching these pathways for my sword but I haven't found it yet. Where could it be?"

"Who knows? Who cares? Just run around the evil doctor and draw her attention. QuickShot, Justice, and I will do the same. Meanwhile, JumpStart will upload the shut-off program into the Iron Fist Armor. That's the plan. Am I forgetting anything?"

"Is there anything else we should know about the armor," Ms. Justice asks. "I mean, we already know about the blasters and the stun guns and the mini rockets that can track SpeedBlade even with his speed, but is there anything else? Any features you haven't told us about?"

"As far as I know, no. Of course, if Dr. Cho can build an army of killer robots in less than two hours, who knows what she could have added? Be on guard and stay absolutely alert."

Everyone nods their heads. I nod my own in return before walking down a few more feet. Finally, we come to the door of Dr. Cho's workshop.

"Knock, knock," I say as I stomp my whole foot against the door. The door breaks right off its hinges and falls to the ground.

"Dr. Cho," I shout as I run into her workshop. With the OutCasts following behind me, we all run into the tiny workshop.

"Where is she," Ms. Justice asks.

"I don't know," I answer, looking around the empty workshop. It's not only Dr. Cho that isn't here but also most of the equipment. Most of the robotic and automatic equipment is gone. Her table is empty as well.

"She's not here," QuickShot says, lowering her bow. "You said she would be here."

"I was wrong," I say, half turning to face the panting archer. "I thought she would be here since this is her workshop but I guess not."

As I keep looking around, I see some wires taped to the floor. I drop to my knee and take off my glove. I then place my bare hand on the wire.

"This wire is hot," I say, putting my glove back on.

"So," SpeedBlade says. "From what I've been told, wires use for machines are normally hot."

"It's very hot," I correct. "That means it was used recently. Very recently. Up until a few minutes before I kicked in the door. It's just as we fear. Dr. Cho did some modifications to the Iron Fist Armor."

I look around one last time and see something on the floor behind a cabinet.

"No," I shout, pushing SpeedBlade and JumpStart aside and running over to it. "No. Nooo!"

Ms. Justice:

"What's going on," I shout, watching as Silent drops to both of his knees. He picks something up before getting back up to his feet. He turns around and reveals a dripping computer with a broken screen. "Wait, is that--"

"The computer with the shut-off program," Silent finishes. "Yes. Yes, it is. I hid the program here on this computer, right under the doctor's nose. I figure being a fan of machines and technology, she would never destroy it."

"Judging from the water falling out," JumpStart says, "She didn't. The water did."

"Shoot," Silent says. He throws the computer back to the floor. "Well, there goes our only shot. Without that program, we can't defeat the armor. We lost."

"Wait," I say from the back. I push my way through until I'm face to face with Silent.

"That's it," I ask. "That's it? Your computer is broken so you decided to call it quits."

"No point in fighting an already lost battle," Silent answers with crossed arms. I roll my eyes at the big dumb moron.

"Hey," I say, pointing a stern finger at the moron. "Now listen to me. Just because it seems like a lost battle doesn't mean it is."

Silent slaps my finger away.

"Get out of Candyland, will you," he says. "Get off your unicorn and stop munching on candies. We lost. There is no if, and, or but. That's just it. Without the program, we can't defeat Dr. Cho. The armor is too strong. I design it that way, and that was before whatever else Dr. Cho added. Do you not remember our fight earlier? None of you ever dented the armor. You barely scratch the paint off!"

"Yeah, I do remember," I shout back. "I do remember our previous fight. I also remember you calling us 'noble people' because we fight supervillains. You then asked if we're really noble because we only fight supervillains. We don't fight anyone else but them."

I can sense a lot of confusion in the air.

"I heard you and QuickShot talking. I was down but not out. Anyway, if what you said is true, then you must know it wasn't going to be an easy fight. Trying to stop all the criminals in this city, but guess what? You didn't give up. You didn't give in. You came up with a plan and did everything you could to make it possible. Now you need to do it again. We need your help to defeat the supervillain, Dr. Cho. We need your help to come up with a plan and do everything we can to make it possible."

I feel a smile when I see Silent lowers his head. I can literally see the gears in Silent's head turning. His head stays down for a bit before coming back up.

"We can't defeat the Iron Fist Armor with the program," Silent says.

"Shoot," I think. "So much for the extra help."

"But you're right," Silent goes on. "Program or no program, Dr. Cho, and the armor need to be taken down. I have no idea how though."

"Maybe I can do something," JumpStart says, stepping up. We all turn toward JumpStart as he smiles and clears his throat.

"As I'm sure you know, I have strangely acquired a unique skill in technology, which include hacking and--"

"We don't have time for another long talk," Silent shouts, cutting JumpStart off. "Just get to the point, will you?"

JumpStart sighs and goes on.

"My point is, that despite the water and broken screen, I think I might be able to still salvage the program."

JumpStart points at the computer.

"You can't be serious," Silent says, his arms uncrossing and falling to his sides.

"I'm a wood elf with computer skills," JumpStart says. "I am serious!"

As JumpStart says those words, the walls and floor start to shake. The shaking throws QuickShot off balance and she almost falls but luckily, SpeedBlades catches her in time.

"Hopefully not dead serious," Silent says as he pushes himself up from the table.

"What was that," SpeedBlade asks.

"It could only be one person," I answer.

"Dr. Kimberly Cho," QuickShot says.

"She must still be in the hideout," Silent answers, "And I think I know where. You!"

He turns toward JumpStart.

"Do what you can, wood elf. Your friends and I will go and face Dr. Cho and the armor."

JumpStart nods his head and picks up the computer. He looks around for a bit before grabbing some wires from the floor and plugging them into the computer. The computer then comes to life.

"Follow me," Silent says as he leaves the workshop. SpeedBlade, QuickShot, and I follow right behind him.

"Where are we going," I ask.

"There's only one other place Dr. Cho would go to if not her workshop."

"Where's that?"

"My throne room."

29: Chapter 29: Iron Fist

Silent:

As the four of us enter my throne room, I see a single light turns on right above my chair. The rest of the lights and even the monitors are turned off so it's only my chair.

"Hello," Dr. Cho says, standing up and turning around. She eyes me the second she sees me. "I guess I was right all along. People, humans, will never stay loyal."

"Loyal," I repeat, " You're the one that betrayed me. You kicked me out of my own armor after taking control of it! You then tried to use it to harm innocent people! People that never did anything!"

"They destroyed my friends," Dr. Cho shouts back. "My only friends! I built these machines myself! From nothing more than leftover gears and wires! They talk! They sang! There were more friends with me than any other humans in my life! And what did the company do to them after finding them? They destroyed them! They called them creepy and scary-looking and destroyed them!"

"Enough," I shout, cutting off Dr. Cho with a swing of my hand. "You've gone too far, Cho! It's time we take you down."

"Oh really," Dr. Cho asks with a laugh. "Who's we? You and the OutCasts? OutCasts, let me ask you this. How can you possibly think it was okay to team up with this man? The man, who had been spying on you for months?"

"Spying on us," QuickShot repeats. "For months?"

"Is that true," Ms. Justcie asks.

"Of course it's true," Dr. Cho answers. She waves her arms, and her eyes start to glow. The monitors behind her turn on, revealing the hidden cameras in the OutPost. They show the four different rooms of the OutCasts, along with their living room and computer. "How do you think he was able to find the flash drive with reinforced steel recipes? How do you think he was able to design the armor to counteract all your moves? He had been watching all of you for months!"

"You bastard," SpeedBlade says from behind me.

I don't even need to turn around. I can already feel the hateful glares and spiteful stares of the three. Their eyes are burning a hole in me.

"How could you have spied on us for so long without us knowing," QuickShot asks.

"No," Ms. Justice says, "The question is how could you even think to spy on us?"

"You were my enemy," I answer, "I had to know what you four were up to so I could plan accordingly."

"Smart planning," Ms. Justice says. "Getting betrayed by Dr. Cho a part of the plan or was that something extra?"

"Listen," I say, "You can scream and shout at me later, but right now, right now, we have a common goal. To stop Dr. Cho and the Iron Fist Armor?"

"Where is the armor," SpeedBlade asks.

"Right here," Dr. Cho answers, her eyes glowing once more. We hear the sound of rockets coming up from above. Looking up, I see the bottom of the Iron Fist Armor as it falls toward us.

"Move," I shout, pushing everyone out of the way before jumping myself. The Iron Fist Armor lands and crushes the floor. As it lands, it sends a shockwave that hits me while in mid-air.

I fall to the floor, rolling for a bit before stopping. As I shake the blurriness from my head, I see as clear as day the bottom of the foot of the Iron Fist Armor. It looms over my head for a few seconds before falling.

SpeedBlade:

"SpeedBlade," QuickShot shouts, firing an arrow at Silent. The arrow burst into a net that wraps around Silent. Holding onto a rope in her hands, she throws it at me. "Run!"

I do as I'm ordered and run. With the rope tightly in my hands, I run and drag Silent behind me. I don't see it but I hear the giant suit of armor crushing the floor instead of Silent.

Silent screams as he throws the net off of himself.

"Thanks for the save," Silent says, pulling some bombs from his belts.

"You are not welcome," I say, watching as the suit of armor turns to face us. As it walks toward us, more lights turn on, revealing the many weapons Dr. Cho had added.

"I hate to say this," Silent says, "But I was right. Dr. Cho added a few things."

"That's a little more than a few things," Ms. Justice yells from behind the armor.

"I may have had only two hours," Dr. Cho says from up the stairs, "But with my power and skills, I can do a lot in a little time."

As the armor approaches Silent and me, I see something on its wrist.

"My sword," I scream, seeing my sword on the armor's wrist. "That armor had my sword!"

"You can pull it off after we take it down," Silent shouts, throwing the bombs at the armor. The bombs go off, exploding all over the armor but the armor doesn't seem bothered.

He walks through the smoke cloud and pulls back his hand. The same hand with my sword attached to it.

JumpStart:

"Come on," I say, typing away at the computer. "Come on. Come on. Where are you? Where are you? Uhh. Silent, you freaking bastard. You hid the program too well. Where did you put it?"

I wipe some water from the screen and shake it from my hand. I then search everywhere for the shut-off program Silent mentioned.

The screen is still cracked so it's a little harder to see but as far as I can tell, there is no shut-off program.

"If there's no shut-off program," I think, "Then how do we defeat the armor?"

Ms. Justice:

I run and jump in between Silent and the Iron Fist Armor. Holding up my shield as the Iron Fist shoots out its hand, I scream as I'm knocked into Silent. We both scream as we fall to the ground.

Silent is the first to push himself up. He offers me his hand.

"Are you okay," he asks. I take his hand and he pulls me up. As he does, I notice how my shield feels lighter.

"No," I cry, looking at my shield. "No. No!"

I take my shield off and look at it. Directly in the center of my shield is a narrow tear where the star should be.

"Your shield is destroyed," Dr. Cho says with a laugh. "Two of you are weaponless. One of you is so tired, she can barely stand. And the last of you is--Wait."

Dr. Cho stops laughing and looks at us.

"One of you is missing. JumpStart. The elf. Where is the elf?"

I scream as I jump and flip through the air. As I flip through the air, I use my shield and hits the Iron Fist Armor.

"He's working to take down your armor," I shout after slamming my shield on the floor. "Just like we are."

I then raise my shield to show Dr. Cho.

"My shield is damaged," I say, "But it's not broken. Like all of us. Damaged but not broken."

30: Chapter 30: Outside Help

JumpStart:

"No. No. No. No. No! Ahh!"

I scream as I stomp my fists against the table.

"Where is that program? Where is it? I swear, I search this whole computer, but I can't find it! What if Silent is right? What if the water destroys it? If the water did destroy the program, then does that means the end for my friends? QuickShot. Ms. Justice. SpeedBlade. No! I won't give up! I can't. They're depending on me! I have to find it! And if I can't, then I will make one myself! Hopefully, I find it."

I restart the search, going through every single folder once more.

QuickShot:

Pulling back the bowstring, I close one eye and aim at the target.

"Dr. Cho," I shout, Dr. Cho turning toward me. "Watch out."

I let go of the bowstring and watch as my arrows fly toward Dr. Cho. Seeing this, she quickly hides behind the chair. The arrows hit the chair and stick to it.

"You miss," Dr. Cho shouts, "Shouldn't have given me a warning."

"No," I say, dropping to my knee. Still feeling weak from using my power, I still have enough strength left over to shoot some arrows. "I didn't miss."

The arrows that stick to Silent's throne start to beep and flash red. The beeping and flashing get faster with every second. Dr. Cho realizes what the arrows are but before she could use her power to deactivate them, they explode, knocking both the throne and Dr. Cho to the ground.

The sound of her and the throne falling, it's followed by the sound of a robot winding down.

"The armor," Silent says, grabbing all our attention. "It's not moving!"

"Dr. Cho," Ms. Justice says. "She's the driver! The pilot! Without her, or you, there's no one controlling it."

We all look at the Iron Fist Armor as both its arms fall to the ground before the upper half leans down.

"Did we do it," SpeedBlade asks. "Did we defeat the armor?"

"Not exactly," I answer. "We defeated Dr. Cho but the armor is still standing. Sort of."

Silent runs up to the armor and jumps onto it. He climbs up the chest and to the head, where it looks like he's trying to open.

"What are you doing," Ms. Justice yells.

"I'm trying to open the armor so I can take control of it," Silent answers while trying to pry open the head with his bare hands.

"Why," I ask. "So you can be stuck inside again?"

Silent doesn't answer me. He keeps clawing at the head, trying to open the armor. However, he lost his chance when the Iron Fist armor rises its head.

"It will take more than some arrows to defeat me," Dr. Cho yells as she raises from beneath the fallen throne. Her hair is covered in dust and messy. Her lab coat is torn and damaged. She had a few bruises on her face. Despite all of this, her eyes are still glowing.

Silent:

The armor coming back to life, I realize my plan to take back the armor is futile. Instead, I look down at the sword still on the armor's wrist.

Climbing back down, I raise my foot and stomp it against the sword's handle. I do this over and over again until the sword finally comes off. It falls to the ground.

"Your sword," I yell, "Get it!"

SpeedBlade nods his head and runs. He uses his super speed to grab his sword and runs back even before Dr. Cho realizes what I did.

Watching as the red knight runs back, I turn back and come face-to-face with a blowtorch. The blowtorch coming on, it burns my face.

Watcher:

I wave my hand and summon a magical window to watch the fight. As the window materializes, I see Silent getting burned by a blowtorch on the Iron Fist Armor.

He screams as he falls, holding his face while rolling away. While on the ground, Dr. Cho uses her power to order the Iron Fist to pick Silent up. She starts to crush him, Silent screaming even louder.

"Silent," Ms. Justice yells, running up to the armor. She winds up and throws her shield but the armor slaps it away. The shield falls far from the fight.

"SpeedBlade," QuickShot shouts, pointing at Dr. Cho. "The armor is too strong! Change plan!"

SpeedBlade, now armed with his sword, sees what's QuickShot means. He runs toward Dr. Cho but she won't fall for the same trick twice.

Waiting until SpeedBlade is in position, she looks up at the monitors on the fall. With a simple gaze, she causes all the monitors to explode. They fall from the walls and onto SpeedBlade.

While SpeedBlade is buried under a pile of burning monitors, she turns toward QuickShot as she prepares more arrows.

"Let's see how you like it," Dr. Cho says. Her eyes glow and the explosive arrow in the QuickShot's bow explodes. It explodes and knocks an already exhausted QuickShot to the ground.

"Pathetic," Dr. Cho says as she smiles. "All of you have lost."

Dr. Cho's smile grows for a few seconds before it disappears. I hear yelling and look to find the source. There, jumping through the smoke is SpeedBlade!

He lands on the floor and runs toward Dr. Cho.

"Impossible," Dr. Cho says, stepping back. She looks up and causes another monitor to fall toward SpeedBlade. However, SpeedBlade doesn't stop. He doesn't even slow down. Instead, he jumps and slices the monitor in half.

With a clean cut from corner to corner, he jumps right through the two halves of the monitor before landing on the floor and running. Before Dr. Cho could do anything, SpeedBlade runs right into her.

He shoulder charges her and I can see the breath begin knocked out of her as she falls and skids along the ground.

"How," she cries as she pushes herself up. "How could you have survived that?"

"It is because you hurt my friends," SpeedBlade answers, raising his sword. "I will not let you hurt them!"

"So you understand," Dr. Cho says. "You understand, don't you? I hurt your friends, so you want revenge! Well, those pathetic bastards destroy my friends! So I want revenge as well!"

SpeedBlade stops when he hears this. He stops walking and looks into space.

"SpeedBlade," I say, "What are you thinking?"

I watch as SpeedBlade looks between Dr. Cho and her friends.

"You are right," he says, turning back to Dr. Cho. "You are right."

I couldn't believe what I'm hearing.

"What is SpeedBlade saying?"

"You are right," SpeedBlade says, "But you are wrong as well. Those people who hurt your machine friends did something horrible to you, but they do not deserve to be destroyed. And as for my friends, I can still save them!"

SpeedBlade screams as he charges toward Dr. Cho. Crawling on the ground. Dr. Cho can't get away far enough. Instead, she uses her power to order the Iron First armor to drop Silent.

The armor turns around and fires a bunch of mini rockets at SpeedBlade.

Hearing the rockets as they approach him, he turns and runs away. The rockets follow him as he runs, slowly catching up to him.

"This is bad. I must help."

I raise my hand and hold it over the window. With my hand glowing with mystic energy, I pull one rocket into another. The two rockets explode, the impact causing the other rockets to explode as well.

SpeedBlade escaping the blast zone, he turns and skids to a stop.

"What happened," Dr. Cho yells, pushing herself up. "Nevermind!"

The Iron Fist armor running now stands in between Dr. Cho and SpeedBlade.

While SpeedBlade charges toward the armor, I swing my hand and make the window shows me something else. In the window, I see JumpStart the elf still typing around on the computer. He still hadn't found the shut-off program.

"No, no, no," he goes on. "Not here. Not there. Is this it? No, it's not."

Once more, I swing my hand.

I smile when I hear JumpStart screaming.

"Yes! Finally! I've found the program!"

31: Chapter 31: The Drive

SpeedBlade:

Unleashing a battle cry as I swing my sword, the Iron Fist armor blocks it. Sparks fly off its arms as I swing over and over again.

The Iron Fist throwing its massive metal arm, I use my speed to run out of the way. Running around the armor, I rush forward and thrust my sword into the back of the armor. However, the armor withstood my sword. My blade slips and slides to the side. Hearing Dr. Cho, I look at her as her eyes glow. She raises her arm before sending it back.

Turning back to the armor, I see its elbow heading right for me. Hitting and knocking me back, I hold my head and shake it.

"Your sword is no match for my Iron Fist armor," Dr. Cho says, laughing as the Iron Fist turns around. "Do yourself a favor and just run. Run away, you old, old knight in dented armor."

"I will run," I say, holding my sword with both my hands. "But I will not run away!"

Pushing against the floor, I run toward the Iron Fist armor.

Raising its fist, the Iron Fist slams it down. It tries to crush me but misses. Running all around the armor, I attack it as many times as I can. I hit the legs, the arms, even the head, but none of my attacks appear to be doing anything.

As I attack the front of the chest once more, I see a familiar box opening above the shoulder.

"The box! The one that fires those rockets! I can't let it do that again!"

Jumping into the air, I swing my sword.

Dr. Cho:

"Nooo," I scream. I couldn't believe my eyes. "There's no way. There's no way! You-you--but how?"

I watch as the missiles launcher on the shoulder of my Iron Fist armor is cut right off by the knight.

"He jumped and cut it right off. Impossible. That's impossible! The whole armor is made from indestructible, reinforced alloy steel. A simple sword shouldn't have been enough to cut through it!"

I watch from a distance as the knight lands on his feet after cutting the launcher off. He stares at the fallen launcher.

"You will regret that with your life," I yell. With my power, I told my armor to use the energy cannon. The armor listens to me and raises its arm. The arm opens up and reveals my newest invention; the DXH-L cannon.

Immediately, the cannon gathers up power. It starts to glow red as it powers up. The knight must know just how powerful the DXH-L cannon is. He gets up from his knees and runs.

"Run, run, run all you want! You cannot escape the power of the--"

Mid-sentence, I hear the sound of mini-rockets being fired. I turn my head and see mini-rockets flying through the air. They hit the Iron Fist armor and knocks it to the side. With the cannon at full power, it had no other choice but to shoot. The cannon hits a wall instead of the knight. The whole wall is destroyed, leaving behind a massive hole after the dust had cleared.

"Who fired that," I yell, looking around. Looking only to the side, I see Silent with the fallen launcher in his hands. His mask still burning and he appears to be shaking, but despite all of it, he is still holding onto the launcher.

"SpeedBlade," he yells. "The cannon! Destroy the cannon before she can use it again!"

Silent fires the rockets again and they all hit the Iron Fist armor. The armor is quickly swallowed up by a cloud of smoke.

"Enough!"

Eyeing the launcher Silent is holding, I told it to self-destruct. The launcher listens to me and stops shooting rockets. It starts to smoke and spark while in Silent's hands. He drops the launcher and runs. The launcher explodes a few seconds later. It still manages to kick Silent into the air and drop him on the floor.

Moaning as he pushes himself up, he fails and falls flat against the floor.

"Stay down," I say, walking up to him. Raising my foot, I'm about to stomp my foot on him but as I shoot down my foot, someone tackles me. While I fall to the floor, the person flips through the air before landing on her hand and then on her feet.

"Leave him alone," she shouts, bringing up her shield.

"I will," I answer, "But he won't."

I point at the cannon on the Iron Fist as it powers up once more. Red energy crackles as the Iron Fist aims at Silent.

"Bye-bye," I say, only seconds from firing.

"I got it," a voice yells, his voice echoing throughout the throne room. The sound of footsteps comes to a stop as the elf enters the rooms. He raises his hand and I see what looks like a hard drive. "I got the shut-off program!"

Ms. Justice:

"The shut-off program," Dr. Cho repeats. She switches targets from Silent to JumpStart.

"JumpStart," I say while slapping myself in the face. "Why did you have to say that out loud?"

"Opp," JumpStart says, lowering his hand. "I mean, what secret shut-off program?"

"Destroy him," Dr. Cho orders. The Iron Fist armor shoots off a red blast. It heads toward JumpStart. He's frozen as the red blast gets closer and closer to him. It's only seconds from completely vaporizing him but before it does, SpeedBlade runs out from the side and grabs JumpStart.

He pushes him out of the way and the red blast shoots past the both of them. It disappears down the hallway.

"Dr. Cho," I say as I make my way over to SpeedBlade and JumpStart. "It's over."

"Yes," Dr. Cho says, smiling and laughing. "It is."

"Why is she laughing," SpeedBlade asks.

Before I could ask myself, we all hear an explosive goes off behind it. The base itself starts to shake and cracks appear in the ceiling and the walls.

"One more blast from the DXH-L cannon and this whole base will come crashing to the ground," Dr. Cho says. "All five of you will be crushed."

"You're wrong," I shout. "If this base comes crashing down, you'll be crushed too. You won't do it."

"No," Dr. Cho says with a waving finger. "No, you're wrong. You see, I'll be protected. The Iron Fist armor will protect me. I will be fine. It's all of you that won't be."

With that, the Iron Fist armor raises its hand. The cannon on top bursts with red electricity.

"Fire," Dr. Cho shouts. "Fire and bring this whole place down!"

Before I, SpeedBlade, or JumpStart could do anything, the armor shoots a red blast toward the crumbling ceiling.

32: Chapter 32: The Last Blast

QuickShot:

Fighting through the headache as I push myself up, I hear Dr. Cho's voice.

"Fire," she shouts, "Fire and bring this whole place down!"

I hear the sound of the energy cannon going off and look. A red blast is heading for a crumbling ceiling.

"If it hits," I tell myself, "If it hits, and the ceiling comes falling down."

I look at Ms. Justice as I picture the ceiling coming down. I imagine her being crushed, and as I do, I feel something building up inside of me.

"No," I scream, shooting out my hand. As I shoot out my hand, it starts to glow a bright red. I feel my power flowing out, only it feels different from before. It doesn't feel like I'm losing energy. If anything, it feels like I'm gaining more energy. Like I'm powering up myself.

Using my newfound energy, I focus a barrier around the blast. I watch with a smile as the blast with a barrier hits the ceiling. My barrier is more than able to absorb the full power of the blast from the Iron Fist's cannon, leaving the ceiling unharmed.

"No," Dr. Cho cries as she stares at the ceiling. "No!"

She snaps her head down and looks at me with twitching eyebrows and grinding teeth.

"Remember me," I say, grabbing my bow off the floor. With the bow in my hand, I reach behind and grab some arrows. Pulling the bowstring back, I aim at Dr. Cho.

"Not so fast," the evil doctor shouts. She swings her hand and, out of nowhere, a small flying robot with two arms appears beside me. It grabs my bow and tries to take it away.

"Let go," I say, fighting for my bow.

While I fight for my bow, I hear Dr. Cho screaming.

"Prepare the energy cannon," she yells as the Iron Fist armor keeps the other away from her. With one arm, the Iron Fist swings and fires blasters while on the other arm, the energy cannon is powering up.

"Let go of my bow," I say, stomping my foot against the robot. However, the robot stays strong. Even with my foot against it, it won't let go.

"Let go," a voice shouts. "Servant, let go of the bow."

I turn and see a shaking, smoking Silent standing behind me.

"Servant," he says, "Let go of the bow. Now!"

"I cannot," the robot named Servant says. "I am sorry, Master, but she is too strong. I cannot."

"Then I'm sorry too," Silent says. Without warning, Silent rushes forward. He grabs an arrow from my quiver and stabs the Servant robot with it. The robot lets go of my bow as he gently falls to the floor in Silent's hand.

"Master," the robot says.

"Servant," Silent says. "You were the only friend I had for all these years. Thank you."

"Master," the robot says again before the light in its eye turns off. As the light turns off, Silent bows his head.

"Go," he says after a minute. "Go and defeat Dr. Cho. JumpStart already had the shut-off program. All you need to do is install it."

"Of course," I say. I take my bow and prepare some arrows. I then leave Silent and runs toward the Iron Fist armor.

SpeedBlade:

"I need to get close," JumpStart says as he jumps out of the way of the blaster fire.

"I will draw the armor's fire," I say, running toward the Iron Fist armor. Already firing at me, I have to run in a zig-zag pattern.

"I will too," Ms. Justice yells. She runs from the side and jumps. Falling to the floor, she slides along it and hits the foot. Dr. Cho seeing this orders the armor to stomp its foot. However, at that moment, when the armor is raising its foot, arrows from behind us shoot and hit the armor.

While one arrow explodes and unleashes a net that wraps around the Iron Fist armor, the second arrow explodes into a familiar foam. It bubbles up quickly, eating and swallowing up part of the net.

With the foam holding the net firmly down and the Iron Fist standing on one foot, it becomes unsteady and falls to the floor.

"Go, go, go," QuickShot shouts as she runs up from behind us. "JumpStart!"

"I got it," JumpStart says as he runs up to the armor. Struggling to get free from the net, the armor can't do anything when JumpStart lands on it. He pokes around for a bit before finding what I'm guessing is a port.

About to hook in the hard drive, JumpStart is stopped by a screaming Dr. Cho. Jumping and knocking JumpStart to the floor, she hits and knocks the hard drive out of JumpStart's hand.

With her power, she then commands the Iron Fist Armor to slam the drive with one of its hands.

"Ha," she says, "Ha! The hard drive is destroyed, and the cannon is only seconds from shooting! You lose!"

While yelling at us, Dr. Cho doesn't see JumpStart bringing up one of his stun batons. He flips it around before stunning Dr. Cho with it. Screaming as she is shocked, JumpStart pushes her off of himself.

"She's right," JumpStart says after quickly getting up. "Without the program, we can't defeat the armor."

"It won't be long before it breaks through the net," I say. "We need a new plan."

"Come on," Ms. Justice says. "We've come this far. We can't give up yet."

"I have an idea," SpeedBlade says, immediately all eyes turning toward him. "Ms. Justice, please give me your shield."

Ms. Justice doesn't even need to ask. She gives SpeedBlade his shield. The moment he had her shield, he runs.

"Was that part of the plan," Ms. Justice asks.

SpeedBlade:

Using my speed, I run right up to one of the walls of the room. I then turn around and bring up Ms. Justice's shield so it's in front of me.

"I only got one shot at this," I tell myself. "Only one shot, but I know I can do it."

I look at QuickShot, Ms. Justice, and even JumpStart as they surround the Iron Fist armor.

"I know I can do it."

I push myself off the wall. Giving myself a running headstart, I charge at super speed. Everything is a blur as I run. Nothing looks clear. Nothing except the Iron Fist armor.

"Move," I scream, my friends barely have enough time to get out of the way as I run past them. I run right into the right arm of the Iron Fist armor. With the added speed, I'm able to push it down. Now, the cannon is aimed right at the armor itself.

"I get it," JumpStart says. "I know what SpeedBlade is trying to do."

"So does the armor," QuickShot adds. "Look!"

The Iron Fist armor is struggling to push me off of it. It's trying to shake and push me off. Screaming as the armor throws its arm, I have to wrap one of my arms around the cannon so I don't fly off.

"Doggy pile," Ms. Justice says, running and jumping onto the arm herself. Landing on top of me, we both push the cannon down a little but it's not enough.

"Make room," JumpStart screams, jumping on top of us.

"Geronimo," QuickShot shouts, adding her weight. Together, with the four of us on top, we pin the cannon against the armor's chest.

"Everyone hold on," QuickShot screams.

"Stay strong," Ms. Justice yells.

"Just a little more," I shout.

"It's time," JumpStart says.

33: Chapter 33: Rest and Recover

SpeedBlade:

Screaming as the cannon is fired, all four of us are launched into the air. I hit the floor hard as I land. Landing on my front, I have to push myself over and up. Rubbing my head as I push myself up, I wave the smoke away.

"Justice? QuickShot? JumpStart! Where are you guys? Hello?"

With every step I take, I hunch over in pain. My hip hurts. My leg is aching. I am limping, not walking.

"Hello? Can you guys hear me? Hello!"

"SpeedBlade," someone yells.

As soon as I hear my own name, I feel the pain eases a little.

"Hello?"

Still limping, I limp up and down as I try to pinpoint the source of the voice in all this smoke.

"SpeedBlade," someone else shouts. "SpeedBlade, is that you?"

"Yes," I answer. "Yes! It's me! Who are you?"

"Ms. Justice," Ms. Justice shouts back. "Wait, what are you?"

"Ms. Justice," a third voice says. "JumpStart? I can hear you guys but I can't see any of you. Where are you two?"

"I'm over here," JumpStart answers.

"Where's here," Ms. Justice asks through the smoke.

"I don't know. Over here."

As I hear the voices of my friends all over, I hop all over. I'm trying to find them but their voices seem to be everywhere. Still limping as I try desperately to run, I find myself accidentally running right into someone.

The two of us crash into each other and we both fall down.

"Ahh! SpeedBlade! Get off of me!"

With that, QuickShot pushes me off of her.

"Sorry about that," I say as I have to push myself up again.

"SpeedBlade! QuickShot!"

I look up to see Ms. Justice walking out of the smoke.

"Guys," JumpStart screams as he walks in from a different direction. He spreads out his arms. "I'm so happy to see you guys!"

JumpStart walks toward us. It looks like he's about to hug us but QuickShot and I push him back.

"Don't hug us," we say.

"Wait," Ms. Justice says, winching as she pushes herself up. "What about armor? Did we destroy it? And what about Dr. Cho? And Silent? Where are they?"

Ms. Justice's questions are answered when the smoke is finally cleared.

There, laying on the floor, not too far from us, still trapped by a net and some foam is the Iron Fist armor. The armor is smoking and twitching and directly in the center of its chest is a large hole.

"We did it," I say, pushing myself up. "We destroyed the Iron Fist armor."

"I would cheer and raise my arms into the air," JumpStart says as he limps to my and Justice's side. "But I can't. My arms won't move."

"It's fine," QuickShot laughs, joining the three of us. "I'm sure none of our arms can go very high at the moment. That was one very powerful blast. Smart thinking, SpeedBlade."

"Thank you."

"Hey," JumpStart says, raising a shaking finger. "There's Dr. Cho!"

JumpStart is pointing at an unconscious Dr. Cho, laying not too far from us on the floor. Very much like her robot, she is twitching and moaning.

"But where is Silent," QuickShot says. We all look around but we don't see Silent anywhere.

"He must have escaped," Ms. Justice says. "Either before or during the blast."

"Shoot," QuickShot says.

"Oh well," Ms. Justice. "We still managed to defeat Dr. Cho. That's a plus."

"We did it," I say. "Come on. Let's get out of here and drop off Dr. Cho."

I walk over to Dr. Cho and pick her up. As soon as I throw her on my back, I immediately regret it. I feel all sorts of pain in my back.

Biting my tongue, trying my hardest not to yell or scream, I inhale through my nose before breathing out.

"You okay," Ms. Justice asks. "Do you want some help?"

"I'm fine," I answer. "I am fine."

"Your shrieking voice said differently," QuickShot comments.

"Can we please just go? Come on. Come on! Let's go. To the authority."

It takes a while and more than once, I almost drop the doctor, but finally, I am able to put the doctor down in front of what I am told is a police station. We drop the doctor at this police station before climbing into the tunnel and walking home. The second we reach home, we all sigh with relief.

"I can sleep for months," JumpStart says as he heads for his room. "In fact, no one bothers me. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Night, everyone."

"Hold on," Ms. Justice says as she falls onto one of our new chairs. "Aren't you forgetting something? It's about dinner."

"Oh no," JumpStart says. He turns around and looks at the kitchen with a trembling body. "Is it my turn to cook?"

"What, no. I'm asking if you're hungry. It's my turn to cook."

Upon hearing this, JumpStart wipes some sweat from his forehead.

"Oh. Don't scare me like that. Yeah. I wouldn't mind some food, but can you cook?"

"I can cook," Ms. Justice answers. "I can cook better than all of you."

"I think," QuickShot starts, now taking over. "JumpStart is referring to your shield."

QuickShot picks up Justice's shield and holds it up. She puts her fingers through the hole in the center.

"You really should fix this. One thing I've learned over these last two years, it's that troubles won't wait."

"Yeah, but if I don't cook, then who will? I mean, do you guys really want black meatballs again?"

"I'll cook," I say, stepping up.

"You'll cook," Ms. Justice asks.

"Can you," QuickShot adds.

"We're a team," I say, "We help each other."

"As long as it's not me," JumpStart says with both his hands up. "I'm fine."

JumpStart claps his hands and disappears into his room. Meanwhile, I walk into the kitchen.

"Fix your shield," I say. "I will cook us a feast."

"Maybe not a feast," Ms. Justice says. "We're hungry. Not starving."

"Understood."

I grab a large pot along with some meats and vegetables we have. I first pour some water into the pot before striking my sword against our stone ground. The sparks that come off ignite the wood pile. With the fire ready, I put the pot over it. It doesn't take long before the water starts to boil. When the water starts to boil, I throw in the meats and vegetables.

"The others are going to like this."

Watcher:

"You forgot to peel the potatoes and carrots," I say, smiling as I watch SpeedBlade cooks for the other. Nonetheless, I swipe my hand and the magical window disappears.

Turning around, I step into the air and fly. As I fly through the blue and white void, I am stopped by a fellow watcher.

"You," my fellow watcher says as he appears right in front of me.

"What," I ask, putting my hands behind my back. "Is something wrong?"

"Do not play dumb with me," the fellow watcher states. "I know what you have been doing. How foolish are you? Tampering with the dimensions like that. You know what the others will do if they discover this. I advise you to stop."

As he talks, he places his finger between us. It moves up and down as he speaks. When he is done, I gently push it to the side.

"I know the rule we agree upon," I reply, "But that dimensions, and those four; QuickShot, SpeedBlade, Ms. Justice, and JumpStart. They needed my help. I could not just stand by and watch."

"That is what we are supposed to do. We are to only stand by and watch. We cannot interfere. We cannot interject. These are the rules. Please, do follow them. You are lucky only I know about the OutCasts. If the others discover their origin, then--"

"I know," I say. I turn my head at the thought of what will happen to the OutCasts if the others discovered how they were all brought together. "I know. Thank you for keeping them a secret."

"Don't thank me. Just remember this. When it is discovered how the OutCasts were brought together, I knew nothing."

With this, my fellow watcher vanishes, leaving me alone. Left alone with my thoughts, I swipe my hand once more and look at the OutCasts. I watch as they all settle for dinner. They chat and talk and bite into the carrots before splitting them out.

"I know I broke the rules, but I had to. And now it is my responsibility. I will do everything in my power to protect them. I only hope it will never come to a confrontation between me and the others."

34: Epilogue

Homeless Man:

Dragging my cart behind me, I stop at a dumpster. Pushing open the lid, I start to dig in. I push past all the empty containers and wrappers before finally finding it.

"Yes," I cry, smiling as I jump and grab it. Pulling out from the dumpster a box of expired candy bars, I immediately eat one while throwing the box into my cart. "Well, now that I've found dinner, I can go back home."

I smile and sing to myself as I chew and savor the oh-so-ever sweet, sweet taste of chocolate and nuts. It's late into the night when I make my way back home. Parking my cart at the side of my home, I climb into my box and snuggle up with my blanket. Sleep comes quickly, and I feel myself about to drift away when, out of nowhere, I hear a boom.

"Wha the," I shout. I throw my blanket to the side and climb out of my box. Pushing myself up, I look around for where that boom could have come from.

It sounded so close as if it was right in this alley, but I don't see anything. Feeling nervous, I run to my cart. Going through my things, I find a wooden plank. Pulling it out, I look up and down my alleyway. As I look around, I see a shadow move.

"Hey," I shout, swinging my plank. "Hey! I don't want any trouble, but this is my alleyway! Get out. Get out of here right now and we can forget about all of this."

The shadow doesn't answer me. Instead, he shoots out his arm. As he does, his arm breaks apart into tiny silver rocks. The rocks hit and knock me to the ground. They break my plank in half. Before I could get up, the rocks climb all over me. They cover me. All I can do is scream as the rocks quickly cover my eyes.

Robert:

With the threat defeated, my arm returns to my side and turns back into its original form. Approaching the threat, I compare his clothing to my own.

I am wearing a heavy model T-armor.

"If I am seen in this armor," I think, "Then I will be easily spotted."

Stripping the threat of his clothing, I put on a beanie, a jacket, and a pair of pants. Now that I am camouflaged, I can move around easily.

"Activating target list."

The list of targets I must destroy appears in my eye.

"QuickShot. SpeedBlade. Ms. Justice. JumpStart. Must destroy targets as soon as possible."

I start to walk.

Wolfgang Sturm:

Screaming as I am thrown from some sort of light, I look down as I fall. I see some buildings and immediately activate my claws. Sharp claws shoot out from my fingers. Digging them into the building, I'm able to catch myself.

"Where am I? What is this place? What's that smell?"