3 Chapter 3 - Silas

I crouched in the alley and watched as the pair of shady characters entered. I felt completely stupid with the high tech helmet and bracers on, considering I was in only a black shirt and jeans. It was the best outfit I could find in the past week. After several similar outings, I had settled on the simple and untraceable outfit.

I watched the two, one in the city's dark police uniform and the other in a suspicious hoodie, as they chatted. I noted the flash drive that the cop slipped the man, and I knew it was time to act.

"Stop where you are!" I declared as I stood from my hiding spot. The metallic voice that came out of the helmet was admittedly more intimidating than my eighteen-year-old American accent. Hoodie Guy froze right where he was, but the cop simply sauntered up to me. Either this guy was a corrupt cop, and I was establishing my reputation with basics, or he actually was on police business and I was making the Evolved hate me even more.

"Listen, pal, this is official poli-" he tried to explain. He didn't get to finish, of course. Rather, he was thrown into the wall as one of my shields slammed into his side. I heard a rib or two crack. Hoodie chose that second to pull out a gun.

I raised my shields to cover my whole body, but the bullets just kept coming. Then I noticed something odd about the gun the man was holding. It had no magazine, but he just kept firing. I had heard of this power before, the ability to fire weapons without needing to reload. I pushed my shield towards the man and it slammed into him, throwing him to the ground..

"Who the h-hell are y-you?" he gasped between wheezing breaths. The look of fear on his face told me everything I needed to.

"Oh, me?" I taunted, "I'm just a basic, the Basic."

The reputation that I had started to make was finally getting out. I had been pulling stunts like one and always had to introduce myself. It gets kind of boring, but it does mean that you can use the same quips more than once. I made a few mistakes despite the week I took to learn how to operate the bracers and helmet, but mostly I had a great record so far.

The man scuttled on all fours trying to stand and crawl away at the same time. I threw a punch from across the alley, focusing the shield energy from the bracers into the path of the punch. It landed square in Hoodie's jaw with a 15-yard knockout punch. I was getting used to being a superhero. I crossed the distance quickly and reached into the main pocket of the man's hoodie, finding the flash drive. I knew from previous excursions what was on it. Part of a list of every basic's home in the city. High Solis had taken a census a little over a year ago, so even my house was on that list.

It was then that from behind me somebody yelled, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I slowly turned around with my hands high in the air. Behind me was a young woman in a red and white suit. They were a "superhero".

I tried to speak, but she interrupted, calling over, "You want to explain the funky look and what is going on here?" I ignored the question and let my visor scan her features, trying to identify who she was. As I glanced over her costume, it was neat and clean, not a single sign of wear on it. When my visor came up with no identity for her, it was clear that this was her first day. Hard luck, running into me.

"You seem to be new to this. I'm Basic, allow me to show you the 'ropes'," I taunted. In an instant, I had thrown my hands in an X pattern down from where they hung. Blue shields shot forward, wrapping themselves around her. Her arms pinned to her side and her legs bound together, she only managed to fall over. I walked past her on my way out of the alley and noticed something odd. I could hear that she was crying. Tied up on the ground, and this innocent young girl who couldn't have been more than sixteen was crying.

"I'm not going to hurt you any further, you know. I just couldn't have you standing in my way," I comforted. I'm not the best at emotions after everything that's happened.

She sniffled, then she answered, "I… I know. It's just… Today I was supposed to show everybody that I could be a hero. My first chance and I mess it up!" She assaulted the ground with as much of a kick as she could manage, but I doubt it helped much.

"More than you know," I scoffed. I waved my hand and the bands of blue light dissipated. Seeing that weak attempt at a kick made me realize how little danger she actually posed. I replaced them with a loose ring of shielding around her wrists, keeping her from doing too much. She simply looked confused at that.

"You were attacking law enforcement and a citizen. I tried my best to stop you," she told me, trying to justify confronting me. She obviously didn't know I opposed just about everyone higher than the lowest status in this city.

"That was a corrupt officer. He was giving information to a criminal so they could take homes from innocent people. Now tell me I was in the wrong," I tested. She mulled it over for a second, then reached up and grabbed the mask's base. She pulled it over her head and sighed. It revealed that she was probably younger than I had originally thought. She couldn't have been much older than her last year in middle school. She had black hair that curled and dull eyes of a light brown shade that met mine as I looked down at the girl on the ground.

In old comic books, this would have been a massive moment. Over the past year, I had started reading some of them for fun while sitting in Kaity's room. However, it wasn't much of an event when a hero was known by the public. Except myself, of course. If they knew who I was, I would have a real problem.

"Are there really people who say they're good but are really bad?" she asked. How could anyone be that impossibly naïve and still manage to become a hero?

"Of course there is!" I exclaimed, "There are also people who everyone will say are evil, but they are actually good." I caught her eyes at this, and they were the eyes of a sheltered little girl. She probably hadn't read enough comics for this superhero business.

"Aren't you a bad guy? You tied me up," she smirked, raising her bound hands. "That's not mentioning your creepy helmet and robot voice."

"If I told you this city was full of bad guys, would you believe me?" I probed. A plan was beginning to form in my mind.

"No, but you just did anyway," she answered. It was a clever comeback for someone who looked like they were barely out of middle school.

"I'll tell you this. There are others in this city that may seem like a hero, but they don't care about anyone but themselves," I told her.

"You know, you never told me your name or powers."

"Should I really do that though?" she bit back. This girl was getting on my nerves. Where was Kaity and her encouraging teasing when you needed her? I wouldn't be saying it to her face, but I missed her out here. She would just tease me about it.

"You know both my name and powers," I responded.

"Well, my name is Emma, but you can call me Flare," Emma clarified. "As for my powers, well… Did you forget to look up?" I did as she suggested and kicked myself mentally. There was a shining red light above the building. Just as she said it, a second figure appeared in the entrance to the alleyway. She had been stalling me by talking? I knew nobody was that innocent.