Black Sand

JumpStart:

"Hmm," I think, examining the wirings. I grab a blue wire and a red wire and look at them. I follow the wires for a bit but stop after the wires disappear into the wall.

"QuickShot," I yell, "I'm at a dead end. How are things for you?"

"Give me a second," QuickShot answers from somewhere in the dark. Her response is followed by the sound of her hitting something. "Ahh! We need new batteries. Finally."

A beam of light shines in the dark OutPost. QuickShot holds the light in her hand while aiming it at more wires in the wall. She grabs a handful of wire and adjusts them before turning around.

"Justice," she says, the light now shining on Ms. Justice. "Try it now!"

Ms. Justice gives QuickShot a nod and flips the switches on what I am told is called the "breaker box". As soon as Justice flips the switches, the lights to the OutPost all turn on.

"Yeah," Ms. Justice cheers, shooting both her arms into the air. "We did it!"

QuickShot cheers with Ms. Justice, her arms going up as well. I'm about to join the two but as I prepare to launch my arms, the flashing, ringing alarm stops me.

"Emergency," SpeedBlade says, running out of his room and to the OutPost's computer. "What is going on?"

I close the metal box and jump from the upper part of the ceiling. Flipping through the air, I land beside SpeedBlade and in front of the computer. About to look up the emergency, I stop when I realize something.

"Wait. SpeedBlade. This whole time, I mean, this whole time the OutPost had been without lights, have you been sleeping?"

"Yes," SpeedBlade quickly answers.

"You couldn't have helped us bring the lights back on?"

"Did you want my help? You know I learned how to use a 'flashlight' only last week."

I shake my head.

"Still could've helped," I whisper, typing away at the computer. "Oh, this had to be a trick."

"What's going on," Ms. Justice yells after helping QuickShot climb down from the wall.

"It's IronWall Prison," I answer. "It's another break-in."

"Again," Ms. Justice shouts. "Man, they really need to change the name. Or get better walls."

"Who is it," QuickShot asks. "Is it Silent?"

"I can't be sure," I sigh. "The cameras are down, but based on what the guards are saying over the radio, I don't think it's Silent."

"Whether it is Silent or it is not," SpeedBlade says, walking out of his room with his sword in his hand. "It is time for a fight."

QuickShot, Justice, and I look at each other and nod our heads.

"OutCasts," QuickShot says, "Onward."

With that, we grab our weapons, leave the OutPost, and head for IronWall.

Robert:

Walking down the hallway with Dr. Cho's containment cell in my arm, I stop when through the little bits of me I left everywhere, I see the OutCasts charging into the prison.

"They're charging in from the South," I think, watching as they run right past me. They stop and look around. According to what had been uploaded into me, the OutCasts' leader is named QuickShot. She is the one in the old fighter pilot jacket and bow.

"Everyone be careful," QuickShot says, walking around with her bow and an arrow in her hands.

"What happened here," a young girl with a shield asks. She drops to a knee and checks the guards' pulse. I believe this one is named Ms. Justice.

"And what is this," a thin, human-like boy with black hair and pointed ears asks. He also drops to a knee and picks up the little bits of me. "This feels a lot like sand, but it's black."

No doubt this is the one called JumpStart. The last one left is SpeedBlade, a knight with a sword in red armor.

"Black sand," SpeedBlade repeats. "Is black sand a normal thing here?"

"No," Ms. Justice answers, turning back. "It's not."

"Here's another question," QuickShot says. "Why is it everywhere?"

The four look around and see the little bits of me scattered everywhere. They all rub their fingers through the "black sand" and examine it.

Cutting the connection to those bits of me, I switch perspective to another group of me. Only a small handful this time, I move around and split into two smaller handfuls. I then crawl in between the gaps of two electric gates. I cut the wires and disable the power, shutting the gates down and releasing the prisoners inside.

Once the prisoners are free, I walk toward the exit with Dr. Cho in my arms.

QuickShot:

"Here," I say, handing JumpStart a little bag. "I hope this works. Sorry, but I left my test tubes back at the OutPost."

"It'll work," JumpStart says. He takes the bag and scoops a little bit of the strange black sand into it. "I'm telling you guys, there's something not right with this."

As JumpStart pushes himself up and back onto his feet, we all jump when we hear an earth-shaking roar, followed almost immediately by an explosive.

"There's something not right with that," Ms. Justice says, raising her shield.

"Is it me or does that roaring sound oddly familiar," SpeedBlade asks, bringing up his sword.

A second later, the wall breaks down as Unstoppable runs right through it.

"It's not just you," I say, pulling back my bowstring and aiming at Unstoppable. The dust settles after Unstoppable's charge. As it settles, we see Laser Lightning behind Unstoppable.

"Oh wow," JumpStart says, making an X with his stun batons. "This is...bad."

Unstoppable roars once more as he bends down and charges toward us.

"Watch out," Ms. Justice shouts. She turns around and pushes all of us out of the way. Barely getting out of the way as Unstoppable runs right past us, I look at Laser Lightning as lightning gathers in his arm. Firing a bolt at the ceiling, it breaks and pieces fall toward SpeedBlade and me.

Moving fast, I pull out an arrow and fire it. The arrow bursts into a large net that captures all the falling pieces and pins them to the ceiling. Looking back up, I see Laser Lightning run up the hallway.

"Laser Lightning is heading the other way," I say, getting up.

"But Unstoppable is running that way," SpeedBlade shouts, pointing down the hallway.

"Split up," JumpStart declares.

"JumpStart and I will go after Unstoppable," Ms. Justice says. "QuickShot, you and SpeedBlade will go after Laser Lightning!"

"Understood," I say with a nod.

"Got it," SpeedBlade says.

We prepare to split but before we do, JumpStart stops us.

"Wait," he says, all of us stopping, SpeedBlade almost tripping.

"What," I ask. "Laser Lightning is getting away. And I don't have super speed."

"Here," JumpStart says, pulling out the walkie-talkies he had been working on. He gives one to each of us. "I've been waiting for a chance to use these. I hope they work."

"You haven't tested them yet," I ask.

"I tested them. They worked fine when Justice and I were in our rooms."

"Your rooms are only a few feet from each other," I yell.

"They still worked!"

JumpStart screams this as he and JumpStart run after Unstoppable. I roll my eyes and pocket the walkie-talkie while SpeedBlade and I chase after Laser Lightning.