Alone for a Moment, Forgotten for a Lifetime
By: Akrian Kalnori
Chapter One: Ill Tempers and Chamomile Tea
Tyler, Mana, Johnny, and Clare walked down the crowded Metropolis streets with solemn faces. It had been a long night before and they were exhausted. Clare asked, "Does anybody know what time it is?" Johnny's stomach growled as he said, "Yeah, lunchtime!" Clare said, "Where do you wanna eat?" Johnny exclaimed, "Let's get a Philly Cheese Steak!" Tyler agreed, "That sounds good. Let's go to Benny's." Johnny nodded, licking his lips hungrily. Clare turned to the silent Mana and asked, "Is that okay with you?" Mana nodded and smiled faintly. Johnny jumped up into the air and yelled, "Let's go!" But an explosion shook the nearby building, making it slowly cave in. The four teens groaned; it's time to save the day again. They ran into a nearby alley and transformed into their super forms. Tyler flew up and made sure no one was on the top floors. To his surprise, the building was completely empty. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite sometime. Clare yelled to her brother, "Tyler, look out!" Tyler looked down before turning to where or whom she meant. Before he could even see who it was, a strong force pushed him out of the sky. Clare looked at her fallen brother, her blood boiling. Her hands turned into enormous flames and she fired several fireballs at the mysterious cloaked man. He, however, avoid every single one. He threw something invisible at Clare that made her go flying into a building. Johnny, very furious at this point since this dude gunned down two of his teammates, made a boulder out of the street rubble and threw it up at the man. The man cut through it with his bare arm and threw a star shaped light at Johnny that knocked him out. Mana stood there, watching for appearance of any weakness, while her friends got their butts kicked. She threw a fog like barrier at the man. His vision was clouded and didn't notice that she was right behind him. When he turned to look back, he got punched right smack in the face by Mana. The man was knocked out of the sky and made a crater in the street below him. Mana threw a water whip at him and cut his chest plate off. She landed on her feet gracefully as he stood up. He asked, "What gives you any right to interfere with my mission?" Mana replied angrily, "Because it involves killing my friends." She made a spear out of ice and started charging at him. He blocked the first strike with his armguard and continued to do so as she slashed at him like a mad hatter. Finally, he punched her straight in the stomach before lighting her body on fire. She fell back and extinguished the fire with her water canteen. Mana coughed up blood onto her tattered shirt. She felt a strong grip on her hair and someone lifting her up. The man pulled her up by her hair and told her through clenched teeth, "You'll be the first to die." His hand ran under her chin, "Too bad. Such a pretty thing." He took out a knife and scraped it against her neck. Suddenly, he dropped her roughly before blacking out. Mana looked up to see a man dressed in red and blue but her vision blurred from the blood loss. She fainted as someone called out to her.
Clare woke up and looked around the strange room. It was full of computer like technology. She looked over to see a man dressed in red sitting in a title chair balancing a pencil between his nose and upper lip. She asked, "Where am I?" The man looked over at her and told her, "I'm glad you're awake. Thought you guys wouldn't make it. Oh and you're in the Justice League Tower." Clare raised her eyebrow, "In the middle of space?" The man in red nodded before asking, "So who are you?" Clare replied, "I'm Clare Haddaway, the brunette boy is my brother Tyler Haddaway, the black haired boy is Johnny Vortex, and the purple haired girl is Mana." The man asked, "Mana? Is that a real name?" Clare shook her head, "No, but it's all that she remembers." The man nodded and left her alone. Clare looked over to her brother to find him stirring. Tyler woke up and looked over at her before asking, "Where the hell are we?" Clare replied, "Justice League Tower." Tyler asked, "In the middle of space?" Clare nodded. Johnny mumbled, "Where's my Philly Cheese Steak?" Tyler and Clare whipped their heads to see him awake. Clare sighed as Tyler asked, "Is that all you ever think about?" Johnny nodded, "Only when I'm hungry." Clare told him, "You're always hungry." Johnny asked, "So?" Clare looked over at Mana and said, "Hey, Mana. Wake up." Mana, however, did not even move an inch. Johnny and Tyler turned their attention to their unconscious friend. Tyler asked, concerned, "Is she gonna be alright?" "Yeah, she's just in a brief coma." The three turned to see Superman, Batman, and Flash entered the room. Batman asked, "What were you doing fighting Infinity?" Clare stood up and told him fiercely, "Protecting our city, thank you." Batman narrowed his eyes and said, "You can't protect this city; you're too young." Tyler and Johnny exchanged fearful glances; oh boy was Batman in for a surprise. Clare walked over to Batman ranting, "Too young? Too young! That's all you adults ever say. You're too young for this, too old for that. Make up your damn mind. Actually, while you at it, just don't say crap like that. Sure we may be a little immature but that gives you no damn right to call us kids. So you can just try to respect us with the same damn respect we give YOU!" The room was silent as the two sent each other their fiercest glares. Mana murmured a little, "… Papi… Mami… don't leave…" She stirred a little but fell back into a deep sleep. Everyone, even Batman and Clare turned to look at her. Clare, Tyler, and Johnny held depressed looks on their face. Superman asked, "Is there something wrong?" Johnny started explaining, "We all lost our parents. Mine were gunned down in front of me, Clare's and Tyler's abandoned them… But Mana… She never even knew them…" Tyler continued, "She doesn't know anything about her past… Not even her true name… All she remembers is… Mana…" Clare finished, "We've all had our bad times and memories but Mana has nothing… No family… no memories… no clues… All she has is us and I think that's still not enough." Clare wiped away the few fallen tears on her cheek and asked, "So, what happened? I got knocked out early into the battle." Superman told them, "Mana tried to fight Infinity off but he managed to splinter one of her ribs. We came just in time to save her from a certain death." Johnny asked, "What happened to Infinity?" Batman replied, "He got away." Tyler asked, "Why was he after us?" "He wanted to kill us because Yvette sent him to." The people in the room turned to see Mana sitting up in her bed. Clare stuttered, "I thought you were…" Mana replied, "I'm fine." Flash asked, "Who's Yvette?" Mana narrowed her eyes and spoke with bitter in her voice, "He's supposed to be the Guardian of the Elements but he only wants their power." Johnny asked, "So why does he need to kill us?" Mana replied, "So the elements go back to their unrefined state." Batman asked, "How do you know so much?" Mana replied, "Because he told me." The room was silent. Clare asked, "Hey, Mana. Do you want some Chamomile Tea?" Mana's expression turned to a light hearted one, "Sure." Clare helped her out of bed and they walked down to the mess hall. Tyler shook his head, "Girls are way too moody for their own good." Johnny nodded his head in agreement.
Next Chapter: Things Left Unsaid
Johnny talks to Batman more about his past, Tyler and Flash have some unauthorized fun, Clare wonders where her parents are, and Mana finds archives on her past…