Black Star

4 - Black And White

"So, what do you think?" Sapphire asked, turning around to face a mirror to study her new superhero costume.

She had just tried it on for the first time, and she was rather impressed with how it looked. The blue fabric was tight around her waist, and the design was sleek and classy. She loved the star logo on the chest, which was slightly raised from the rest of the material. The gloves and boots were also very stylish, and she could tell that they would both add to her fighting skills.

"Looks great!" Stevens exclaimed, looking at his own reflection in the process. "Didn't think you'd actually manage to finish it!"

"Well, I did," Batsy shrugged. "And don't worry, you won't be seeing anyone else wearing this. I'll make sure of that!"

Sapphire giggled. "That's sweet of you, Hassan."

"Anyway, it's getting late," Batsy continued. "I need to get home to Uzma."

"Oh yeah?" Sapphire frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Batsy replied, glancing down. "We had a little argument but... I managed to sort it out."

"I'm glad to hear that," Sapphire nodded. "Take care!"

"Same to you!" Batsy smiled.

Sapphire waved goodbye to Batsy before she headed towards the door. With her new hero suit on and her clothes in a backpack which Odeh lent her, Sapphire decided to do some patrolling. She wanted to see if she could find any other criminals who needed catching, or even any members of The Skull-Cheqs that needed to be taken out.

However, as soon as she left Hellford Laboratories, Sapphire realised that something wasn't right. There was something strange about the night; she could feel it in her bones. Something bad was coming... And fast.

After walking past several homes and shops, Sapphire noticed that there were a lot more people out than usual. They seemed to be doing all sorts of things, from heading to the gym to going to the supermarket. It made her wonder where they were all going at such a late hour... Then again, maybe it was a normal occurrence. Or perhaps this was just another day in London.

Then, Sapphire heard a loud bang. As Sapphire made her way towards the noise, she soon came across a group of thugs harassing an old man. He seemed to be homeless, and he was being pushed out of the way by four younger men. They were wearing the same black and white chequered outfits as the thugs from yesterday, with matching helmets and skull logos too.

"Hey!" Sapphire shouted. "Leave him alone!"

The thugs turned around at the sound of Sapphire's voice, and they immediately spotted her outfit. However, they didn't seem to care. Instead, they revealed identical baseball bats before aiming them towards Sapphire, while one of them sniggered arrogantly.

"Don't ya know what we're gonna do with ya, girlie?" One of them laughed.

Before Sapphire could react, the thug leapt forward and swung his bat at her. She blocked it easily, but then he used the momentum to knock her back against a wall. In response, two more of the grunts sprinted forward while the fourth held the homeless man to the ground. The gang grabbed the woman's arms and legs, holding her in place so that she couldn't move. She tried to use her gravitational powers to push the attackers away, but one of them instantly thwacked their bat into the alien's gut before she was able to do anything.

"Ugh!" Sapphire coughed.

Without warning, the thugs began to laugh.

"You think you're tough, huh?" One of the men remarked. "Well, let's put your 'toughness' to the test!"