SpeedBlade:
"Okay," I say, walking out of Ms. Justice's room. "I've just checked her room. Ms. Justice is not there."
Walking into our small living quarters, I see QuickShot standing with crossed arms and JumpStart sitting with the long-range communicator in front of him.
"Ahhh," QuickShot screams, slamming down her hands. "Where is she? Why did she disappear all of a sudden?"
"I don't know," JumpStart answers. "But at least she didn't disappear without telling us."
QuickShot and I turn to JumpStart. When he realizes we are both looking at him, JumpStart shakes and clears his throat.
"I mean," JumpStart starts, showing us the communicator. "She did call us."
Hearing this, QuickShot slaps JumpStart on the back of his head.
"Ouch," he says, rubbing where he was hit. "What was that for?"
"Yes, she did call us, but it was just to tell us she would be out for a bit. It had been hours already. Where could she be?"
"I don't know," I say, "But if she is in trouble, I will search this whole city for her."
"We all will," JumpStart adds. He stops rubbing and pushes himself up. "But before we charge into the city, maybe we should wait a little longer."
QuickShot raises her hand again. JumpStart puts up his hands and backs up. Moving fast, I grab QuickShot's hand. She looks at me, and I meet her gaze and shake my head.
"No."
"Thanks," JumpStart says, smiling at me. I turn to JumpStart and hit him on the side of the head.
"Ouch," he says again. "Okay. What was that for?"
"You suggested waiting a little longer before looking for Ms. Justice. It was a smart idea, but it still made me mad."
"Thanks," JumpStart says, still rubbing the side of his head. "I think."
I turn back to QuickShot and let go of her hand. Lowering it, QuickShot drops into one of our chairs. As she sits down, she lowers her head and sighs.
"Why did Ms. Justice disappear in the front place?" QuickShot asks. "It's not like her."
I sigh and sit down too.
"I don't know," I answer, also sighing. "I really don't."
JumpStart joins us. He sighs and sits back on the floor. He then stares at the communicator.
"You know something," JumpStart says after a while. "Ms. Justice had been acting odd ever since she left for that place. That place, where, you know, people go to get healed."
"It's called a hospital," QuickShot says. "The place you're describing is called a hospital. And you know. You're right. Ms. Justice hasn't been the same since she came back from the hospital. What happened there?"
Ms. Justice:
"Johnny", I think, swinging my shield in a circle.
Sitting on a rooftop, making circles by swinging my arm and shield, I look up at the cold night sky. When I do, I see the moon surrounded by countless stars.
Staring at the glowing moon, I remember something my parents once told me.
"No matter how much time had passed," they said, "Or how far away you are from home. Just look to the moon, and know that it's a piece of home you can take away."
As I look at the moon and remember their words, I begin to feel even colder. I stop swinging my arm and pull my knees. Hugging them, I blow into my hands. Rubbing my hands, I wipe my nose.
I don't know how long I stay like this, but eventually, I stop. I stop blowing into my hands. I stop shaking. I stop hugging my legs. I get up and walk to the fire escape. Climbing down the rusted ladder, I land back on the street and walk down it.
As I walk down the street, back to the OutPost, I hide my shield in my baggy jacket. It looks a bit strange, but since it's really late at night, hardly anyone is on the street with me. Still feeling cold, I blow into my hands and rub them together.
Seeing a manhole cover not too far away, I pick up the pace and speedwalk over to it. However, as I speedwalk, I pass an empty store and see something inside it.
"What in the world?"
Johnny Rami:
"What in the world?" I say this as I slowly get out of my car and walk up to the front lawn. Right there, placed on the same front lawn, is a "For Sale" sign.
Walking around the lawn and up the flight of stone steps, I reach the front door. When I reach the front door, I look around.
"This isn't right," I say, seeing an empty, dust-covered porch. It looks like it has been years since anyone was here. Despite the late hours, I knock on the front door.
"Hello," I yell. "Is anyone home?"
I knock again and even ring the bell, but the door never opens. I look around again. Beside the empty porch, I see a window and walk over to it.
Cupping my hands around my eyes, I peek into the house.
"The house is completely empty. There's no furniture. No people. No signs of life except for the dust bunnies on the floor."
Stepping back, I reach into my pocket and pull out the photo of me, Tichi, and the giant stuffed turtle. Flipping the photo over, I read the address off the back.
"This is the place, alright, but Tichi isn't here. No one is here. What's going on?"
Sulking back to my car, I sit in the driver's seat while staring at the photo. As I stare at the photo, my mind goes back to a few days ago.
"Are you mad about what happened?" Tichi asked. "It wasn't by choice."
"It wasn't by choice," I repeated. "Tichi. What happened?"
Still staring at the photo, I jump when someone knocks on the window. Bumping my head on the ceiling, I rub my sore spot while turning my head. Standing outside my window is a tall man with a bald head and dark skin. He has a little mustache and is wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
"Can I help you?" the man asks. "Why are you knocking on a door at 10 at night?"
"I'm sorry," I say after opening the window. "I was just looking for an old friend of mine. Uhh, Tichi."
"Tichi," the man shouts. His frown turns upside down. The man starts to smile. However, his smile only stays for a second. It turns back into a frown. "Oh man, Tichi. I haven't thought about her in a while."
"You knew her?"
"Yeah. I knew her. I knew her parents. We all did. Everyone in the neighborhood knew them. At least, we did."
"You did? Wait, what? What are you talking about? What happened?"
"Well, Tichi's parents disappeared."
"What? Where did they go? What happened to them?"
The man replies with a shrug.
"No one knows. Not even their daughter. One day, they just disappeared, leaving their daughter behind. And then, a few days later, the daughter disappeared too. None of us knows what happened to her."
QuickShot:
Hearing a beeping sound, I open my eyes and shoot straight up.
"Is it her?" I ask. "Is it Ms. Justice?"
Rubbing my eyes and waking up, I see the walkie-talkie in JumpStart's hand blinking. Unfortunately, JumpStart hasn't noticed himself.
"Wake up," I yell, grabbing and shaking the elf. Screaming as he wakes up, JumpStart snaps his head left and right.
"What," he screams. "What? What's going on? Is it Justice?"
"Yes," I yell, pointing at the walkie-talkie. Seeing the blinking light, JumpStart doesn't waste a second and flips it over.
"Justice," he says. "Wher---"
Even before JumpStart can ask, we hear the sound of an explosion.
"Justice," we both yell.
Ms. Justice doesn't answer us. Instead, all we hear is the sound of an explosion, glass breaking, and a strange, high-pitched humming sound.
"What is that?" JumpStart asks. "Is that a car?"
"No," I answer with a shake of my head. "I know that sound. I used to hear it a lot. It's a plane."
"A plane?"
"Yes, but not a big one. A small one. Way smaller, like a toy plane."
As I explain to JumpStart what the sound is, it soon becomes all we hear.
"A lot of toy planes. Maybe dozens of them. All flying around Ms. Justice."
I shake my head and grab both my bow and quiver.
"Something is going on," I say, running for the exit. "I'll go find Justice. You get SpeedBlade and get ready."
"Okay," JumpStart says, running after me. "Give me your communicator."
"My communicator?"
"Just do it."
Though confused, I don't waste a second and reach into my pocket. Pulling out my walkie-talkie, I give it to JumpStart. JumpStart takes it and flips it over.
"Here," he says, giving it back. I take the walkie-talkie and look at it. There, on the walkie-talkie, I see a map of the city, with four dots on it.
"Are you...tracking us? You can do that?"
"It's something I learned a while ago," JumpStart answers. "In case of emergency, if we can't answer, as long as we have our communicator, we can still know where we are. Now, this is us. The three dots altogether. This right here is--"
"I know how tracking works," I say, cutting JumpStart off. "I'm from Earth. It's you and SpeedBlade who aren't. Anyway, thank you."
Pushing the button, the OutPost's exit opens, and I run out. Thankfully, Ms. Justice isn't too far from here.
I reach the ladder in almost no time and climb out. The second I do, I see a destroyed store being eaten by flames.
Running to the destroyed store, a bow in my hands and an arrow already loaded in, I look around.
"Justice," I shout. "Justice! Where are you?"
I keep looking around, walking around the tiny flames and broken glass shards. As I keep walking, I hear a familiar humming sound and turn around. There, I see dozens of tiny flying machines. They looked like silver planes but with large wings and no propellers. And they're surrounding Ms. Justice.