Chapter One: Darcy

“Open up!” The voice demanded. He banged on the door.

“What's the magic word?” Darcy yelled back as he stuffed his bag with even more jewelry.

“If you don’t open this door your punishment will be even more severe!” Another voice called.

“Those were not the ones I was thinking of...” Darcy mumbled to himself. He was skinny but strong, and his hair was black and had a white streak. His gray eyes were pierced like swords. He wore two brass bralettes on each hand and a gold chain on his neck. He wore a black tee shirt and a leather jacket with black denim jeans that had been ripped. On his feet, he had black tennis shoes.

He heard the Officers outside power up a gravity cannon*.

“Dang,” Darcy said out loud. He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and ran to the nearest window. It was too late. The door flew off its hinges with a loud bang and Darcy stopped. Three cops came through the door.

“Hands up kid!” One, a woman with blonde hair and a mechanical arm yelled. She held a pistol pointed straight at Darcy.

Darcy put his hands up. “Oh, come on,” He mumbled to himself.

Another, a man with a partially robotic face said. “Should we kill the sucker now?”

“What?” That last yelled outraged, A man with white hair and a beard, “He can't be more than ten!”

“I’m uh,” Darcy interjected, “I'm fourteen.”

All three cops glared at him.

“Listen,” The robo-face said “This kid has robbed like eight other stores in the last two weeks! Let's make it easier on all of us and kill the kid.”

“No!” Blondie replied, shocked. “He is just a kid!”

“I agree” oldie but not so goldy said.

“Hey, guys” Darcy interjected, “Just curious, what do you two wanna do with me?”

The two more moral cops looked at each other and the woman said, “Take you to jail I guess.”

“Man, but I really don’t want to go to jail.”

“Should have thought before you robbed eight stores.” The Old man replied.

“How about this,” Darcy replied simply. “I’m gonna show you a magic trick, and if you don’t expect what happens, you let me go.”

“What?”

“Cool glad you agreed,” Darcy said backing up. He backed up and pulled a small coin out of his pocket. “I’m gonna flip this coin three times and it's gonna land on heads every time.”

The cops looked a little confused but didn’t stop him. He flipped the coin and held it out to the police. It was heads. He flipped it again, and yet again it landed on heads. He flipped it one final time and held it out proudly.

“It's tails.” the old man said.

“Really? Are you sure?” Darcy shook his head. “Maybe take a closer look.”

When the old man came just close enough. Darcy punched him on the bridge of his nose. New Phoenix police were all brawn, no brains. He then proceeded to kick him in the stomach, sending him back into a wall. He flicked out his wrists and grapple hooks came out of his bracelets. The wires wrapped around the two remaining cops, and he pulled them with all his might toward each other. They collided and fell apart. He then shot the wires at the walls around the window he had previously been running toward and pulled himself through. As his body hit the glass the window shattered, and Darcy was off.

Darcy loved the adrenaline rush of swinging through the city of New Phoenix. He took a deep breath of the radiation-filled polluted air. When he had been given his bracelets he was told that a SuperHero in comics from the old days used devices a lot like these to swing through a city and fight crime. Something like Spider-boy. Darcy shuddered, he didn't understand how a spider-themed hero would be at all entertaining.

Darcy eventually came to a rougher place in town. The buildings were collapsing and the people were forgotten. A perfect place for someone like him to hide until his boss called him in.

He came to a stop in front of his favorite hideout. It was an old brick building that had fallen over.

Darcy climbed inside a shattered window. Once inside he dug around in his bag for his flashlight, turning it on he had a better view of what was around him. It was a little kids' room. There were toys scattered across the floor and an upside-down bed. To Darcy’s left there was a dresser that had fallen on its side and there was carpet on the wall.

Darcy quietly made his way through the room and out the door. Using his grapple hooks he descended to the first floor where he found the master bedroom. There was a bed that was lying on its side and two nightstands on either side of it. Darcy crossed the room carefully until he made it to a curtain. Darcy went through the curtain and ended up in a walk-in closet. He had set up a sleeping bag and pillow. He had no clue how long he would have to stay here, could be an hour, could be a week. Darcy lay down and before long he was asleep.

Chapter Two: Leo

Leo hated prison.

He had been in this dang place for almost two years now, for a crime he didn't commit.

However, he had to pretend he did.

To protect his brother who did commit the crime.

Leo was waiting in line to get the excuse of food that was prison lunch. Finally, he got to the counter and got some white mush that might have been mashed potatoes, celery, and a glob of some weird soup.

Lovely, He thought, rolling his eyes. He took his food and sat in an isolated corner of the cafeteria. He had only survived this far because he stayed away from all the other prisoners. He had been here since he was sixteen and had been the youngest prisoner for quite a while.

Leo's hair was brown and his eyes were a very light blue. He wore an orange jumpsuit with the number 36235 printed on the back.

Leo started eating his odd-tasting food until he felt some guys in some guys' presence.

“Hey kid,” Some random prisoner said, he had two other prisoners flanking his right and left, “I believe you owe us some money.”

Leo looked around, “Are you talking to me?” It had been so long since Leo had talked that he was almost scared by his own voice. It was deeper then he remembered.

The man laughed, “who else is over here?” He asked.

The guy was covered in tattoos of the most deadly reptiles like snakes and crocodiles. He wore the same orange jumpsuit as Leo and his eyes were reptillic. His hair was stark white and looked like he had been electrocuted.

“I’ve never bought anything from you,” Leo said calmly.

“Oh yes, you have,” Mr. Weird Eye stated, “Every breath you’ve breathed since you’ve been in here, every word you’ve spoken, and every step you’ve taken.” He leaned in so his face was only a few inches from Leo’s “This prison is mine.” His breath smelled like fish.

Leo clenched his fists. He wanted to punch this guy in his ugly face. He knew he could take on all three of these guys, but here, you mess with the wrong guy, and you won’t live to regret it.

Leo grimaced. “How much do I owe you?” He asked.

Reptile Guy smiled, showing his sharp snake-like teeth. Leo cringed on the inside.

“Two-hundred drake.”

“What!” Leo shouted, “You expect me to have that kind of money just lying around!”

“Not my problem.”

Leo shivered with anger. You could knock him out right now, He thought, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to start a fight.

“I can get it by next week,” Leo said, turning back around.

“I want it by tomorrow.”

“Not possible.”

“For your sake,” Reptile Guy growled, “Make it possible.” He then walked away.

Leo sat paralyzed. All of his muscles were tense. He sighed. I guess I gotta find a way to make some money.

Chapter Three: Terelle

Terelle walked with his hoodie up. If the law caught him he was dead. He was on the verge of something great and he couldn't die now. Terelle grew up in a bad neighborhood. He and his family had constantly been being robbed by the rich government types and when his dad didn't have any more money to steal, they killed him. The government of New Phoenix was extremely corrupt. And it was killing people. He was done.

Terelle turned down a dark alley and maneuvered through the streets until he found the guy. A guy who was about twenty years old was leaning casually against a wall wearing an all-black hoodie. When he looked up he revealed his thin facial structure. His eyes were dark green and his hair was blonde. Across his left cheek was a nasty scar and he had a prosthetic left leg. He had a backpack slung on his shoulder. Terelle took off his hoodie revealing dark skin, brown eyes, and curly hair. Terelle was tall and buff, he was very strong, smart, and capable.

Terelle stood casually next to his informant. “What’d ya get?”

“There is going to be a convoy of New Phoenix militia moving down Glendale and Camels Valley,” Greyson said cooley, “They’ll have a shipment of military-grade weapons and armor.”

“Good that should even the odds.” Terelle responded thoughtfully, “Are you sure you don't want to get paid?”

“Nah,” Greyson responded. “It's payment enough that you're doing something to end this tyranny.”

“Yeah well, while the rich folk are sittin’ pretty, everyone else is in a hell hole. Something had to be done.”

“Yeah, it took long enough,” Greyson sighed. “The city was founded in like 3500 right? It's been five hundred years.”

“Maybe it wasn’t always like this,” Terelle stated.

“Maybe.”

“But let's focus on the here and now, we gotta stop those in power from killing even more people.”

“Always one to get to the point,” Greyson mumbled under his breath. He reached inside of his backpack, pulled out a tablet, and handed it to Terelle. “This has all the info I got.”

“All of it?

“Yep.”

“Not just what I asked for?”

Greyson nodded.

“Holy Crap…” Terelle was taken aback. “How much is that?”

“Approximately Five Hundred Gigabytes worth of info on all the evil shtick these guys have pulled since the year 3925.”

Terelles' eyes went wide.

“With this,” Greyson added, “You could not only defeat our enemy but make them hated so much that they’ll not be able to show their faces anywhere in town without getting killed immediately.”

“That's if they escape my guys,” Terelle said confidently. He started to leave but Greyson grabbed his shoulder.

“One last thing,” He reached back into his backpack, pulled out a book, and handed it to Terelle, “Before you do anything, read this.”

Terelle took the book and read the title.

“The Art of War huh,”

“Read it,” Greyson said sternly “The guy who wrote it was Sun Tzu, an absolutely genius strategist and king in China. Back before the bombs dropped many soldiers would read it to help with their own strategy.”

“You really think I need this?” Terelle growled.

Greyson shook his head, “Careful not to get cocky, because that could kill ya.”

Terelle felt very angry that Greyson might doubt his ability. He turned and walked away.

"Thanks for the recommendation," The text read.

Strange, I thought, I did what I always did when a random number texted me and thought nothing of it.

That was my first mistake.

My second was so blatantly a mistake, I don't even know what came over me, why I did this.

A few hours after receiving the text there was a knock at my door.

usually, my instinct would be to stay inside and wait for the person to go away, but a weird compulsion came over me. So I stood from my couch and walked to the door and opened it. I expected to see some door-to-door salesmen or a Girl Scout offering cookies, but instead, there stood a handsome-looking man wearing a white shirt, jeans, and a sports coat. He smiled and asked how I was doing and if I was okay.

"I'm good," I said, "What's your name again?"

"David," He said, "Don't you recognize me?"

"I'm your friend!" He exclaimed, "I texted you this morning thanking you for the recommendation on what to do about my ex not leaving me alone!"

"Oh uh," I raked my brain for this event, and the name David but couldn't think of anything, "I think I did get a text earlier, but it was a wrong number, I never texted the number in my life."

"Oh," The man looked distraught, "Well if we don't know each other I guess I'll be on my way. Goodbye!" He walked down the patio,

"Bye," I said and I closed the door.

I went back and sat on my couch, took out my phone, and started scrolling on Instagram.

Five minutes later I received a text from the random number again.

"Hi, I'm here, where should I park?" It read.

This time I decided to respond. So I pressed the notification but what I saw shocked me.

The number was no longer just a number, it had contact info with a picture of the man who knocked at my door, and there weren't only two texts, there were an uncountable amount of conversations going back years.

"What in the world?" I muttered as I read through the texts. As I did I started to remember texting this number all the time.

"You good?" Another text from him came.

"Yeah I'm good," I responded, still skeptical of everything happening, "Where are you exactly?" I asked.

"The park," Came the response, "The parking lot is full and I don't see your car, so where did you park?"

I began to panic, I didn't think I had plans! But I guess I did, I texted back.

"So sorry I forgot about our plans do you just want to meet tomorrow? Or the next day?"

"Sure lol," came the response, "Did you oversleep or something?"

"Yeah," I lied.

"Well, at least you didn't just get no sleep like you usually do."

I sighed and laughed, David was always worried about my sleep schedule.

As I walked down the street I heard him. One of those street preachers. He was old and had long grey hair and a beard. He had green eyes and wore very simple clothing. He had a crowd around him, listening to what he said. He was one of those hyperactive spiritual jerks preaching to us atheist people that we were all doomed to hell.

What does he know? I thought. I heard him going on and on about how God is a generous perfect God. I was able to just tune him out and walk along until he said:

"Everything happens for a reason, and it all works together for the glory of God!"

That was it. I was done.

"Hey!" I yelled, "You're a Christian right?"

He turned to me, there was kindness in his eyes.

"Yes," He replied, "I am."

"Why is it just so annoying to you that we are not?" I yell ignoring his kind look.

"It is not frustrating to me that you don't believe," He responds, "Why would you think that?"

"Because if you didn't care," I say, "Why don't you take all your bull about some sky daddy to a church?"

I expected him to get mad, I wanted to argue with him so bad, but he still had the same kind and peaceful look in his eye.

"Well," He said calmly, "Do you care that I'm Christian?"

"No!" I yell angrily.

"Then why go out of your way to create conflict with me?"

The crowd around him laughs and I feel my cheeks flush.

"I'm just mad that you're pushing this on everybody!" I yell "You want to believe in God? Go ahead! Just don't preach at me!"

"Who says I'm pushing this on you?" He asks calmly.

"Well, you're standing there screaming your crap like some banshee!" I retort.

"No one forcing you to listen, you can walk away. No one is stopping you."

"You still shouldn't be doing this!" I stand my ground.

"Sir," He comes closer to me, "Do you support the LGBTQ?"

"Of course!" I respond.

"Do you support their parades and marches?"

"Yes!" I am angry now.

"Well, what's the difference between that and what I'm doing here?"

I sat there, unable to speak for a moment. I don't know what to say. Tears well up in my eyes as I think about what brought me here in the first place.

"How can you say 'All things work together for the glory of God'" I change my tactics, "When children die of cancer every day? When girls can't feel safe outside of their homes for fear of being kidnapped, raped, and murdered? How can that be for the glory of God? What kind of God let my daughter die with a tumor in her lungs?"

The old man is quiet for a moment, I see tears in his eyes. I think I've won, but he begins talking.

"I don't know every answer," He replies, even still the look in his eye is kind and peaceful, but now, there are tears, "And I felt very similarly when I stood by my granddaughter's bedside as she died. Do you wanna know why I still believe?"

I searched his eyes for an answer but, did not find one. Tears streamed openly from my eyes.

"How?"

"Because the last thing she said to me was 'Don't worry Grandpa, I'll be with God and he will protect me.'" Tears also fell down his face, "Even as she died she believed. When she went to hell and came back, she still stood strong. What gives me more of a right to quit than her."

I stood across from him.

I waited.

He made the first move.

He flicked a switch on the lightsaber hilt and it emitted a red blade.

He leaped at me and attempted to bring it down on my head.

I ignited my own green lightsaber and raised it in defense and blocked the strike. I then backed up and swung it at his right side. He blocked it and quickly moved to strike my head. I parried again and stepped back. We both stopped. Both of us ask the same question in our heads. Was it worth dying over this? The answer for both of us was... yes.

He jabbed at my stomach but I batted his blade away. I then did three attacks one after another. He deflected all of them. We continued hammering away at each other's defenses until he kicked me in the chest. I flew into a holo-table behind me. He performed the same move as he did at the beginning of our fight but this time, I only barely blocked it.

I pushed him backward and got up. He ran at me again and I used the force to send him back.

"Master!" I heard from the right.

I had little time to turn and see my padawan running into the room. He unleashed a blue lightsaber and took a stance. Makashi, the duelist form. I went to him and stood beside him taking my own form Vaapad. Our opponent then settled on Ataru and then leaped at us with a barrage of aggressive attacks. We defended ourselves to the best of our ability but my padawan had his right arm and leg severed from his body. No blood leaked out because the lightsaber burnt it all. He fell back and laid still.

I glared at my enemy. I then leaped and performed my own barrage of attacks but he blocked and tried to use an opening to stab me in the stomach. I barely blocked it again. I backed up and so did he. We stared at each other, I could feel the hate.

Oh, how the mighty can fall.

I threw my lightsaber at him. He deflected it and leaped at me just as he plunged the blade into my stomach I used the force to pull my lightsaber back and into him. We stared at each other. The surprise and pain on his face were almost too much to bear. He fell to the floor dead. I heard my fellow Jedi coming into the room as I fell to the floor and my vision went black.

The first bullet missed my head by an inch. I dove behind the closest piece of cover which was a concrete pillar that rose out of the ground. I drew my Walther P99 and I peeked out the right side of my cover and fired two shots. Both collided with his head and he dropped to the floor. Blood leaked from the right side of his face.

I peeked left but ducked back just as another guy shot an assault rifle at me. I took a deep breath and did a tactical roll out of my cover to a wood table that was flipped to act as a barricade. I peeked for only a few seconds and shot once. When I peeked again I saw the new guy was also dead. I ran to the guy I had just killed and took his gun. A nice M4A1 assault rifle with an EOTech scope, a red dot sight, and a foregrip.

I picked it up and grabbed the ammo from the guy's boy. I reloaded the gun and pushed forward to the next room.

It appeared to be a Library. I moved slowly and made sure not to get tunnel vision.

I knew I had a limited time to find the bomb and disarm it. I started going through the room until I found a briefcase. I opened it and saw a bomb. I pulled pliers from my pocket and snipped three wires and the bomb was deactivated. Another successful mission

Suzanna trembled as she held the wet cloth to Sam's neck. It wasn't helping. The blood was leaking through. She tried to make her breath steady but it wasn't working. Why wasn't Greg back? Was he okay? What was happening? And where was Danny?

She knew it was her fault, and she felt horrible! Sam was dying because of her!

All of a sudden the kitchen door opened and Danny rushed into the room. he had short blond hair and

"How did this even happen?" He asked.

"I- I don't know," Suzanna tried to respond. "I mean you were there! You saw what I saw!"

"I saw it," Danny said "But unlike popular opinion seeing does not mean believing."

Danny started unpacking the first aid kit he had gotten from the bathroom. Luckily he had gone to medical school and knew what he was doing.

Suzanna stepped back. Why was he doing this? She refused to be like him! But this was too far! Sam was close to dead and Greg might have been dead. She was done.

"Danny, I need to tell you something..."

"On a scale of one to ten how important is it?" He asked not even looking at her.

"Like an immediate one hundred." She replied.

"Can you tell me while I do this?" He asked

"Hopefully," Suzanna responded.

Suzanna told him everything that had happened that day. He kept stopping what he was doing for mere seconds before realizing that he should keep going. After Suzanna was done he was silent for a little while.

"That doesn't make sense," He finally said.

"Do you think it makes any more sense to me?" Suzanna asked.

"Ok, it's fine, we will get through this together," Danny said, "Look I found something when I was getting the first aid, I didn't think much of it at the time, but after what you said, I think it's the key to unlocking this mystery."

Suzanna nodded.

Option 1: Fire

Fire is an option because I have always loved fire. It's always been something I could stare at and watch dance for hours. I'd prefer it over a few wonders of the world!

Option 2: Flying

C'mon, everyone would love to fly!

Option 3: Super Speed

I would have super speed because I have always loved running. When I was ten, I was on a football team and when my coach would tell us to run, everyone but me would protest. I would ask for more. Running has always been something that makes me feel free.

Alignment: Hero

I think I would be a hero because I have always cared about the lives of the people around me. I have always wanted to defend those in need not harm them.