From the Files of the O.F.S.

“Alright, Dillon,” Sara exhaled his name wearily before taking a sip of her lavender iced tea. Twisting her long brown hair to rest over her right shoulder to cool the back of her neck, she continued, “Tell me again number six of the superhero’s creed.”

“I am a—”

“No, Dillon,” Sara said, giving him an impatient eye. “We just went over this earlier. Take your time, and recite the creed. You know this.”

Dillon moved his lips silently, trying to remember as instructed, but a scowl scrunched his features. Sara relaxed into her seat to wait for him to answer her question correctly. She strongly-disliked trainings, but she was the lowest-ranked agent in the office. I hate being a paper-pusher, she thought. I wish someone would notice my potential. Trainings were demeaning, but at least it wasn’t any worse than the usual day-to-day drudgery she called work. It allowed her to get out of the office now and again. There was only so much she could take of staring at petition forms.

Sara had picked Dillon as a trainee because of his interesting ability to manipulate light. He could make an area become so bright it would blind someone or so dark that they couldn’t see; too bad the fairly good-looking blonde-haired and blue-eyed man sitting across from her was the embodiment of a disaster. The poor guy was so nervous from trying to impress everyone all the time—at least that’s what he had admitted to her—he was constantly screwing up his training. It was a miracle Dillon wasn’t shimmering like a Glow Fly at this moment.

Waiting for her mentee to give her the correct answer was likely to take some time, so Sara took the opportunity to scan their surroundings. The Clan Destine Café, her current choice of location, selected in the hopes that it would keep Dillon from being too nervous, grounded the corner of a bustling part of old town. The classic black-and-white-striped awnings of the building provided the perfect amount of shade against the humid sunny day and classic red brick peeked through glossy white paint that had seen one too many sunny days.

To her left, a group of businessmen celebrated something as evidenced by the craft beers dotting their merged bistro tables. Past Dillon’s hunched shoulders sat a couple barely eating their lunches as they mooned over each other’s twinkling eyes. To her right, an older man sipped from a tiny cup of espresso while he digested the tiny print of the newspaper. Sara smiled at the old man. She liked older people; they were so vibrant and full of life, if one only took the time to get to know them. The mix of eclectic people was why she liked to come to this café. This was the soul of Port Town before it became a thriving metropolis and the tech center of the country.

The scrape of chairs grated against her ears as the table to her back gained occupants. Sara had every intention of ignoring the two behind her, except their not so quiet conversation floated easily in her direction.

“Yea man, I can’t wait until the science goon the boss hired figures out the formula so we can have powers like them heroes too,” The first man said through a mouth full of food. It was surprising none of the chewed remnants of his lunch flew into the back of her head as he cut each of his words short.

“I just wish it wasn’t taking so long. It’s been, wha’, two months already? This scientist guy was supposed to be the best, and boss captured one of the best heroes,” The second man said in a nasal tone.

Are they talking about James?! Sara shifted in her seat, trying to contain the shock of adrenaline screaming through her system.

“Seriously, but I don’t really care how long it takes, ya know? We’ll. Have. Powers. I mean how unfair is it that only a select few people get to do things like fly or read minds? At least the boss is trying to level the playing field,” the first man replied then took a slurping drink of liquid.

The second man gave a nasal sigh. “True, I just hate waitin’. The longer this goes the more likely it is we’ll get found out.” The man lowered his voice some. “I mean any one of these people could be heroes.”

Then you shouldn’t be talking about it in public you idiots. At least their stupidity was working to her benefit.

“Nah man, heroes don’t come down here to Old Town unless they have to,” The first man said.

A huge gasp and a grin from Dillon snagged her attention. “Sara, I—”

“Hey, Dillon, I’m getting really hot and I’m pretty sure I’m melting.”—she stood abruptly while twisting her hair into a messy bun—“let’s get back to the office and finish that project so we can keep everything moving forward.” Sara moved away rapidly from the from the small bistro table without waiting for Dillon to agree, feeling as if the eye of the two men were drilled into her back.

Once she was out of the sight of the café, Sara stopped in a patch of shade, allowing Dillon to come trotting up beside her.

“What was that all about?” Dillon asked, confusion marring his previously excited expression.

Ignoring the question, Sara pulled out a small device constructed to mimic the look and flight patterns of a dragonfly. The tiny wonder was tuned to her mental frequency and she could send it up to one hundred yards away from her position before losing contact. It allowed her to see and hear anything within a sixty-foot radius of the device. Closing her eyes, Sara mentally connected with the tech-insect and sent it flying back the way she had come in the hopes of catching the two men. If this is a potential lead, and I bring it to my superiors, maybe I’ll get promoted!! The thought split her lips into a wide grin.

The micro cameras inside the tech bug brought the tables of the café into view and Sara let out a sigh of relief; she caught the men just in time. The two henchmen had scarfed their meals and were already weaving their way through the tables.

“Sara, hey—”

“Shush, I need to concentrate,” Sara bit out.

Dillon huffed but remained blessedly silent. While she was skilled enough to carry on a conversation with her charge and also control the tech-insect, this was too big of a lead to accidentally become distracted. If she was right, these two guys could lead her to where James and Dr. Reed were being held. This would be a huge leap forward in the investigation and she wasn’t about to pass up an insanely golden opportunity.

Keeping a fair distance away, Sara followed the two henchmen using the dragonfly to keep tabs on their conversation in the hopes they would reveal something else.

“So, what’re you doing this Friday?” the loud-eater said. This one was slightly pudgy with red-tinged cheeks to match. Sara decided to call him Pastry-Snatcher.

“I’m scheduled for the night shift again,” the nasally man complained in a rather dramatic whine. “I really wanted to go to the baseball game this weekend, too.”This henchman was the opposite of his partner, skinny as a lamppost and swimming in his own sweat. Sara assigned him the name Bases.

This had been a habit of hers since she was a child, giving people nicknames to help her remember details. Her names never made sense to anyone else, and she’d tried to explain it multiple times but only ever failed.

“Oh, you mean the Fitties versus the Boxops?”

“Yea.”

“That sucks man. I heard it was supposed to be a ringer.”

“Tell me about it. What’re you doing?” Bases asked.

Sara could picture the smirk on Pastry-Snatchers face as he said, “Got me a hot date!”

“Nice. What’s her name?”

Sara tuned out the two goons as she continued to follow the men. The forty-yard distance had kept her and Dillon safe from discovery, and she was fairly confident she could keep it as such. Turning to Dillon she said, “I think these guys might be able to lead us to a fellow hero that’s been missing for the last couple of months.”

“Oh, you mean Mega Melt? And there was that scientist guy too,” Dillon replied.

“Yep. Didn’t think you’d know about that. Investigators have been trying to keep the news hush-hush,” Sara said. “The O.F.S. didn’t want to alarm people.”

“Well, yea, keeping it out of the media is one thing, but you can’t stop office gossip.”

Sara sighed. Dillon was right. All kinds of things made their way through the grapevine in O.F.S. whether the bigwigs wanted it to or not.

“So, what are we going to do once we discover where they’re going?”

“We’ll alert headquarters so they can send someone to dig deeper,” Sara said, her tone sure and unwavering. She might be the lowest bug in the food chain at O.F.S. but she was determined to prove herself worthy of finally being allowed to pick her superhero identity. Finding a lead on James would go a long way in getting her noticed, and she could crawl her way out of the death-pit of rescuing cats stuck in places they shouldn’t have been in in the first place. Granted, her telepathy was incredibly useful for such a matter, but Sara spent the majority of her time as a run-of-the-mill paper pusher/cat rescuer when she had dreams to be well-known like Telesthesia.

“That seems like a waste,” Dillon replied.

“It’s not a waste, it’s common sense. We’re not the agents for this job.”

A few minutes passed when Dillon said, “I bet we could do it.”

She eyed Dillon. “Busting into whatever hideout we discover unprepared is not a wise decision, and completely against protocol,” Sara scolded. “Why don’t you recite the heroes creed some more, just to make sure you have it down pat.”

The depressing look that crossed Dillon’s face at her reprimand pulled a little at her heartstrings. She felt bad for shattering the golden dreams Dillon held as a would-be-superhero. He had such good intentions, but good intentions wouldn’t keep him alive.

Sara didn’t want to say something else to make Dillon’s day worse, so she focused on following their targets. They walked in unpalatable silence for the next fifteen minutes before they came to a tall, ornate brick building. As the two henchmen entered, Sara glanced up to see if there were any identifying signs on the building. What she saw halted her steps, causing Dillon to bump into her. She scrunched her face in confusion.

“What is it?” Dillon asked.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” she muttered.

“What doesn’t?”

Sara pointed to the sign. “Those’re the law offices of Evi Launders. She is a huge advocate for superheroes and takes all of the cases whenever a hero is taken to court for any reason. So, why would two supposedly evil henchmen go into her law offices?”

“Oh, yea, I’ve seen her on the news,” Dillon said.

Sara sighed, working her mouth in an attempt to make a decision. The books say to hang back and assess the situation before acting, but this just doesn’t feel right to me. Maybe I should send in my tech-bug?

Venturing inside to see if she could find out more was tempting. Mega Melt had always been nice to her in the office (admittedly, she may also have a minor crush on the man), and Sara really wanted to rescue him from his captors. And it wasn’t just for the glory, she also didn’t want James to be in the hands of maniacs any longer than he already had. If this was a potential lead and they walked away, the bad guys could move Mega Melt somewhere else, or worse. But then again, what if she was wrong and she tipped her hand? Indecision warred in her mind as she bounced between wanting to act upon what felt right and following protocol.

The decision was made for her when Dillon started crossing the street. Sara couldn’t leave her trainee. “Dillon, what do you think you’re doing,” she hissed once she caught up to him.

“I’m tired of going over the basics all the time, I want to do something for once, and right now I have the power to do something,” he replied.

“We can’t go in there!” She nearly screeched.

Dillon paused on the corner just as the cross-traffic began to move. Keeping his voice low, he said, “No one knows we’re superheroes. I’m just going to go in and look around.”

Sara bit her lip, looking at an indeterminate point over Dillon's shoulder. Their boss would see heads roll for going inside as unregistered agents, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted to go in; to show everyone that her abilities were useful for more than just rescuing stranded cats.

“Alright, but how are we going to go in and not look suspicious?”

The biggest grin she’d ever seen from Dillon lit his features. “I thought you’d never ask.”

That’s how Sara found herself sitting in the ladies restroom using her tech-bug to scout around the inside of the office. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever had to do, she silently berated herself. While Dillon charmed the receptionist—a flighty thing that belonged in a nail salon—she snuck away to put her skills to use. Crouched as she was on the toilet someone was bound to eventually find her. Why was she the one taking all of the risks?! This really was the stupidest thing she could have agreed to but it was too late to turn back now.

Sara figured that if this really was a secret hideout the bad-guys would be underground. She didn’t actually have field experience to know, she was basing this on what all the manuals told her about evil lairs. For some reason those of evil-inclination didn’t like naturally lit rooms, preferring the depressing flicker of fluorescence. Shaking her head to remove the distracting thoughts, Sara sent her tech-bug into the elevator, and with her mind, butted the device into the button for the basement.

The doors slid close and Sara perched her dragonfly in the top corner of the box to keep an eye on things. The ride seemed endless but eventually the elevator slowed, the doors opening majestically with a tiny ding. Detaching from the wall, Sara scouted the dingy area. Her spirits drooped when the concrete room appeared to be nothing more than a standard basement. Boxes of every size competed for space, like when people tried to shove their way to the front of a line to be the first inside a store for a sale. She was about to return her tech-bug to the elevator when a pitched scream filtered into the sensitive hearing of her dragonfly.

Sara zeroed in on the source of the sound. To her delight, she found a small crack in the wall that looked like it could be an entrance. Another scream filtered through the cracks.

Pulling away from her view through the tech-bug but keeping a mental connection, Sara bit her lip as she studied the corner of the pristine bathroom stall door. The dark-stained chestnut wood gleamed a soft reddish brown as it happily reflected the warm light of the incandescent bulbs. There was clearly something going on here. This was definitely a situation worth looking into, and she couldn’t send her dragonfly much further before losing connection. She would have to scout the basement herself if she was going to learn any more.

This situation was way beyond rescuing a cat from a tree. She had the training on how to handle the moment, just not the field hours. No thanks to Telesthesia, she thought, scrunching her nose in derision. On the one hand, she wanted to go through the door in the basement to prove to herself and to her superiors that she could handle this situation, that she was worthy of having a superhero name assigned to her. On the other hand, if her bosses didn’t agree with her initiative, viewing her actions as reckless and irresponsible, she could lose her position at O.F.S., or worse, be stuck as a paper-pusher/cat-rescuer for the rest of her life.

“Psst, Sara,” Dillon’s hissed whisper broke into her thoughts.

Instead of answering, Sara briefly focused on her tech-insect to land it out of sight and on observation mode and left the stall to meet Dillon outside the restroom. If she didn’t go into that basement, she would be safe for the rest of her life. And miserable, she added. If she did go in there, she could potentially lose her job, be arrested for trespassing, and…and I wouldn’t have to live with the regret of not knowing. She was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly walked into a wall.

“Yikes, Sara! Pay attention,” Dillon chided as he yanked on her arm. He lowered his tone. “So did you learn anything juicy?”

A determination entered every muscle. Rescuing MegaMelt was worth the risk. Sara knew in her bones that she was destined for more, she could do this, and she was worth the assigning of a superhero name. Looking at Dillon she said, “We need to get into the basement of this building.”

Sara screeched to a halt as she heard voices echo down the metal lined hallway. Dragging Dillon into a small space behind a length of stacked metal pipes she instructed him to dim the light around them so they could melt into the shadows and puffs of steam. Spying into a secret underground lair from a bathroom stall when I have a state-of-the-art dragonfly—easy, actually navigating the secret underground lair, not so much, Sarah mused as she kept her eyes focused on the cracks between the pipes.

So far, Sara and Dillon had descended into the basement unhindered. The nail-salon receptionist had been far too busy checking her reflection in a compact to notice the subtle movements she and Dillon made to board the elevator. Sara had been doubly surprised when there wasn’t a single auto-defense upon opening the basement door, or a multitude of guards in the entire area. Either the bad guys were confident they wouldn’t be discovered or just lazy. She’d put her money on the former, the books always hinted at the former. Sara finally let out a breath as the owners of the two voices passed them by, oblivious to their presence.

Turning to Dillon she whispered, “I’m going to send out my dragonfly to see if I can scout the most direct route to Mega Melt and Dr. Reed. Keep an eye out and keep us hidden until I find where they’re at and then we’ll come up with a plan for rescue.”

“We should just jump in and knock some heads together,” Dillon whispered back, an ornery grin filling his cheeks.

Sara rolled her eyes then glared at him for a moment before glancing back out between the pipes.

“What? It’s an uncomplicated plan, and I totally passed my close-quarters combat course. I’ve got this.”

“Scoring a ‘Pass’ on close-quarters combat training doesn’t mean you are prepared for the real thing. How many fights have you been in?” She asked, her ponytail flopping as she turned to look at him.

“Well, I’ve fought with my brother.”

“Real. Fights. Dillon. How many real your-life-depends-on-it fights have you been in?” Sarah asked, frustration coloring her words.

“Oh! In the first grade, this kid Gordon tried to steal my hero cake, so I hit him in the face. Which turned out to be a bad idea because all it got me was a set of split knuckles, a squished dessert, and a trip to the principal’s office,” Dillon said, looking at his fist as if the pain of sharp teeth still haunted him.

Why did I have to get stuck with a guy who wants to be Boy-Wonder? She sighed.

“Okay, I’m going to use my dragonfly now. Don’t do anything irrational, if you even know what that looks like.” Sara closed her eyes, concentrating on the small tech-bug she had retrieved as they entered the basement and sent it flying along the roof of the metal hallway. She cringed a bit as the buzz of the wings seemed to echo too loudly in the hall, even over the sounds of random machinery and hisses of steam. It was not preferable, but she would have to risk it. Sending her tech-bug was far more effective than the two of them running around aimlessly.

Sara spent several minutes buzzing her dragonfly in and out of doors with no success. Most of the rooms contained random stacks of crates collecting dust. She never realized bad guys were such pack-rats. What did they need with so much stuff? The only other room she found was clearly a break-room. Apparently, even those with bad intentions also needed coffee breaks and water cooler gossip. She was briefly tempted to see if the evil-coffee was as sludgy as the slog that passed for coffee at work. As much as her curiosity pulled at her, they didn’t have time to waste; the longer they were down here the more dangerous it became.

Turning away, Sara exited the breakroom to hover her dragonfly in front of the last—and the most promising thus far—intimidatingly impressive steel door. The massive rectangle stood out amongst the darkly stained and rusted pipes in the hall. Considering all of her other options were duds, this was the way to go. Bringing her dragonfly back to her position, she carefully drew a mental picture of how to easily navigate to the destination.

Landing the dragonfly on her finger, she said, “I’ve found where we need to go. I’m going to get the door open, and then I want to you dim the lights in the room as soon as you can. We want everyone blind except for us. Your file said you could do that.”

Dillon looked pale for a moment before gathering some confidence. “Of course,” he replied.

Sara narrowed her eyes. “Are you positive?”

He gave her a winning smile. “Yea. I’ve got this like a proton has a charge.”

Sara gathered her brows.

“What? You can’t get any more positive than that.”

Sara shook away her concern, and pushed past Dillon to lead the way toward either their destiny or their doom. I really hope we can pull this off, she thought, biting her lip. The idea of going back to sitting behind a desk forced to complete boring menial task sent chills up her spine.

In a matter of minutes they were standing in front of the impressively intimidating steel door. Sara eyed her semi-distorted reflection for a second before taking a bolstering breath. The moment she stepped into this room it was either going to her way, or she would be in the hands of her enemies. Really, at this point there was no turning back. Laying her palm flat on the shiny surface, she willed the mechanics of the door to open for her, making sure the movement of the gears was slow enough to not garner notice, but not so slow they could be caught standing in the hallway. Eventually, the door popped open with a satisfying click and a chilling hiss.

Steeling her nerves, she cracked the door just enough to allow room for her and Dillon to slip inside. Crouched behind yet another crate, Sara used her telekinesis to close and lock the door once more. No sense in alarming someone before we have a chance to rescue Mega Melt.

Sara waited, but she noticed the light in the room—while dim—was still very much brighter than what she expected. Twisting on her toes to face Dillon, she hissed, “I thought you said you had this, Dillon!”

“I’ve never done a room this large!”

“Dillon!”

“I’m trying, Sara,” he stated emphatically, except he began to lose control of the light in the room, making everything brighter. If she didn’t calm him quickly, they were bound to be discovered.

Pulling in a gradual amount of air, she placed a gentle hand on her partner’s forearm. “Dillon, take a deep breath. You can do this. Remember you made it into the academy for a reason.”

Dillon’s face hardened and the panic started to fade from his eyes. Nodding, he closed his eyes and pushed his hands out in a V away from him. It was like watching a snail move with all haste, but eventually the light of the room dimmed to total blackness as Dillon dimmed the lights of the room until it was utterly black, leaving him and Sara in a small pocket of light. Faint shouts of surprise filtered into her ears and the sound of clumsy heavy boots racketed against the metal flooring. They would need to hurry or else the bumbling henchmen would stumble upon them. Sara would have congratulated her partner, but breaking his concentration would not be in their best interest. He needed to keep the room dark while also manipulating the light so the two of them could still see a few feet of their surroundings. Instead, she stood and began moving through the room with Dillon on her heels.

Before the room had darkened, Sara had caught a glimpse of four doors opposite their position. She crossed her fingers that Mega Melt and Dr. Reed were in one of the rooms; otherwise this was the most foolish venture she had ever imagined.

Moving to the first one, she unlocked the doors mechanisms with her telekinesis. The simple tumbler lock was a joke for security. These guys really needed to invest in fingerprint recognition locks. She opened the door to find a weapons room stocked with a number of illegal items. Coilrod Plasma Rays, Lightening Batons, Shooter Lasers, Piston Grenades, it was all more than she could count. This collection alone was enough to bust these guys, but Sarah forced herself to concentrate on the more important task of finding her comrade and the doctor.

Door number two was equally disappointing with another selection of stacked and haphazard wooden crates. Shutting the door, Sara began leading them to door number three when a loud voice bounced around the room. “To the superhero currently darkening the room, I suggest you release your abilities and surrender. We will find you. It is only a matter of time.”

Dillon crowded close to her and whispered, “Was that Evi Launders?”

“It sure sounded like her,” Sara said.

“That was a little reckless on her part. I mean what if we make it out of here without being caught? She just revealed herself.” The scuff of boots followed his quiet words.

Sara didn’t respond as she tip-toed forward to the third door. As quietly as possible, she turned the handle and found exactly the person she was looking for. Breathlessly she said, “Mega Melt.”

“Who’s there?” A disused voice croaked from the darkness..

Sara rushed forward and placed her hand over his mouth. “I’m Second Sight. My partner and I are here to rescue you,” she said as loudly as she dared. Her stomach churned at giving James a false name, but it’s the one she would use when she was finally a certified hero, plus she didn’t want to give out her name in a place like this. That was a death sentence.

Mega Melt mumbled something.

Sara ignored the question, concerned more with getting out alive. “Can you walk?”

“Yes.”

“Good, don’t let go of my hand,” Sara commanded as she led him out of the room. “Do you know where they’re keeping Dr. Reed?”

“In the room to the right of mine,” Mega Melt said.

Going to the last door, Sarah turned the nob and to her relief she found Dr. Reed just as James had said. The doctor was breathing but did not stir when she entered the room.

Turning, she whispered, “Mega Melt, can you carry the doctor?”

“I can’t see a thing. How am I supposed to carry someone?”

“Yes or no, Mega Melt?”

“Yes, I can carry him.”

Leading her fellow superhero over to the doctors abused body, she began to help him maneuver the man, when Mega Melt said, “I can see!”

Sara’s eyes flew wide at the loudness of his voice as she whipped around to look at Dillon. He stared back at her with a horrified, helpless expression. Moments later, a thick meaty hand grabbed his shoulder pulling him forcefully out of the cell. Dillon lost all concentration and everything around her flooded with light once again. She squinted at the sudden change.

Thinking fast and speaking quickly, she pointed at Mega Melt, “You grab the doctor. It’s your responsibility to get him out of here.”

“Sara?” James whispered. Scrunching his brow, he asked, “What are you—”

“I’m going after my partner, take care of him,” she said, then turned to leave.

Sara stepped out of the cell and into a group henchmen. The first thing she noticed was a gun leveled at her head. Flinging her hands out, she sent the group closest to the door whistling through the air in all directions before pulling random items of all sizes to her. She shouted, “Let my partner go!”

The cluster of henchmen around Dillon split like the Red Sea to reveal Evi Launders holding a Coilrod Plasma Pistol to Dillon’s head. Sara and Dillon locked eyes, fear washing over both of them. She didn’t want to lose him. Despite his reckless and clumsy nature, she had a soft spot for the guy. Sara did her best to keep her expression neutral as she turned her attention to the others.

The group of henchmen stepped closer, hemming her in. Sara could only imagine how she looked with various items floating like a haphazard halo. Evi was the first to sneer soon followed by all the others.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Second Sight,” Sara answered. “I won’t say it again. Let. My. Partner. Go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Evi replied. “You see, now that you know my secret, I can’t let either of you leave here alive.”

Evi turned her eyes to her target and pulled the trigger.

“No!” Sara shouted and the items she had gathered clanged to the floor. Focusing her attention on the gun, a ball of plasma hovered inches from Dillon’s head sending the faint smell of burning hair to her nose. Using her other hand she sent Dillon flying to land behind a stack of crates. He would be bruised, but back there he would have more of a chance of staying alive.

Quickly, Sara brought the ball of the plasma toward her and expanded the glowing mass to create a small shield. No sooner had she done it, than bullets and other objects came flying in her direction as the henchmen recovered from their shock.

It took most of her concentration to maintain the shield, and it was slowly losing its effectiveness. Sara’s mind raced as she considered her options. She could run toward her enemies as a way to distract them before using something to knock them out, or maybe she could cut off their air supply, that would certainly get them to stop shooting at her.

Before she had the opportunity to react, the floor beneath the feet of the henchmen and Evi begin to soften and undulate causing the group to flail their arms wildly. Plasma shots and other ammo went in all directions around the room. Glancing behind her, she saw Mega Melt crouched with his palm against the metal grating. It wasn’t what she had told him to do, but she certainly wasn’t going to complain about the extra help.

Using the distraction, Sara released her plasma shield and pulled all of the weapons from the hands of the people before her, tossing them to the far side of the large room. Sizing up the items around her, she levitated a long strip of flat metal into her hands.

A loud screech from Evi made her heart pound. “I can’t see!”

“Me neither!”

“Hey! Ouch that was my hand.”

Sara glanced in Dillon’s direction to see him coming around the crates she had flung him behind, determination etched into every part of this body. If controlling the situation wasn’t so urgent, Sara would be incredibly proud of Dillon for managing his abilities so well. Racing to the group of henchmen and Evi, Sara used the metal strip she had gathered to corral everyone into a loose circle before tightening the band, encasing them.

The final result was an awkward bundle of people, some with their backs to the inner circle while others stood sideways or even bent awkwardly forward. The floor bubbling beneath their feet hardened abruptly, and the tangled group of bodies fell in a heap, or as much of a heap possible in their current state.

Turning around to face James, she watched him rise, giving him a hard stare before directing her ire toward Dillon. “You! Are insane? I throw you behind the crate to keep you safe, not so you could come traipsing back out and get yourself hurt!”

Dillon gave her a dashing smile. “I told you we could do it.”

Sara narrowed her eyes before turning her back on her charge to circle the secured group of men until she came face to face with the infamous Evi Launders. “You’re going away for a long time Ms. Launders,” Sara said.

“You won’t get away with this! I’ll find your secret identity and take you down!” Evi screeched, wrestling with her bonds.

“Not with my testimony,” Mega Melt said in his deep voice as he came to stand next to Sara.

“I’m the defender of heroes!” She stated, almost at a whine.

“Not anymore,” Dillon said coming up on her left. He turned to Sara. “You know, I never did like her commercials. They were always too cheesy. The neon lines shooting out behind her like one of those swab-wash microcloth infomercials were not attractive at all.”

Sara rolled her eyes, turning to stab a finger at James, she asked, “You! Why did you stay? I told you to get the doctor out of here!”

He smiled. “True, but one”—he held up a finger—“technically, I’m your superior so I don’t have to take orders from you”—Sara’s lips pursed—“two, what’s number six of the hero’s creed?”

Dillon shot up his hand. “Oh! I know that one! I will never leave a fellow hero behind.”

James beamed at Dillon while Sara groaned, pushing her hands into her eyes.

#ShortStory #Original #Superheroes #Heroes #Writing #IndieWriter