Sam and Dr. Mackinder are walking on a sidewalk discussing their lives. This mainly relates to their jobs and how they're going.
"So, how's it going with you, Mr. Wiseman?" Sam started like she usually does following up with comments from Bradford.
"It's going well at the institution."
"That's cool. Well, I've been doing good at my job. I swear, Alex is kicking ass in the sales market right now, and I'm sure as hell gonna get her new volume in stock as soon as it comes out!" The gal proudly states whilst continuing her walk with Brad.
"Indeed, you are a big fan of Alex's work."
"Hell yeah! Who in Fic-City isn't?!" Sam proudly asks, making Bradford chuckle.
"Yo guys!" Sam shouts happily.
"He-Hey!" Nevin called out proudly.
"Hey there, Sam!" Greets one of Sam's friends.
"Sup, Heather," Sam said before she takes her seat next to the psychologist.
"What could I get you, fine fellows?" Nevin said whilst taking out his notepad.
"Our usual. Duh," Sam said for the two of them.
"Duh. Same for you, Wiseman?" Nevin asks Bradford.
"Why yes, Nevin," Bradford said.
"Got it," Nevin said before giving their order to Heather.
"Alright, Heather! Got your first order since your break three months ago!"
"Comin' up!" Heather and Nevin get to work towards serving other customers whilst getting the order for their most valued costumers ready.
"How is the new series selling?" Bradford asked Sam.
"Oh, it's sellin.' The Checkered Swordsman's third issue of its "Magenta Magma" miniseries is breaking records. And now that it's at my store, my business is gonna go up to the big leagues!" Sam shouts with her hands pumped into the air.
"Just be sure to not let this new fame go to your head, Samantha," Bradford said with a stern look. After rubbing the back of her head for a few seconds, Sam nods in agreement with his statement.
"Yeah. Never doin' that again." After those seconds pass, Sam checks her phone to see if Dennis is coming to their weekly lunch or not.
"Where the hell's Dennis? Isn't he on his break?" Sam asked in a confused manner. Bradford chimed in with his own choice of words regarding the situation.
"Why yes. He's usually here by now." The two glance here and there to the restaurant's two doors for entrance before speaking to each other once again.
"Well, he's probably doing more work," Bradford concludes.
"Yeah," Sam said after a scoff.
"Samantha, when he comes here, don't pester him," Bradford warned sternly yet again. He hates it when those two fought. After all, not a whole lot could get those two riled up and start screaming their heads off at each other. Video games. Comics. Sam's carelessness. Their favorite foods. Coffee being good or bad for them. Dennis' professionality. And the current issue regarding one of Dennis' relationships. It gets tiring, plain and simple.
"Ok. But, you gotta admit-"
"Sam. I agree. However, we can't rush it. For you see-"
"Everybody down on the ground!" A man shouts. Everyone hid under the tables as five armed men waltzed into the restaurant. Children held on tightly to their parents as the families did what they could to shield them from harm's way. Things seemed like they could escalate into a blood bath at any given moment if not for a particular manager storming up to the robbers.
"What the hell do you punks want?!" The man demands angrily.
"Money! Now!" The ringleader barked as he points a plasma gun to the man's face. Unalarmed, the man continues his diatribe.
"You punks don't scare me! Get out of my restaurant before-" The ringleader cocks the gun, immediately telling the restaurant's owner he's not to be trifled with. He even says so himself.
"You're not the one's makin' demands, Terry!" One of the robbers looked upon Heather sternly as Heather looked on with pure stillness. Sam, angered that Heather has to deal with that crap again, is tempted to attack the man but Bradford silently tells her not to throw her life in danger. Sam is forced to stand down as the robbers pondered around waiting for their boss to talk the guy into giving them the money. Out of all the chaos occurring right now, the empty bathroom is the safest haven right now. At least until five certain teens silently enter through the ventilation shaft. Placing it down on the ground, Jayden and Asori converse on how they'll best stop the robbers without any casualties.
"Ok, we got five guys all armed. What's the best course of action, Asori?" Jayden asks sternly.
"Well, from what we saw on our way up here, we'll need to rob 'em blind and take 'em out as quickly as possible," Asori said as focused on getting her aura ready.
"Good plan, smarty," Shadow Bird quips which therefore makes Asori giggle a bit. Ashley and Aubrey silently crack their knuckles as the team prepares their attack. However, a sendoff sound from a phone is what stops them in their tracks. Turning around, the team walk silently towards the bathroom door where the sound came from. Tapping the door slightly, the door revealed a scared boy, someone who just messaged the police. The teens saw the fear in this kid's eyes like no one else could. Jayden knelt to the boy in an immediate response to this fear. A softer tone soon redates from Jayden's mouth as a means of further calming the boy's fears
"Hey, it's ok." The boy didn't have a ton of strength to look them in the eye. He didn't want these guys to be mad at him. He tried to go to the bathroom and get out of there, but those robbers scared him senseless. What are these guys gonna say to him? Or are these big kids just gonna make fun of him for his hiding strategy?
"We're not gonna hurt you," Jayden said stoically but quietly. The teens know they can't do some grand speech to calm this kid down. So, they'll just try and give him a few words of encouragement.
"Everything's going to be ok, kid," Shadow Bird said with a smile as he too knelt beside Jayden.
"Look, we just need you to stay here and not make a sound, ok?" Ashley sweetly said whilst smiling and kneeling too.
"But good job for calling the police, kid," Asori said as she copied everyone else.
"Yeah. We'll come back for you as soon as those guys are gone, ok?" Aubrey inquired whilst copying everyone else too. The young boy nodded more calmly as the team of young teens made their way to the door.
"Thank you," The team nod to him in a happy manner as they made their way to their mission.
"Clock's tickin,' Terry," The ringleader said impatiently.
"Look, you punks aren't getting shit from my inheritance. My great grandfather started this business, and-"
"Ohh, here it comes! Here it comes, everyone! The typical sob story!" The ringleader mocked whilst holding the gun to Terry's head.
"I'm gonna count to five. And you'd best lead me to the safe before I end at five."
"You won't need to." The man turns to see five teens he hadn't seen before. Come to think of it, not anyone, except for three particular people, had seen these kids walking the streets before.
"Huh, and who the hell are you five supposed to be?" The ringleader demands casually.
"People who are gonna kick your ass if you don't walk away right now. Nuff said," Ashley said in a straightforward tone. The ringleader and two of his other lackeys chuckled along with him. Are these kids serious right now?
"T-That was a good joke. And your faces." The chuckling ceased when Shadow Bird cracked his knuckles.
"Ok, I don't know if you're aware of this, 'specially you Batman, but you're not the ones holding guns," The criminal ringleader said whilst now holding the gun up to the ringleader of this new group.
"So, let me tell ya this. You kids walk away, we peacefully get our money, and who knows, we'll probably meet up again later." The team didn't budge. They only stood there stoically as they waited for their fight to happen.
"Ohh, I'm so scared," The ringleader chuckles before Jayden held up his fingers.
"Whatcha gonna do, boy? Summon some magical powers to stop the big bads such as us?" The whole team couldn't help but chuckle as everyone else stood there in shock. What were these kids doing? This is dangerous. They could get killed. The team, however, didn't care. Snapping his fingers, Jayden signaled Aubrey to snatch their guns away from them and throw them onto the floor. One of them even broke upon impact. All five cocky thugs lost their laughter. It's instead replaced by looks of pure shock and clear fear. Even the customers and staff themselves had their eyes widened at the sight of this bold move. The criminals looked around to see the teens looking at them. They were ready as hell. As the teens got into their fighting positions, the ringleader could only say one thing.
"Crap." Jayden took this as an opportunity to sucker punch the man in the face. He then followed up this cheap shot with a roundhouse kick to the man's jaw. This caused the ringleader to fall to the floor on impact. The rest of the group advanced on the remaining four thugs as Ashley uppercut one man in the chin which knocked him out instantly. Shadow Bird grabs one thug's arm, breaks it, and kicks him onto the ground. Aubrey scissor kicks one man in the nuts followed up by Aubrey kicking the guy in the stomach and kneeing him in the stomach. The guy nearly vomits but is prevented from doing so by Aubrey elbowing him in the face, knocking him out. Asori twirls around graciously before she does a reverse roundhouse to the remaining thug's temple.
"Everyone alright?!" Jayden shouts with concern to the patrons present. Shadow Bird cuffs up the thug he just beat up as the police soon arrived at the scene. They would've had their guns drawn on the thugs trying to rob the place. Sadly for a few, five brave yet stupid kids had just cleaned the place of thugs.
"We'll be right back, sir," The young blue hooded teen said as he leads the team into the bathroom they came from. Commissioner Lovecraft, Lieutenant Carter, and Officer Nathan couldn't help but be confused by this sudden move.
"Told ya we'd be back," The voice of Shadow Bird said to the boy who now raised his head to his heroes. Smiling, the young man walked up to the leader as he, holding the boy by his hand, leads him out of the bathroom. The father ran up to his son and hugged him with all of his might. Giving his head a few kisses, the man looked upon his saviors with joy and a few tears in his eyes.
"Thank you." The teens smiled graciously to the man. Taking his son home, the man held his son as the duo exited the diner.
"Dear lord. You guys hit hard," The ringleader barely managed to say with his broken jaw.
"Don't mention it," Jayden said sternly.
"Consider this what happens when you threaten innocent people." Shadow Bird then handed his thug off to the officer present.
"Definitely won't remember that," The thug said before falling into unconsciousness. Commissioner Lovecraft's surprised face soon grew serious as soon as all thugs were removed from the premises.
"Did you kids do this?"
"Well, yeah," Jayden said after the group took some glances at each other. The customers got up from their hiding spots and start clapping for the kids' bravery. Even Nevin couldn't help but clap for the kids who just helped save his job.
"Whoop!" Nevin shouts.
"That was so cool!" Sam shouts as she high fived Ashley, Shadow Bird, and Asori.
"You ok?" The female officer asked Nevin.
"Yeah, Mom. That was so cool." The mother gave her son's cheek a peck along with a hug before going back to her duties.
"You kids did this?" The teens nodded their heads at the woman as she nodded back at them.
"Great job." Jayden and Shadow Bird casually shrugged their shoulders as the talking continued.
"Seriously, Detective Prentice?!" Vincent snapped at her.
"What? They aren't criminals, boss," Prentice protests followed up by Nathan's defense statement.
"Yeah, sir. They helped save a ton of people and-"
"Blueheart, not now." As a verbal scuffle erupts from the police team, Lieutenant Carter couldn't help but add his thoughts on the manner. Jayden ignored this reminder of his past as he focused his attention on the police lieutenant and his friends.
"How the hell have you guys been doing?" Lieutenant Carter asks genuinely.
"Great, we just moved here," Asori said bluntly.
"You guys staying long?" Sam interjects. Jayden soon enters his own words to the conversation with a declaration.
"Yeah. As long as we can."
"Well, I hope you five enjoy your stay here. Though, keep in mind our city doesn't operate like Earth," Bradford said politely.
"We understand. We just hope the town doesn't mind a few teen superheroes comin' to future town."
"What?!" Commissioner Lovecraft nearly screamed becuase of Ashley's blunt statement.
"Did... Did you just..." Vincent groaned in frustration as he held his head to his temple.
"'Cuse me, 'cuse me," One woman in all red and black said as she got passed the citizens to interview the team.
"Ms. Anderson of the Hocus-Bogus news. And you said you kids are?" The woman asked with her phone recording them.
"Jayden," The stoic leader says.
"Ashley," The strong and sweet gal said.
"Shadow Bird," The cool vigilante declared.
"Aubrey," The smiling girl foretold.
"Asori," The strategist spoke.
"Nice to meet you. So, a quick question. Are you guys ok?"
"Yep," Jayden told the news reporter.
"What motivated you to do this?"
"We honestly wanted to," Asori foretold to the news reporter followed up from a statement from Ashley.
"Yeah. Because of us moving here, and because we got superpowers, we figured we'd put them to good use."
"Interesting. When did you guys move here?"
"Just yesterday," Ashley bluntly states.
"And we're gonna be staying here for a while," Shadow Bird bluntly states as well.
"Well, what can we call you kids?" The team glance over to each other, then to the police, then to the citizens they saved, and then back to the newswoman. Confidence, vigor, kindness, and heroism resonated off of the teens when they chose their name.
"Call us the Alta Heroes," All five teens declared to the group. Everyone stood in awe at the declaration as clapping resumed. Commissioner Lovecraft looked upon them worryingly. These kids don't know what they're getting into. He should stop them right now. Go to town on them verbally for their recklessness. But something stopped him. A nagging feeling. This feeling told him to let these kids be superheroes or whatever. They want to do this. And he can't save someone from themselves. Of course, he can let these kids screw up and get on their asses when they do. That'll teach 'em not to get cocky. Nathan, although he worried about the team, couldn't help but smile. He can't wait to work with them. He can even brighten their days when they're sad. Terry and Detective Prentice only had a neutral stance on this matter. Nothing more. They'd only just met the kids. Nevin and Heather couldn't help but be excited as they too are clapping. They can't believe real-life superheroes are gonna visit the diner. They'll be sure to get bonuses from Terry really quickly as they serve them. Lieutenant Carter, Sam, and Dr. Mackinder were the ones most excited for what's next for the "Alta Heroes." Dennis hopes to aid them in ways that'll help them solve crimes. One of the kids here is a detective after all. That, and he hopes to help the kids navigate how they can best manage their relationship with the police, 'specially with ol' Vincent here. Sam is hoping that these guys will come to her shop frequently just so she can hear all about the cool adventures they'll have. Also, she's hoping they'll get some comics from her. She'll hook some of 'em up with some sweet books. Dr. Mackinder gladly welcomed these new heroes. Who knows? Maybe a few case studies are in their future if they have any problems. Smiling proudly, the team heroically stood tall as the citizens clapped and cheered for their new superheroes. The Alta Heroes found themselves having just had a thank-you dinner made by the staff at Dustin's Dinisty. The friends all stood in the middle with their respective drinks in hand.
"So, are you guys ready for this?" Jayden said while holding his Pepsi can that he just took a drink out of towards the middle. The team only takes a mere glance at each other before nodding in approval.
"Yeah. We're ready," Ashley proudly states. She then uses her Coke can to cheer with her leader.
"There's a ton of stuff I wanna explore out there. And frankly, I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world," Asori said happily before placing her Dr. Pepper can near the others.
"Same here, geek," Shadow Bird said while cheering his Root Beer can with the others.
"Here's to our new sunrise," Aubrey said as her Mountain Dew clicked with the team.
"To our new sunrise," Jayden proudly declares as the team takes a drink of their drinks. The Alta Heroes aren't sure of what's ahead right now. But that's ok. All they're focused on right now is on the positive lifestyle they're just now dedicating their lives too. Jayden will get to be the hero that no one was for him. Ashley can truly work towards being a better person. Shadow Bird can live out his vigilante lifestyle with others by his side. Aubrey now feels genuine happiness that she hasn't felt in such a long time. Asori has the chance to live a wonderful life with friends she's sure to be with her to the end. The Alta Heroes didn't win not only because of their skills, teamwork, and tenacity. Their acceptance of each other and themselves are what helped them win this fight. And for their reward of a new life, that's enough.
YOU ARE READING
The Alta Heroes (Reboot)
AventureStarsis and Evilkin, two powerful entities who've dueled for millennia, become severely weakened because of their tireless war. The enraged evil entity plots both his brother's downfall and the regaining of his terrible power with the help of Silen...
