Chapter 8: Changes

Learn more about all of the characters including Ryan and Matt. The characters go through small and large changes.

CHAPTER 8: CHANGES

 

The next day the boys were hanging out at the city park. Ryan and Matt were flipping off of everything as usual. But this time, Matt was doing the best ones (of course, because secretly he was using his powers to “jump” a little higher). And Adam and R.J also joined in on the game.

 

“I got an idea,” Adam said after doing a front flip off of a bench. “ Let’s make a video like the ones on the computer!”

 

“You mean a freerunning video?” Matt asked.

 

“What’s that mean?” R.J asked.

 

“It’s when you run around flipping off of stuff that you set in a course and try to make it look as cool as possible,” Ray explained. “Right Matt?”

 

“Close enough, but we’d need a camera.”

 

“Our mom has one right Ray?”

 

“Yeah I think so. So let’s go get it.”

 

“Nah, it’d take too long. We’ll just do a practice session and then later on we’ll record it,” Matt said stopping Ray from running off.

 

“Cool by me,” R.J said.

 

“Yeah me too,” Adam added.

 

“Fine, let’s just do some quick sessions.”

 

So to start off Matt did a double somersault off of a bench and Ray followed up by doing a gainer (a forward back flip) off the same bench. Next Adam and R.J came in and did twist back flips. What the heck is going on here? Ray thought to himself after watching R.J and Adam flip. They can’t flip like this. Last time I remember Adam couldn’t even do a cartwheel and R.J could barely jump off the bench, certainly not flip. Even Matt wasn’t this good, I’ve always been better than him at flipping, when did they get good?

 

The boys continued their session until they’d flipped off of everything in the park, even the drinking fountain. R.J had already crashed into a young woman and her boyfriend threatened to beat him up. But the look in R.J’s eyes convinced him otherwise. Somehow he knew he couldn’t beat R.J and he wanted to leave with his dignity.

 

The boys grew bored of the simple sessions at the park and decided to move to better grounds. But just as they headed out, Adam and Ryan’s mom called. She spoke to Adam on his phone and told him to go home. So he and Ray left home to their waiting mother. R.J soon departed as well, saying he needed to do his homework. And Matt went home to train.

 

Meanwhile across the globe Flame Master was up to no good. He was killing innocent people on an uncivilized island in the middle of nowhere. He blasted fireballs here and there at so many people simply because it was “fun.” According to the information he’d received from Nefarious, the sword was supposedly deep inside a volcanic island. The trouble was, Nefarious could neither locate the island nor could he enter the volcanoes.

 

So Flame Master was sent to retrieve it while Nefarious kept the heroes busy so that they could not find the sword themselves. Terry was growing impatient with every island because no one would tell him whether or not the sword was on the island or not. Several little tribes were completely wiped out without a trace because of their refusal to tell the location of the sword.

 

Flame Master was on his sixth island when finally the chief of the clan that inhabited it came to speak with him. He was a short fat man with large nose that reached out at least four inches. He had no hair and his entire face was covered by tattoos in his language. Strangely enough, he was wearing a business suit and glasses. Those made him stand out because everyone else was wearing clothes made from leaves and large blades of grass.

 

“So,” Flame Master began. “You know where the Sword of Legends lies?”

 

“I never said that,” the man replied. “I simply said I’d be willing to cooperate with you.”

 

“Well there is no cooperation with out that sword. I swear I will burn this island down if you don’t tell me where the sword is!” He eyes returned to their fiery state and his hands caught fire again.

 

“Sir! Please calm down. Is there nothing else that will interest you? Even being king of this island?”

 

“What is want is power, not just political power over an island no one even knows about!”

 

“But you already posses power. Surely you don’t wish for more.”

 

“Of course I do.”

 

“Perhaps... perhaps our island’s most prized possession would appease you.”

 

“I’m listening. “

 

“Our sacred gem, the gem of Noloke.”

 

“What does it do?”

 

“Legend has it that it will unlock a person’s hidden power.”

 

“Well then, where is this gem?”

 

“It is right here,” the chief said handing Terry a small green gem. Immediately Terry flew into the air and set his entire body ablaze. Bright lights flashed and all around him were blinded. His true powers were unlocked just as he’d been promised.

 

Then, in a blast of pure energy he destroyed the villages that were on the island. “I said I wanted the damn sword. And if there’s one thing certain about me it’s that I don’t go back on my word.” Then he let out a little chuckle, which turned to malevolent laughter.

 

Hours later, across the globe Matt, Adam, and R.J met up at the science museum. Apparently it was their new hangout since no one returned to it because of the whole gas incident. Every one was scared that something else might happen if the return before at least a month. The boys knew this and took advantage of it.

 

They had already been there for an hour and learned that Nefarious wasn't the only one in town searching for the sword. It seemed that someone within in the S.D.B.E.C had a great deal of information on the sword. He'd even had scraps from a journal of one of the ancient warriors. The three boys read all that they could decipher.

 

Zero, being the one who came across it accidentally, read it. "Journal entry 14," he read. "My name is Aicigai and I my friends have just defeated Nefarious. We'd like to remain anonymous so don't bother looking up any of our names dear reader, they are all fake. You may not know it but Nefarious put up a terrible threat to the world and almost succeeded. However through the courageous efforts of Laitnengai and Ilectrigai he was defeated. I assisted them but I wish not to brag about our battle. This journal is to inform as I have previously stated. I know that in some distant time Nefarious will return and I wish to explain how to defeat him. The sword will unlock the key. The sword will reveal itself when the time arises. Search for it through my nearest point of powers, for only then will you ever defeat him. I wish you the best of luck but I fear, my time on earth is ov..."

 

"What happened?" Shocker asked.

 

"There's-" Zero paused. "There's no more. He must have died on the spot."

 

"Well that's just perfect." Shocker replied sarcastically. "How are we supposed to find the sword now?"

 

"Search through his powers," B.L cut in. "If I'm correct, it means look around their elements. And if Nefarious thought we were them then we must have their powers. And that means either electricity or ice. Seeing as it'd be impossible or rather improbable for the sword to just float in the sky whenever there's a rain storm, it must be somewhere snowy."

 

"Great," Zero said shutting the journal. "But that could be anywhere."

 

"He also said his nearest point of powers. That means the closest snowy place. And we all know where that is."

 

"So, when do we go?" Zero asked.

 

"Go where?" confused Shocker asked.

 

"The mountains dummy, we'll leave tomorrow after school."

 

“Mount Rushmore?” Shocker asked.

 

Ignoring him, Black Lightn’ spoke back to Zero. “Anyhow, we leave right after school, got it?”

"Hey wait a second," Zero began going off topic. "Where the heck do you go for school, isn't yours squashed?"

 

"Only one of the buildings was, so now every body's cramping into extra rooms while the construction team works on that building."

 

"Oh. Well let's go home now, it's like two in the morning." They all left out and went straight home to rest. They needed to rest if they were going to get the sword. And also, if they were going to deal with the other troubles that lay in store for them.

 

The next day Adam and Ray were on lunch break at school. They were playing a game of basketball when a large sixth grade boy came over to Ray. "Give me the ball you little b*****d," the kid demanded.

 

Ray looked at him like he was crazy. The kid was twice his size but Ray had a reputation for being able to fight. Like Matt, he was also a student of martial arts. He studied Japanese karate and was getting pretty good at it. "I don't know who the hell you think you're talking to but I'm not giving you crap," Ray said gripping the ball.

 

"Give me the damn ball you peanut-headed loser," the boy replied.

 

"Come on Ray, let's leave" Adam advised. He didn't to have to fight the kid because he already knew one real punch could kill him. And it would seem out of character because usually Ray had to protect him from bullies, not the other way around.

 

"No, we came here to play, and that's what we'll do," Ray stubbornly replied as he threw the ball into the hoop.

 

"You b***h a*s bum, you better give me the damn ball!" the kid said threatening Ray with a fist.

 

"Hell no," Ray replied. "And you better ease up out my face before something bad happens to you."

 

"What the hell are you going to do? I'll bust your peanut head right off your scrawny body."

 

"I may be small but I can guarantee you, you can't beat me."

 

"That a challenge?" the boy asked.

 

"No it's a promise."

 

"Well b***h," the boy said pushing Ray. "Show me what you got!"

 

Ray stumbled backwards and Adam caught him. He threw the ball down and balled his fists. "No Ray!" Adam warned. "It's not worth it, just let it go."

 

"No way!" Ray said pulling away. "I'm going to kick his a*s so hard he'll have to s**t through his mouth!" He rushed forward and punched the kid right in the fat face. Immediately blood poured from his nose. The other kids on the playground gathered around to see the fight. The crowd only pleased Ray and encouraged him to fight harder.

 

And fight harder he did. He stepped forward and pummeled the boy’s stomach and then quickly jabbed his face about seven times. The boy was beaten already but Ray continued to attack. He pounded his knee into the boy's stomach and tossed him to the ground. Then he stood over the boy and said "Don't mess with the champ, chump!"

 

By now someone had already alerted the school authorities and they were on their way. They took Ray and the boy to the principle's office and sent everyone else to class. Ray had gotten himself in deep trouble, and Adam couldn't do a thing to help. He was the only witness of why they were fighting but no one wanted to question him because they assumed he might lie to protect his brother.

 

While all of that nonsense was going on, across the town Matt was in trouble of his own. His English teacher Ms. Johnston gave him a "D+" on the finals. He was angry because he'd stayed up after he returned home the night before to study. He never studied for tests because he always did badly when he studied and did well when he didn't. But Ms. Johnston told his mom to make sure he studied for the test and his mother made him promise to study.

 

Matt was so angry that he promised himself he'd get her back. And he got his chance right then. Ms. Johnston was about to sit in her chair when he secretly used his powers to move the metal in the chair and made her fall on the fall. The entire class stopped and looked over at her and began laughing. Everyone except for Matt and another student named Antonio. Antonio rushed over to help her up because he had a crush on her seeing as she was a young teacher.

 

Just as Ms. Johnston stood up the class heard a loud explosion. Immediately the students dropped to the floor, except for Matt who rushed over to the window to see what had happened. A few other students soon accompanied him. There was a large puff of smoke in the distant sky. "Don't panic students," Ms. Johnston said crawling to the door.

 

The school's large speakers system beeped and the principle made an announcement. "Attention all staff and students" he began. "Evacuate the buildings but not the school. I repeat, evacuate the buildings but do not leave the school premises!" Immediately the students rushed out of the rooms following their teacher. Every class was soon outside and Matt saw his chance for escape.

 

He jumped on to a wall and kicked off and over the locked gate around the school. He threw his back into a tree and flew off unseen. This time he'd worn his entire costume under his clothes except for his mask and gloves which he put on while flying. He reached for his phone and called Adam and R.J.

 

R.J was already on his way and Adam was on a restroom break. Luckily he heard thee noise and asked for the pass right away. He got dressed in the restroom and prepared to fly out. But he ran into a kid everyone called "Poopbox" after he'd crapped on himself at school. Shocker almost started laughing at the terrified look on Poopbox's face. But he had no time to waste and he took off flying.

He met up with Zero and Black Lightn' in the sky. "It's Nefarious and Flame Master of course," Shocker said crossing his arms.

 

"So let's go smash them," Zero said.

 

"No," Black Lightn' said with firmness. "Zero, you need to go get the sword since cold is in your DNA. Me and Adam will handle this."

 

"What? I have to look for one stupid sword in the mountains alone?”

 

"Yeah, your DNA is cold resistant now," B.L said. " Besides, you’re the weakest, us two need to handle this right now. But go quickly, we may need it, both of their powers have doubled, I can feel it."

 

"Alright," Zero said taking off.

 

Shocker and B.L headed further down to meet Terry and Nefarious. "Well look who it is," Erif said. "The little punk who kicked me. I'm going to enjoy pulverizing you!"

 

"You're, different," Shocker said looking at Erif. He was right; Terry Erif was now blue and no longer controlled flames. His new power was water, and he loved it. He could transform himself into water at any given time and revert back in an instant. His costume was an exact invert of his original colors. And his hair was in dark blue spikes.

 

"That's right. I am different,” Erif replied.

 

"What did you do Erif?" Black Lightn' asked.

 

"So, you knew all along huh? Whatever. All I did was unlock my true power. And now you'll get a first-experience of it!" He blasted a powerful water ball right at Black Lightn'.

 

Meanwhile Zero was quickly racing to the mountains. His advanced body allowed him to breath even at the speed he was traveling. He made his way to the Black Hills, and saw a glimmering light. He rushed down to grab the sword and return to the battle. But the light turned out to be a mere tent pole reflecting the sun’s light.

 

Back at the battlefield Black Lightn’ and Shocker were in deep trouble. Terry Erif now known as Aquamaster blasted Black Lightn’ through a line of buildings. His rivulet of forceful water was dreadful and Black Lightn’ continuously crashed through buildings. Fortunately all of the citizens in the small part of town fled upon hearing the first explosion.

 

Next Aquamaster turned to Shocker and with out moving a finger he shot water from beneath him and sent him flying into sky. Shocker couldn’t move away nor could he breathe. Nefarious flew up and grabbed Shocker’s leg and whirled him around. Then he threw him directly at Black Lightn’.

Together Black Lightn’ and Shocker stood up with blood running from their eyebrows to their chins. Their Clothes were torn in various spots and their body ached all over. Black Lightn’ s right eye was shut tightly and Shocker’s nose was bleeding awfully. Black Lightn’ wiped his mouth and balled his fists tightly. “That all you got!” he shouted. “I am a warrior! I will not fall so easily!”

 

He dashed forward and generated a vigorous force around his body. His eyes blazed a bright white color and he packed all his might into his attack. He swung forth and pummeled Nefarious into the ground with a bombardment of stalwart punches. Shocker followed his example and he too stormed forward. With all his strength he charged his hands and hurled a series of dynamic blasts at Aquamaster.

 

Nevertheless their attacks, though powerful they were, turned out to be ineffective. Nefarious and Aquamaster both stood from the rubble in which they’d fallen with wicked laughter. It seemed that though they’d ascended beyond their original power levels, neither Shocker nor Black Lightn’ were strong enough to defeat the new and improved Nefarious and Terry Erif. That gem had affected them both too greatly; Matt and Adam stood no chance. But Black Lightn’ was warrior and he would not back down. Shocker was no coward either; he stood to fight alongside his cousin no matter the severe beatings that were unleashed upon him.

 

In the meantime Zero had finally spotted the actual sword! It was struck into the snow down below. Zero slid down to the sword and marveled at its splendor. “I thought the whole thing was fake,” he whispered as he reached for the sword. “But here it is.” The sword was about a yard in length and its handle was at least ten inches. It was made of what appeared to be pure silver and its handle was made of gold with a red silk tassel. There was a red diamond at the center of the guard on that began radiate a magnificent glow.

 

The glow radiated on his face and he slowly reached for the sword. His hands touched it all at once and immediately they were stuck. His eyes flashed a dark blue and color and energy rushed into his body. Compelled into his mind was a vision of a battlefield in which a tall, sturdy, rogue stood before a large blast of tremendous power. The intensity of the blast overwhelmed Zero, thus causing him to shout at the top of his lungs as the energy poured into him. “Aaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-eeyaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaahhhh!”

 

Throughout the town the howl could be heard. A devious smile came upon Aquamaster’s face at this sound. Shocker and Black Lightn’ had no time to worry about Zero, they had troubles of their own. Though they held firmly to their positions they would soon be unable to fight. What is this? Adam thought to himself. We were so strong and now we’re like flies to them! Perhaps if we had that blasted sword!

 

Adam is weak, Matt thought to himself. He’s losing his wits. He’s more worried about thinking about the fight than he is on trying to defend himself. I forgot, this fool is not familiar with fighting; he dropped out of the class in the first week while I continued on. Yes, now I see it, he relies more on his ability to blast and use energy than fighting with his fists, I should’ve figured that from my fight with him before. I guess thins will work out better if we use the same tactics, and since he won’t adapt to melee…

 

Matt slowly rose up both of his aching arms and began pulling in electrons in to his fists. His ribs ached as well due to a thrashing Nefarious had delivered upon them. “Double-Flash,” he shouted as the energy made itself visible as a small field. Nefarious and Aquamaster were not frightened by his threat to unleash his most powerful energy attack. The field grew three times its original size and Black Lightn’ noticed a fretful look on Aquamaster’s face.

 

“N-n-n-no!” Nefarious said backing away. “It’s impossible!” A small grin grew on Black Lightn’ s face. He was unaware that behind him stood the new and improved Zero! His power level was increased tenfold. He was now the strongest of The Legendary Warriors! “You are false, you have to be!”

 

“No Nefarious!” Zero shouted. Black Lightn’ turned to look up as his energy suddenly faded away there was Zero up upon his viaduct in the sky. His force radiated in the sky and his strength was certain to all. He stood valiantly looking down to Nefarious. But Black Lightn’ perceived it as if he was looking down on him!

 

“This ends now!” Zero said as he shot out a small beam of energy. The beam struck Aquamaster and froze nearly half of his body. Next he aimed both of his hands at Nefarious. “Here you go!” He charged his hands wit the water in the sky and a violent wind spun around his two hands.

 

“Not today child!” Nefarious said as he stood next to Aquamaster. “Not today. Shady withdrawal!” A dark cloud came about and in an instant he and Erif were gone. Though the war was still incomplete, Zero’s heart was at peace for the battle was won. He jumped down to help his friends up.

Shocker stood up and Zero looked to Black Lightn’. Black Lightn’ walked off in pain, heading somewhere unknown to the other warriors. Zero and Shocker just looked on as he flew up into the sky. Not worrying about him, R.J and Adam decided to go home. And yet another day ended for the Legendary Warriors.

 

Nefarious stayed in hiding for a few days and that allowed the boys to prepare for the fighting tournament they’d entered. Ray, being suspended, took advantage of his extra time and not only practiced his martial arts but tried to get stronger as well. Then at night he would go over and train with Matt. Adam and R.J felt no need to train, they already had the advantage so why even bother.

The day of the tournament soon arrived and the boys stood in the dojo stretching and preparing. They were one of three teams and as was required they had too match. They all wore black pants, and green t-shirts, and black sashes. On their right sides at the chests were badges with dragons on them; black for Matt, yellow for Adam, blue for R.J, and silver for Ray.

 

The tournament began with Adam’s fight first. He was fighting against a boy named Kevin Luy, a well-known child for his incredible speed and ability at his age. The two boys took their stances in the arena and stared each other down. “Begin!” the referee shouted tossing up a rag.

 

The boy stood and waited for Adam to attack. On a normal occasion Adam would have gladly taken first hit but now he was too strong. He needed to hold back his amazing strength so as not to kill the boy. I wanted to win by using defense, he thought to himself. But this kid isn’t doing anything! A minute passed and neither of them had yet attacked. Adam was frustrated because he knew if he attacked he would have to suppress his true force and hit weakly.

 

But Kevin gave him no choice. The crowd was growing impatient as well as riled. Adam charged forward and threw a light punch. The boy blocked and grabbed Adam’s arm and tried to throw him over. But Adam yanked back and punched the kid in the mouth, knocking a couple of teeth loose. Even while holding back Adam was too strong to fight a normal kid his age. The boy released Adam’s arm and fell backwards crying. The match ended as the referee jumped in to carry the fallen boy. No one saw it coming. The crowd cheered Adam because no kid his age had ever beaten Kevin.

But Matt and R.J already figured Adam would win. Next up was R.J, and he wasn’t exactly happy. His opponent was scrawny unlike the guy Matt would be fighting. “Step into the ring, R.J Storm of the dragons and Jason Adams of the tigers!” the ref called out. They two entered the arena with fists balled. “Begin!”

 

Jason rushed forward and jumped up to hit R.J’s face with a spinning axe kick. R.J grabbed his leg and flipped him back. Jason landed on his hands and began kicking as he walked towards R.J. This kid is stupid! R.J thought to himself. I guess this means I'll have to make this interesting by myself. He jumped forward to flip over Jason but one of Jason's crazy kicks got him. A direct hit to the groin sent R.J rolling on the ground.

 

R.J remained on the ground for a minute and the ref counted that as a forfeit. "He cheated!" R.J angrily protested. "No low blows!" But the refs denied it. They claimed that is was a stomach shot so it was fair. R.J angrily stormed into the rest room. “Next match," the referee called. "Matt Storm of the Dragons versus Javier Jimenez of the Tigers."

 

The two took their places in the arena. Matt looked at the kid and balled his fists. "Nothing personal," he began. "But I'm going to end our match quickly."

 

"¡Ninguna manera!" Javier said speaking Spanish. "¡Soy el campeón aquí! ¡Usted va a perder estúpido!" He looked at Matt with a smile on his face.

 

Matt had a sly smirk upon his face. "Estúpido, hablo Espanol," he replied. " ¡Y voy a ganar!" Javier just looked at him with angry face. Inside he felt stupid because Matt understood him. The referee called out "Begin" and they stood looking at each other.

 

Javier stepped forward and furiously threw all sorts of punches at Matt's head. But Matt dodged all of them. After swinging about thirty-two times Javier tried to kick Matt. Matt stepped aside and turned his back. Javier tried to kick him in the back but Matt moved again and punched him in the face. Javier went flying into the wall and the wall cracked. His face was bleeding severely but and he was rushed to medics.

 

The astonished ref declared Matt the champion. And Matt left the building. The crowd couldn't even cheer, they were still at shock. Even R.J and Adam were surprised that Matt would do such a thing. The only one who cheered was Ray. "Damn!" he shouted looking at the cracked wall. "That was tight! That was tight Matt! I'm going to do that on my turn!"

 

Speaking of which, his turn was next. "Ryan Kabooma of the Dragons versus Aisha El-Sherif of the Tigers" the ref called out. "This is the final match. If the Dragons wins this one they move on to fight the Cobras next week. Begin!"

 

Ray looked at Aisha with his balled. This isn't fair! He thought to himself. Why do I have to fight a girl? Last time I hit a girl my mom grounded me for a month. I'm way too strong to fight her! I can't fight her! No I won't fight her! I won't! "I won't fight her," he said. "I won't do it! She's a girl!"

 

"Is there something wrong with that?" She asked balling her fists. "You think you have to hold back on me cause I'm girl? You sexist b*****d!"

 

"No it's not that," Ray replied. "I just won't fight you."

 

"Well I will fight you!" She jumped forward and kicked him in the face. He was standing at the edge of the ring so he stumbled out of the boundaries. He'd lost! Aisha was the victor in this battle.

"Victory to the Tigers!" the ref shouted with a smile on his face.

 

Then another man came forth to make an announcement. "It seems that the two teams are at a tie. There can only be one winning team. Next week on the day the Cobras fight, Ryan and R.J will team up to fight Aisha and Jason. After their team battle the winning two along with their other partners will fight against the Cobras in one-on-one battles."

 

Everyone left including Adam, R.J, and Ray. "Way to go Ray," R.J sarcastically said. "You suck," he said pushing Ray. "Don't you do Karate or something?"

 

"Shut the hell up," Ray replied pushing him back. "You lost too dumb a*s!"

 

"Yeah but that's cause the f****t cheated! Low blows aren't allowed!"

 

"Shut up," Adam said. "Let's just go tell home and tell Matt what happened." For once R.J actually listened to Adam and they quietly walked home. Except for Ryan who stormed off somewhere else. He said he better things to do than hang out with two morons.

 

Adam took R.J to his house and the door was busted in. They looked inside and the furniture was all knocked over. They looked over and the TV was on the floor on the news channel. "And as eye witnesses say she was attacked by what appeared to be a monster..." the news reporter continued. "Teresa Elec now lies at Badlands Hospital, where she is under the care of our best doctors. But the questions on everyone's minds are: will she live? Who's behind this? Why? And who's next?"

 

"Nefarious!" Adam yelled.

 

"He knows who we are," R.J said balling his fists. "We have to find him now."

 

"No! I'm going to go see my mom first, then Nefarious dies!"

 

"Okay, I'll call Matt and tell him to meet us there." He pulled out his phone and called Matt.

Across the city Matt's phone rang playing 'One Step Closer' by Linkin Park. "What," Matt said answering the phone.

 

"We got trouble," R.J replied.

 

"So."

 

"So? It's your freak'n aunt! Nefarious figured out who we are and he put her in the hospital! Adam's house is torn up and we're headed to the hospital on his and Ray's bikes."

"Nefarious huh? Alright, I'm on my way." He hung up his phone and headed out. He flew up into the sky to look for the hospital. He was flying with great speed when he noticed a couple of thugs robbing a liquor store. "Why now? Why do you creeps always choose the worst times to do this crap?"

 

B.L flew down to attack the criminals. He wasn’t happy to be interrupted! Those criminals were in for the shock of their lives. And B.L was also in for a surprise. A woman in an all pink jumpsuit flew out and captured the thugs with her net-gun. She had jets installed at the bottom of her red boots. Her long red hair reached out from behind the mask she wore. Her utility belt was full of dreadful weapons. Her Dark eyes could be seen through the two eyeholes she had.

 

The criminals struggled to get free but their efforts were in vain. The woman looked up to Black Lightn’ and aimed her gun at him. “You’re next!” she said. She shot her gun and a net headed straight for him. He dashed behind her and grabbed her arms.

 

“Nice try lady,” B.L said. “But I’m a warrior, I will not be taken so easily.”

 

“Every criminal can be caught!” she said breaking free. She spun around and aimed her gun at him.

 

“Look if you’re not going to put that toy away I’m going to have to break it,” Black Lightn’ said as he used his electromagnetic to pull the gun away from her. He clasped his hand shut and the gun crumbled in the air. He looked at her with a devious smile as she began pulling out more weapons. “More toys? You really want to play with me don’t you? Well then, let’s play tag shall we?” He flew off into the sky knowing that the lady would follow.

 

She chased him around in a high speed midair chase through the city. The twisted and turned around buildings and street lights. She blasted at him with another net-gun she had. But he spun around and shot through the net with his electric power blasts. “Come on you can do better than that!” he said flying off again.

 

She adjusted her jets to the highest setting and she quickly began to catch up to B.L. She was within arms reach of his legs. She stretched out her arms and grabbed his left foot. But he’d let her catch up; it was a part of his plan. He flipped over and she went hurtling to the ground. She was inches away from a small grocery market when she flipped over and her jet boots shot her forward into the air.

 

She flew up into a harsh blow. Black Lightn’ grabbed her face and pummeled her into the ground. He stood up over and said, “We’re done. You’re no good at this hero business. Besides, I’m not a criminal, you dolt, I’m a hero.” He flew off to go to the hospital.

 

The woman stood up pulled out a couple of mini-grenades from her weapons belt. Black Lightn’ looked out of the corner of his eye and saw her toss the grenades. “You’re no hero!” she shouted. “You’re just a –“

 

B.L instantly flashed behind her. “A freak?” he asked.

 

The grenades exploded in midair and the woman watched with dissatisfaction. “Damn you,” she said as Black Lightn’ grabbed her arms behind her back. “What do you want?”

 

“Listen Erif,” B.L spoke in a firm voice. “I didn’t put this suit on so you could harass me like you did my partners. Now either you’re going to go back to being an average cop, or I’m going to blast you into oblivion.”

 

“I will NEVER go back!” she spoke as she fruitlessly tried to get out of Black Lightn’ s grasp. “You damn monsters ruined my brother, my career, and my entire being! There used to be pride in the Erif name. Now there’s shame in even the mere thought of it! And all because you b******s walk around with your freakish powers.”

 

“Look at yourself woman,” B.L said releasing her. “You’ve turned yourself into this. You’ve become a monster, not me.”

 

“No! You are a freak and I will exterminate you! Nefarious and my brother will destroy you and afterwards we will rule a pure world, with a perfect race of pure people.”

 

“Let me guess, blue eyes and what not.”

 

“Mock me now, but you will see. You freaks will be beaten!”

 

“Not before you.” He lifted his hand and slapped her and she fell to the ground. She tried to pull out another weapon but B.L noticed it and crushed it. He encased her in a field of electricity and swung her from his hands. Then he threw her off into the distance. So both of the Erifs are in an allegiance with Nefarious? Black Lightn’ thought to himself. Well then that means there’s a much larger plot than we originally thought. I’ll have to tell the others about this later on.

 

At that moment Adam was making his way to his mother’s room. He found the door and ran inside. “Mom!” he said rushing over to his mother.

 

“Come closer my dear,” she spoke.

 

“My what big feet, you have mother,” Adam said crossing his arms. He noticed that the person sitting in the bed had over sized feet, a scar on the wrong side of the face, and on top of it all, her Adam’s mom had short hair, the person on the bed had long hair. “Gee grandma, you should’ve found a better disguise. I know my mother Nefarious. You can’t fool me.”

 

“Hahaha, you will find that you don’t me either!” He reached out his arm and it stretched like a large spring. His entire body changed to the form of a male again. It was a bulky body, wrapped up in black and gray cloth. His red eyes glowed and as he grabbed Adam by his throat and swung him through the wall. He held Adam dangling above the ground from six stories in the air. “You don’t know me at all. I can and will drop you. Or I could just strangle you to death!”

 

“You-don’t- know me,” Adam struggled as he tried to get a breath of air. He put his fists at his side and charged his entire body. The electricity surrounded his entire and his capturer released him. Adam floated in the air and his energy enveloped him in a continuous flow of static. “I’m a warrior, remember that!”

 

“Hmm…” the evil wrapped man spoke. “Perhaps you were underestimated. This mistake shall not be repeated.” A black fog came about the man and he vanished. The fog however remained. It was steadily growing into a large cloud.

 

Alarmed by the sight of the dark cloud, Adam called Black Lightn’ to notify him. “Hey Matt, we got trouble!” he began.

 

"R.J told me, Nefarious attacked your mom," B.L replied.

 

"No, this wasn't Nefarious."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I don't know but it was some new guy. He looked like a black mummy."

 

"What?" Matt asked over the roaring wind.

 

"Yeah he just vanished and suddenly there's this black cloud here. It's growing and it's really weird, like I see through it but then at the same time I can't. Just come over here!"

 

"Where's R.J?"

 

"He's on his way, I kinda' left him in the dust when I thought my was hurt."

 

"Alright well, I'm on my way. As-salamu-alaikum."

 

"Wa-alaikum-mussalam." Just as Adam hung up his phone R.J busted through the door. "Hey R.J come look at this smoke."

 

"Next time," R.J began as he stopped to catch his breath. "Let's just go hero form and fly over here."

 

"You can't fly. And besides, then we'd have to change back before we came to see her!"

 

"So where is she?"

 

"I don't know but there was this goon in here that attacked me. I thought it was Nefarious but then after I shocked him he just vanished."

 

"Strange."

 

"Yeah and now there's this cloud here."

 

"Well it may be a trap so let's just try to avoid it for a while."

 

"Oh, well then I'll call Matt and tell him everything is cool now." Adam pulled his phone back out and called Matt again. "Matt?"

 

"Yeah," Matt answered. "What now?"

 

"Nothing you don't need to come over anymore. R.J came and checked it out and said it's fine."

"Good because Ricky just called me. He said we need to go work on our project. As-salamu-alaikum."

"Wa-alaikum-mussalam." Matt landed behind a building and put his street clothes over his costume. He ran out and headed to Ricky's house. Ricky lived in the same apartments as Matt and Adam. He was a short walk away and Matt made it to his house in a minute.

 

"Matt," Ricky said opening the screen door he had. I had a brilliant idea."

 

"What is it this time?"

 

"Well, you see, one of my sigma brother's works at his mom's restaurant. I got him to get us reserved seats so we can go eat and talk later on tonight."

 

"That's your genius idea?"

 

"No, no but look. I'm not going to show up, just you and Sara are! That's the genius; she'll never see it coming. You guys will be alone on a technical not date. But it will be like one."

 

"Nah, I'd rather not do that."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because it just doesn't seem right. And besides, she'll probably figure it out."

 

"Dude you've got to chance it."

 

"Why do you care so much?"

 

"Because, if you get to go on a date with her you can see that no one is as great as you make her out to be. Then you'll stop drooling over her and we can actually work without me having to do it all."

 

"Look man, just, just show up alright?"

 

"Fine, but you're missing out."

 

"So now what? If we're not here to work what are we supposed to do?"

 

"Well actually your dad was looking for you. He told me to tell you to go home when I see you."

 

"Oh. Well alright then, I'm going home."

 

"Peace." Matt ran home and busted through the door. Unfortunately he was met with an angry face. He was supposed to be at home doing chores. But instead he'd snuck off to go to the tournament that his parents didn't even know about. He had to get to work immediately so that he could be finished in time to meet Ricky and Sara at the restaurant.

 

Hours later Matt rushed to the restaurant after getting directions from Sara; Ricky had no cell phone and he wasn't at home so Matt called her. He put on a pair of black pants and threw his black sweater over a t-shirt and ran as fast as he could. Down the street he raced over to Queso Queen, the restaurant.

 

He walked inside the doors three minutes later, even though the restaurant was thirty miles away from his house. He looked around until he spotted Sara sitting at a table alone. Oh no, Matt thought to himself. Please don't do that stupid plan Rick, just show up! I can't be alone with Sara E. And, whoa! She's beautiful! He was right. She had taken the time to get dressed up in some of her best clothes. She had a long blue dress and little diamond earrings on. Her shoes were also blue and she wore a beautiful gold necklace as well.

 

Matt was astounded and at the same time embarrassed. She was dressed fancily while he was dressed to just walk around. He slowly made his way over to her table to sit with her. "Ricky didn't uhh, show up yet?" he asked as he slid into his seat.

"No, I thought he was coming with you."

 

"Hmm, well I guess we'll have to wait then."

 

"So...any ideas yet?"

 

"No, none uhh none yet."

 

"Seriously?"

 

"Well I had one but it's kind of dumb."

 

"Let me here it."

 

"Well uhh, I was thinking. In honor of the, the uh, the legendary warriors we could like make something electrical or something."

 

"Hm, that'd be pretty cool. Yeah, that's not so dumb."

 

"Are you going to order?" an impatient waiter asked. "This is not a hangout, you either eat or you leave."

 

"Don't mind him," a waitress said as she pushed the waiter aside. "That's my rude brother. He doesn't realize that you two are the friends his sigma brother was talking about. Don't worry; we're already working on your order. I'll be back in five okay." She pushed her brother to the kitchen and smiled at Matt and Sara as she walked off.

 

"What does she mean working on our orders?" Sara asked.

 

"I guess Ricky called ahead and ordered our food for us. That idiot always does stupid stuff like that. He thinks it's helping."

 

"Oh, well it is pretty nice of him."

 

"I guess. Anyhow, did he tell you when he'd be getting here?"

 

"Probably never," Sara replied with a big smile on her face.

 

Matt's phone began to ring playing 'One Step Closer' by Linkin Park. "Hello?" Matt answered. "No, I'm at a restaurant with a friend. Why? Seriously? Alright, just calm down. Just calm down Adam, I'm on my way. Alright I'll see you in a few."

 

"Who was that?"

 

"My cousin. Listen I uhh, I got to-"

 

"Your food," the waiter said setting down a plate of food. It had a large steak shaped like a heart with a side of mashed potatoes and salad. "The Lovers' Special, courtesy of an anonymous gentleman."

 

"Wait what?"

 

"Well it is our specialty and since you are on a date a nice gentleman ordered you a Lovers' Special."

 

"But we- we're not on a-" Matt mumbled

 

"Are you saying you don't want it?"

 

"Well it looks good but we-we're not on a d-d-date."

 

"Just eat Matt," Sara cut in.

 

"I, I got to go. It's uhh it's-"

 

"Kind of rude that you'd just leave me here," Sara said with a smile on her face. Next time you want a date just ask, don't set me up and then leave."

 

"What?"

 

"I'm not an idiot. You and Ricky planned this so that you and I could be alone. I had suspicions that you'd do something like this for a while. And I was right. I figured you out so don't even try to deny it."

 

"Uhh, darn it! I had hoped you didn't." Rick is dead when I see him! "Well, I still have to go so umm... catch you later."

 

"Wait," she said as she stood up. We walked over to him with a smile on her face. "You forgot something."

 

"What?"

 

She leaned forward and gave him a little peck on the lips and started back for her seat. "That. I'll see you later Matt." Matt stood there silently as if he'd just seen a ghost. He had a dead stare on his face from shock. He would have never expected that kiss. He couldn't even think at the moment, he was totally blank.

 

Then his phone began to ring again and he snapped out of his dream world. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. He put it back in his pocket and turned around. He began running towards the door. He ran out and kept running until he reached a dark alley. He charged up and put on his costume. Then he flew up in to the sky, which still contained all the black smoke. He pulled out his phone and called Shocker. "Shox, I'm on my way!"

 

"Well hurry up, we're dealing with Nefarious this time."

 

"Got it!" Black Lightn' sped up, zooming through the city with a small field of energy surrounding him.

Meanwhile just above the dark park Shocker and Zero were fighting with Nefarious. They'd been fighting for a while and Shocker was already badly beaten up. Zero wasn't doing so well either. Nefarious was beating the two by a long shot. He grabbed Shocker's face and threw him straight into the ground. As he hit the ground Shocker was knocked unconscious.

 

Zero fought on however. Nefarious punched him continuously in the face and then grabbed him by the hair and swung him into a building. Zero crashed through the building and flipped up to his feet. He looked around for Nefarious in every direction. The building was completely empty. Then, out of the darkness Nefarious reached out and grabbed Zero's throat. Zero quickly lost his breath and Nefarious continued pressing and punching.

 

Zero began to cough up blood and his vision was blurring. Nefarious let go of his throat and punched him through the walls. He wanted to torture him more and death would have been an easy escape. Zero crashed through the wall and hit the floor so hard that the wind from the impact knocked back the cars and other objects around. He was standing at the bottom of a large crater. He stood up quaking as blood dripped down his body and ripped costume.

 

His determination to beat Nefarious kept him alive and able. "I...will...not give...up," he said under his breath. He balled his fists tightly and tightened up his entire body. "I won't let you get away!" His veins began to show on his face and his eyes began to turn blue. His energy level was quickly increasing. "I will not give up!" His muscles even began to grow and he was slowly changing in appearance. "I will not give uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!”

In a sudden rush Zero’s energy raised up to a level beyond imagination. His power had become so vast that it was visible in a large field that whirled around him and the wind forced back everything and the houses began to crumble. The rocks were twirled up into the air in his field of energy.

He swiftly flew up into the air with a force so strong that Nefarious was bewildered. He punched Nefarious and energy burst out so far that the remaining buildings collapsed. Nefarious flew up and Zero soon followed. He hammered his elbow in Nefarious’s back. Nefarious plummeted towards the ground but before he could hit it Zero flew under him and slammed his knee into his stomach. Then he flipped over and kicked Nefarious’s back.

 

Nefarious got awfully close to the ground but Zero dashed under him and punched him in the face, sending him back into the air. Then he pummeled his ribs with a great many punches that possibly broke some bones. He spun around and slammed his elbow into Nefarious’s face. The hit was so forceful that Nefarious spiraled through the air. Then Zero dashed behind him and charged up his power and shot out a small ball of black snow.

 

The snow blast began to glow bright blue and small ice spikes began to reach out. Then in an ice spike manifold of power they flew out and they all stabbed into Nefarious. Hundreds of many tiny spikes of ice pierced his skin. Nefarious was shot so far back that Zero couldn’t see him. It was very fortunate that Nefarious was knocked back because it was at that point that Zero ran out of energy.

He fell to the ground beside Shocker. He laughed as he shook about and coughed. Then he fell down in pain. He and Shocker were safe for the moment. They were both unconscious and both in pain.

 

Just a minute after Zero passed out Black Lightn’ showed up to the scene. He looked around the battlefield and was astonished. But the black smoke Shocker had warned of still bothered him. It didn’t seem to be doing any harm but it still grew larger and larger, as if it would soon engulf the earth. And what seemed even more bizarre was that everything it was over was destroyed in some manner, even if it had been a result from the fight.

 

Black Lightn’ walked over to Shocker and Zero lying on the floor. “No way Nefarious would have spared them,” Black Lightn’ said to himself. “But that means they must’ve won. That must be why I can’t sense Nefarious’s power anymore. But that means either Adam or R.J accomplished it. Adam’s power was too weak when I last contacted him, so it was R.J. It was R.J who reached it. It was supposed to be me. How could such a loser have beaten me? I was supposed to be the true legendary warrior! Not some little clown like R.J. He’s not fit to become turn ultimate; he didn’t even know how to use his powers. Yet somehow that bozo was the one ultimate warrior, not me. Damn it!”

 

“Matt is that you?” Shocker said sitting up. Black Lightn’ looked down at him and flew off. “Where are you going?” But B.L didn’t look back to answer. He just kept on flying. Shocker turned over to Zero and tried to wake him up. He knew that the people would soon return and try to bother them. Zero, however was still out cold. So Shocker had to carry him on his shoulder. Shocker was still weak from the fight so he struggled to fly while carrying Zero.

 

He took Zero back to their hangout. There he would wait for R.J to wake up. While R.J slept Adam decided to look after his own wounds, hoping R.J would do the same when he awakened. There was a small medical supplies room down in the hall. Adam remembered reading the sign on the door when he and R.J first got chased in the building.

 

He walked down to the room guiding himself with the faint light he’d made with electricity. All of the buildings lights were blown out from when he fought Matt. He slowly made his way to the room, still aching from the pain of his last battle. But finally he reached the room and yanked the door off. He stepped inside and began searching through the items for alcohol wipes. Meanwhile R.J was still lying on the floor next to the window.

 

Lightning struck just outside and the rain began to fall. The sound of rain delighted Adam because he now knew that those clouds weren’t impenetrable. The rain poured down on the city in a large sum. Matt was sitting on a wall on the other side of town. He just sat there as the rain poured down on his face. His angry thoughts overcame him and he stood and shot out a large blast of electricity as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

 

The next day Matt found himself lying on a floor familiar to him. Across the room lie Adam and R.J. Standing in the doorway was none other than Ricardo. “Bout time you woke up,” Ricky said as reached a hand out to help Matt up. “Sara said you ditched her last night.”

 

“What?” Matt asked as he sat up.

 

“She said you just got up and ran off. “

 

“No way. These to needed my help so I had to leave, I told her that.”

 

“Well she thinks you chickened out and ran off. So you might want to go clear things up with her.”

“Damn it. I guess I’ll go now.” Matt stood up and ran out the door. He wasn’t even thinking about the fact that he left his cousins there. After all, it was their idea to go there. Adam thought that he could get them out of trouble by saying that they’d spent the night at a friend’s house and Ricky was glad to help.

 

“Wait Matt,” Ricky called. “I meant after breakfast!” But it was too late. Matt had already jumped down the stairs and took off running. He kept on running even in the darkness the black clouds created and the wetness from the water the previous rainfall had left. He was determined to fix at least this problem.

 

He ran up to her door and gently knocked on it. But there was no answer. He knocked again but still, no answer. He looked out back for the car her mother drove and it wasn’t there. He started to walk off when he heard laughter from inside the house. He looked in through the window and saw Sara sitting on a chair talking on a phone. He knocked on the window but she paid no attention.

He started to knock again but then he heard her speak his name. Now he was going to listen to her conversation. Maybe she was talking about how much she liked him. Or maybe she still misunderstood what had happened the night before and was telling someone else about it. Either way, Matt was going to stand and listen.

 

“Yeah I know,” she said talking on the phone. “And every time I talk to him he starts mumbling and stuttering. I know right! He’s so weird. And then he’s a Muslim so that kind of trips me up too. Yeah I know! No way! That loser, never! I’m only in his group so him and his friend could get me a decent grade. He like skipped two grades and his friend is on honor roll so they’re both pretty smart. Yeah, but he’s so stupid in everything else. Yeah I know! Yeah, he tried to trick me into going on a date with him. Yeah I know! Talk about no life right. I know what a loser. I’ll just let him down easy after the project is done. I know really. How could he not know I never liked him, not even as a friend? Yeah I- I totally know.”

 

Matt dropped to the ground with anger and regret. How could I have been so stupid? he thought to himself. She was just messing around with me and I fell for it. Well no more, she’ll be out of my group before tomorrow. He stood up and walked over to the door. He tried to look like he hadn’t heard her conversation and knocked on the phone. “Hi Matt,” Sara said as she opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I came by to umm…say thanks.”

 

“Thanks? For what?”

 

“Well, the time that you were in my group you really taught me something.”

 

“Were? What’s this all about? And what did I teach you?”

 

“Well you taught me that in this world people can be animals too. Three types in fact. There are b*****s, asses, and pigs. Guess which one you are.”

 

“What? What are you talking about? And since when do you cuss?”

 

“Here’s the deal Sara, you’re not in our group anymore.”

 

“What? Why not?”

 

“Hmm, well because we never liked you, you’re a jerk, you’re not a smart person, you’re lazy, you wait on others to do work for you. Find one you like yet? I can keep going.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about Matt?”

 

“Let me say this in a language you might understand. You’re totally not in our group you know. I know what you were just saying, you know? You know, you really shouldn’t be so careless.”

 

“You were eavesdropping?”

 

“No, I was here to fix things up but now I see the only messed up thing here is you.”

 

“What the hell?”

 

“I don’t need you anymore; I don’t want to be ignored. I don’t need one more day of you wasting me way. I’m out of here.” Matt turned his back and began to walk off.

 

“Fine then. I got smart friends that’ll help me. And I got friends and a brother to beat you up!”

 

Matt turned back and smiled. “I would gladly fight them,” he said balling his fists. “If it would hurt you to see them in the hospital or dead, then by all means I would fight them. And I dare them to bring weapons; I’ll come alone with none and still wipe the floor with them.”

 

“What the hell? You’re freak’n weird!”

 

“And you’re freak’n stupid.” Matt continued walking home until he heard Sara shut her door. He then took to the sky as he thought about what’d just happened. He was in disbelief that he didn’t know what she was doing. He flew off in rage about how his life was going at the moment.

 

Meanwhile across town his three cousins were all at home. Ray was training for the tournament. He was determined to destroy his opponent the very next time they fought. Adam also joined him in training; he figured he could stand to get a little stronger as well. R.J sat at home thinking about his last fight with Nefarious. He realized that he’d gone beyond his limits into a new state. A state he’d call being a Hyper Warrior. Yes, he’d become the legendary Hyper Warrior, which Matt was determined to become.