Black Out

QuickShot:

Sitting alone in my room, I can't help but keep staring at the little wooden airplane Ms. Justice gave me. It had only been a few days since she had given it to me and the whole time, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

"I still can't believe you made this for me," I think. "Ms. Justice made this for me. She made it for me to celebrate the first time we met each other."

I can't help but think back to the very day we first met each other. I still remember everything so clearly. I remember being stuck by lightning while flying my F-106. I remember falling out of the sky. I thought it was the end for me. I thought I was finished, but somehow, it wasn't. The next thing I remember, I was looking up at a face.

Her face was dirty. There were black marks in a few spots. I didn't know who I was looking at but I could hear her.

"Hey," she says, "Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Say something!"

My eyes finally open and my vision stops being blurry. It was then, for the first time, I first saw Ms. Justice. She is so different now than she was before. For one, her raggy scarf and jackets are gone.

As I keep thinking about the last two years spent with Ms. Justice, I gently tap the front propeller. I can't help but laugh as the tiny wooden propeller spins. While watching it spins, the lights to the OutPost turn off and everything goes dark.

"Hey," I say, getting up. "What's going on?"

It's hard to see with the lights off but I still have to do something. Holding my hand, I wave it around as I carefully walk into the OutPost's living room.

"Justice," I yell. "JumpStart? SpeedBlade? Can you guys hear me?"

"I can hear you," JumpStart answers.

"So can I," SpeedBlade says. The sound of his armor rings through the darkened OutPost. Even without my sight, I have a very clear idea of where he is.

"Hey, hey, hey," JumpStart says. "Watch out! You're about to hit the--"

"Ouch," SpeedBlade cries out. Judging from the sound of his armor and his yelling, SpeedBlade is now jumping up and down while holding his leg.

"You're about to hit the table," JumpStart finishes.

"Wait," Ms. Justice says from somewhere in the dark. "JumpStart, can you see in the dark?"

"Of course, I can," JumpStart answers. "I'm an elf. We have enchanted eyesight. Not only can we see in the dark, but we can see for quite a distance. For example, Justice, don't move to your left."

"Why not?"

"Because if you do, then you'll run right into a wall."

"Thanks."

"Hey, JumpStart," I say, waving my arm around. "Again, I ask. What's going on? Why are all the lights out?"

"Hard to say," JumpStart answers. A second later, I hear footsteps and then a strange sound. It sounds like metal hitting the OutPost's stone floor.

"I'm checking the OutPost's system right now and as far as I can tell, everything looks okay."

"Must be a city's problem," Ms. Justice says. "A blackout?"

"A what," SpeedBlade asks.

"A blackout," I repeat. "It's when all the power, all the electricity just stops. Everything turns off."

"Hmm," SpeedBlade says. "It's time like this I hate this modern age. Do we have any candles?"

IronWall Prison Guard:

We cheer when the lights to IronWall all turn back on.

"Yeahhhh," I say, raising my arms into the air before lowering them. I laugh as I turn to my friends.

"So glad IronWall had backup generators," I say, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead.

"I know right," my friend says. "Have you seen the city? It's pitch-black there. It's like something from a horror movie."

I roll my eyes when I hear this.

"You watch too many movies," I say. I bump my friend on his arm and nudge my head. Together, we walk down the hallway and continue our patrol.

"So now what," I ask. "Should I be expecting a monster to sneak up on us?"

I turn around and hold out my blaster.

"Come on out, monster," I say. "Come on. I have plans with a triple bacon cheeseburger after my shift."

"Knock it off," my friend says, hitting my back. I laugh as I turn back forward. However, as I take a step, I hear something beneath me. "What in the world?"

Looking down, I see what looks like black sand. Dropping down to my knee, I slowly run my finger through it.

"What is this, and where did it come from?"

As I run my finger through the strange black sand, I hear a scream and look up.

"Ahh," my friend yells more of the black sand falls right on top of him. It buries him within seconds. Looking up, I see the black sand raining down from the vents.

"Impossible," I say, grabbing and holding up my blaster. "The vents are laser grid protected! Nothing can get through them. Unless the blackout. Oh no!"

With my blaster still aim at the vent, I reach for my radio. About to speak, I stop when I see the black sand moving. It was moving toward me!

I scream as I fire my blaster but it seems my blaster fire goes right through the black sand. While still firing, the black sand engulfs me.

Robert:

Re-forming myself after dealing with the two prison guards, my body quickly taking shape, I look around the prison hallway.

"Empty," I think. I start to walk but stop when I notice the unconscious guards. Looking down at the clothes I took from that man versus the guards' clothing, I start to change.

Trading the man's raggy jacket and pants for one of the guard's uniforms, I finish by putting on the helmet. Once I have changed, I then walk through the hallways.

As I walk through the hallway, I place my hand on the wall and drag it behind me. Leaving behind little bits of me on the wall, I maneuver them to attack the security cameras.

One by one, hallway after hallway, the little bits of me attack and destroy all the security cameras. I can hear the screams of confusion on the radio as the guards try to figure out what is going on.

"Camera 19-27 in East Wing are not responding," the radio screams. "Neither are cameras 20-26 in North Wing. Attention, all IronWall personnel! Attention! Two guards were found unconscious in the East Wing! One of which is missing his uniform! His ID number is 04-13-1950. Be warned for anyone with this ID number!"

I look down and see the ID number mentioned. Grabbing and ripping it right off, I make my way to a private prison cell. As I approach a large, metal door, the guards in front of the metal doors see me.

"Hey you," one of the guards shouts. "What are you doing here?"

I ignore the guard and shoot out my hand. I transform my hand into a large cube. With this large cube, I fling my hand forward, hitting the guard and slamming him into a gate.

"It's the faker," the other guards yell. "Open fire!"

Immediately, all the guards start shooting at me. They line up and fire at me but it's no use. All the blaster fires go right through my body.

As I approach the gate, I pull back both my arms. I transform the other hand into a large cube as well. I then swing both my hands together, catching all the guards and squeezing them together. Knocking all of them out, I throw all of them to the side. Now in front of the gate, I switch one of my cube hands for a large blade. Sticking the blade in the gap, I force the gate open. The gate is heavy but all I need is a tiny opening to squeeze through.

After squeezing through the tiny opening, I see a containment cell in the center of the room.

"Target found. Dr. Kimberly Cho."