11.
Palo Alto
September 20
12:42 UTC
Exiting an ice cream shop, Irey virtually inhaled one of her two triple scoop cones. The rocky road and pistachio mixture was a great midday treat as she left as soon as her class was dismissed for lunch. It only took her around two minutes to get from her high school to town where her favorite ice cream shop was. With it being such a pretty day outside, and it being a little warmer than usual, it was a no brainier to simply use her speed to treat herself to something sweet.
With just enough time to get back to school in a normal walking speed, the ginger happily made her way back when she nearly bumped into the very picture of a cowboy walking down the sidewalk.
"Oop, sorry," Irey said as she continued licking her cones when she ran into another similar dressed young man. Like the first, he wore pressed jeans and a red open shirt with a white wife beater underneath.
Maybe it was the ice cream, or maybe it was her needing a napkin from the gooey treat dribbling down her hands. Or maybe it was the fact the ginger haired speed demon only cared about her food that she failed to notice the same man, wearing a bandanna as a mask, was now running out of a bank with a bag of money. That was until the alarm went off and got her attention.
"Stop!" Drawing his sidearm, a bank security officer opened fire on a man dressed in Jeans and an open shirt. The cowboy hat he wore flew off his head from how fast he ran with the bullets missing him.
Watching him duck down an alleyway, Irey narrowed her eyes and slunk away despite the crowd of onlookers wanting to get a better view of the situation or attempt to take a potential viral video for the Internet. No one saw the teenage girl sneak into an empty alleyway while dropping her ice creams on the ground with an audible 'Awww' and pout.
A few blocks down from the bank, the cowboy continued to sprint down the sidewalks and alleyways in an attempt to lose any would-be pursuers. He estimated it would be around three minutes before any first responders would arrive, given the traffic and location of the bank. It would be more than enough time for him to put a sizable distance between him and the just arriving police.
"Heh, let's see them poe poes catch me now. Ain't no one puttin their hands on Ol' Billy."
The thief's escape route was methodically planned. Back alleys, side streets, an outdoor eating area of a cafe, and a flea market would ensure he would lose any pursuers in the crowds around him in order to get to his get away point, that being a bus stop into the next county. It was the perfect plan for a two bit crook like him.
Rounding yet another block, Billy saw the flea market just ahead when he was forced to stop as a bandanna wearing individual stood before him. It was clearly a girl with short, bright orange hair wearing a pair of goggles over her eyes with the yellow covering concealing the bottom half of her face. She looked to have been fresh from the gym in a yellow and white tracksuit and sneakers.
"Give up, now," the girl said.
"Who're you?" Billy asked. "A clown from the market? Where's your balloon animals?" He then gave a snorting laugh.
"No clown here except you, honkey."
"Honkey?!"
"One chance," the girl said. "Go back and give yourself up and I won't embarrass you to much."
"Embarrass Ol' Billy? I'd like to see that."
Before the girl could do anything, a pair of hands grabbed her from behind, tightening around her neck and forcing her back.
"Like I said," Billy's voice said behind her, "nobody embarrasses Ol' Billy!"
Giving a salute, Billy ran past her and into the maze of table shops and people known as the flea market. With money in hand, he disappeared into the crowd with the girl trying to get free of her surprise attacker.
"Ugh! Get off of...ME!" Catching the unseen man off balance, the girl managed to flip him over and into the wall of a building. The instant he hit, he fell unconscious and fell to the ground, lying prone on his side.
"What the..." Looking the man over, the teenage girl was speechless to find her attacker was the same man she had stopped minutes ago. Faster than she could blink, the prone Billy disappeared as if he were never there to begin with. "Now how did..."
Looking where the other Billy ran off to, the girl saw him disappear into the crowd and snarled. "No one outruns a West."
Taking a position like the one she would use during a track meet, the girl whispered down from 'Three' as she dug her right foot into the gravel of the street and felt the power in her legs rise.
"Irey West steps up to the starting line and-" It was impossible to hear what she said as she shot forward into the market after this Billy character.
With so many people out shopping the various small shops set up for the flea market, it was easy to get lost. Billy took advantage of that fact and ran through several of the shallow alley ways between the makeshift stores, taking a few glances behind him to see if that girl was following him or not. With a grin, he continued running between the shops when he was hit hard and pinned to a nearby tree.
"Where's the money?" Irey angrily asked, ignoring the surrounding bystanders.
"What money, Girly?" Billy asked. "I ain't got no money."
"The money in the bag you stole from-" Looking down at his hands, the speedster saw no sign of a bag or the bank money he was supposed to have.
"You sure you got the right one, darlin'?"
Hearing Billy's voice come from behind her, Irey saw the cowboy wave with a grin and run down another section of makeshift stores. Those around the two stepped back as the second Billy disappeared into the crowd and the other one laughed. As if that were not weird enough, another Billy lead four more just like him past Irey, each one held a stolen treat from the flea market's many venders. Those in their way were knocked around with their purchases or personal belongings being tossed aside as the group of identical Billy's whopped and hollered down the pathway.
"What in the-" Turning back to her captured Billy, Irey was about to ask what was going on when he vanished from her grasp in a whisp of smoke.
"Uh, okay. Um."
"Watch yo' self, now!" Running past Irey, another Billy twin smacked her in the back of the head as he headed after the others. A few ears of roasted corn were stuffed in his pockets with one or two falling out.
Realizing what she was potentially dealing with, the female speedster huffed and searched her pockets where she pulled out a circular, gray device.
Laying on his bed with his feet resting on the wall, Zachary had decided to take his lunch period at home instead of a restaurant or school. Having a key capable of turning any doorway into a portal home came in handy like that from time to time. Holding a magazine counting down the top twenty female athletes in swimsuits above his head while sipping a drink through a rather long bendy straw, he contently stared and imagined himself in the pictures when a buzzing went off by his foot.
After a slight jump, Zachary sighed and snapped his fingers. A second later, his cell appeared in his palm with Irey's face on the screen sticking her tongue out in a mocking gesture. Without enough time to even say 'Hello?', the young man was quickly informed of what was happening with his friend. No sooner had he hung up when his phone rang again with Carrie's face on the screen. This time, the girl lifted the tip of her nose with her finger and crossed her eyes. She, like Irey, urged him to hurry and join the speedster.
Tossing his magazine away, Zachary flipped off his bed, landing at its foot when his pone rang yet again. This time, it was Lorena calling him, evident by her picture where she blew her cheeks up and crossed her eyes.
"I know, I know!" Zachary told her as he slipped his shoes back on. "I'm on my way!"
"Well move faster!" Lorena told him. "And help us reach CK. He won't answer his phone!"
"I thought we were all supposed to keep them on." Grabbing his magical key from his vest pocket, the magician headed for his closet door and inserted it into the wall next to it. A bright light flashed around the seams as it turned the entrance into a portal leading to where Irey was close to.
"We are, but he won't answer. Just get down there ASAP. I'm headed for a Zeta Tube right now."
Hanging up, Zachary opened the closet door where instead of clothing lining the wall behind it, there had formed a water-like image of a restroom in the center of the flea market Irey was located in. Tightening his ponytail, the offspring of the world's most powerful magician and demonologist, prepared to enter the fray of whatever his friend was involved in.
Happy Harbor
September 20
13:13 UTC
"Wow, you really know you're way around the city, Carter. How long have you lived here?"
"All my life."
Sitting outside a small cafe, Carter and Mar'i split an appetizer sampler for lunch with a couple of cherry lemonades. For the last several days, the teen boy escorted her around Happy Harbor to get the girl acquainted with what it had to offer. Besides the different shopping districts, large harbor, market place, and large park where Mount Justice used to stand, he made sure to treat her to lunch at the small cafe overlooking downtown Happy Harbor known as 'Green Hill'. It was also the cafe his mother owned whom everyone knew as Megan Kent.
"So your mom, is she here today?" Sipping her lemonade, Mar'i dabbed her mouth with a napkin then grabbed another piece of fried bacon and dipped it in a small cup of honey mustard. The breaded meat had an added tomato basil flavor to it and the mixture of it with the condiment had quickly become her favorite on the sampler tray. In fact, anything dipped in mustard was good to her.
"No." Carter replied after swallowing a bite of a baked honey glazed spud. "She won't be back until this weekend. She had to check on her new book at the publisher. But my dad's not that busy at the garage. Maybe we could catch him after school."
"Well from what you've told me about him, I would like to meet him. But your mom, she can really cook."
"Thanks. But you know, the cooks follow the recipe my mom gives them. She comes up with the food, they cook what she gives them, and everything's kosher." Without telling her the outright truth, Carter did manage to inform his new friend of what his mother does without telling what she actually does. The cafe and cook books, they were just a cover. The same went for his father who owned a successful garage. They were a model family and image of what hard work can do on the outside, but behind closed doors, they were protectors of the people like their longtime friends.
"Okay, so, this weekend," Mar'i said as she scooted her chair closer to the table, "how about you show me the beach? I really haven't been out much since I got here and it looks pretty cool at night."
"Um, this, this weekend? Well I, Uh-" The request caught Carter off guard and before he could think of an answer, especially when the truth was about him training to become part of a superhero team, a familiar voice seemed to come to his rescue.
"Carter?"
Looking behind Mar'i, Carter saw the well, albeit tightly, dressed Joslyn. A wide smile was plastered across her face as she stared at the coal haired boy and gripped her hands in front of her to make her 'best features' pop for him. Her fashionable dress and tights ensemble also helped accentuate her flawless appearance.
"Fancy seeing you here, CK," Joslyn said sweetly.
"Hey, Joslyn," Carter responded. "Um, have you met Mar'i?"
Turning to the blonde, Mar'i stretched her arm out with a smile. The handshake she received felt less than friendly with the blonde's eyes not going unnoticed as they instantly went back to Carter.
"So, CK," Joslyn continued, "I was hoping I would run into you. You see-"
"You were hoping to run into him?" Mar'i asked. "You mean you didn't know his mother owned the cafe?"
"Well, everyone knows that," Joslyn replied.
"And given it's out of the way from the school, you decided to look for him this far away and hoped you would run into him?"
Looking at the sitting girl, Joslyn cocked an eyebrow and lost most of her smile.
"Or did you just ask where he was and drove here? I mean, if you two are together-"
"No, we're not together" Carter quickly told her.
"Yeeeahhhh, well," If the outside temperature could tell the change in Joslyn's demeanor towards Mar'i, it would have been quite chilly all of a sudden. "Like I said, I was hoping to run into you and see if you wanted to join me and my friends at the fair this weekend. We got six tickets and five of us are going. So, you want to be our sixth ranger?"
"Sorry, but I-"
"Have plans with me this weekend," Mar'i spoke for him. "He's taking me to the beach."
"Oh you can take your little friend to the beach any day, CK," Joslyn shot back. "The fair's going to have a special guest. Leslie Willis is going to do a live broadcast from the fairgrounds. The biggest radio DJ is coming to Happy harbor. You just gotta come."
"I actually-" Cater tried to say when Mar'i interrupted him.
"Wait, Leslie Willis? Ooh, Carter, that does sound like fun." Smiling brightly, Mar'i reached over and grabbed his hand. "Can we go to?"
"Actually, I only have one more ticket and I'm sure CK can't get an extra one. They're sold out."
"My brother can get another one," Mar'i told Joslyn. "He sponsors a lot of stuff. Maybe he's doing the same for Leslie." Turning back to Carter, Mar'i moved a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled brightly. "If he can, can we go? Please?"
"If he can get you a ticket, then why not go alone?" Joslyn asked.
"Because," flashing a flirtatious smile at her male escort, Mar'i rubbed the top of his hand. "It's better with a date."
"A, d, date?" Swallowing a lump in his throat, Carter stared into Mar'i's eyes then glanced at Joslyn then back at Mar'i. "Um, I, I guess I can-"
"Oh, thank you!" Somewhat diving over the table, Mar'i hugged Carter tightly.
The moment the girl made contact with him, Carter stiffened up. While not the first time he had been hugged by an attractive girl, this was the first time he had two wanting to be with him. He could see Joslyn give a smile, somewhat, at him, but he could not the look on Mar'i's face as she menacingly grinned behind his back.