Skinny white legs tremble on concrete. Chester nervously holds a square piece of plywood to his right and asks, "A-are you sure this is ok? You're not gonna miss, right?" In full hero attire, Vee inspects a crescent shaped metal disc with razor sharp edges. "Of course not. Just hold still." The masked girl closes one eye and sticks out her tongue as she aims. With a flick of her wrist the moon disc is thrown. Chester flinches at the spinning blade piercing his shirt sleeve below his arm. Quick yelps are let out with every missed disc. Two more grab his shirt, and another pair pin his shorts to the wall. At last the final disc is thrown with greater force, causing Chester to duck his head between his shoulders to dodge it.
Disappointed in her aim, Vee puts her hands on her hips and pouts. "Huh, guess throwing Moon Discs is harder than I thought." Amy helps the pinned Chester free from the wall while he asks, "How 'bout you try a less lethal gadget!? And not on me this time!" Slightly disheartened, Vee reaches deep in the crate beside her. "Let's try...grappling hook!" With a spin, the aspiring hero fires the hook. However, her target of hitting the bathroom door is nowhere near reached. Vee flops to the concrete floor, tangled in her own hook cable. Her look of annoyance was not changed by Cutie licking her face.
"Alright! Frostbang time!" Vee holds a can shaped device with a blinking blue light. Beside her stands Amy with a question. "Why is it called a Frostbang?" "Cuz it goes bang and freezes criminals...Actually I guess it should be called a Bangfrost...nah!" Leaning in closer, Vee stares at the blinking light, then presses her steel finger against it. "I think this arms-" In a split second, the girls become human popsicles, only able to move their eyes at Lajon, who walks around them with a pickaxe. Seeking revenge, Chester sticks out his tongue in front of Vee's face. However, his tongue becomes stuck to the ice, unable to pull away.
Some time later, Vee lies on the sofa with a bulky, handheld device in her hand. She waves it around the room, as if to get a better signal, but nothing loads on the screen. "Booooriiiing! What's this do?" The plastic black ball she swipes from the table pops upon accidentally touching the top button. Smoke pours into the base, causing everyone inside to cough. Out of the gray haze, Vee waves her hand to get fresh air. "You know what!? *cough!* Maybe I'm not cut out for this crap!" The angry teen stomps up the stairs and flings open the metal exit door. Lajon emerges from the smoke to cough and say, "Costume!" "Ugh!"
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One block away from the Salt River bridge, a concrete ball court holds a single visitor. Tan fingers grip the bumpy surface of a basketball at both sides. Vee's frustrated eyes open before bending her knees and hopping off the cracked pavement. With a slight thrust of her hands, the striped ball launches into the air, arching towards the rusty goal. *CLANG!* The ball bounces off the rim, shaking off peeled paint from the backboard. She missed. Vee slumps in defeat, then a familiar voice says, "You can't shoot 3's perfectly on your first try."
The dual haired girl turns to the approaching Lajon and says, "I've played basketball before." "That was a metaphor." Vee's annoyed look falls to sadness. "This hero stuff is a lot harder than I thought. I'm not a gadget master like dad. I'm not as strong or durable as mom. Just an out of shape kid in a costume." Lajon scoops up the rolling basketball and asks, "You think I built my first computer perfectly? Or won my first fight?" Vee's left brow raises. "You get in fights?" "Not by choice. You know my neighborhood. Dad can't exactly fight in a wheelchair, so I had to learn...But now I get to teach you."
The tall boy drops the basketball and raises both arms in front of his face. "Keep your arms up. You always want one on guard." Vee mimics his pose. "Like this?" "Yeah." Widening his stance a bit, Lajon nods for Vee to do the same and says, "You had some wicked punches against that Death Metal guy, but no defense. I'm gonna do a right jab. Block with your left." The dual haired girl does exactly as Lajon said, slowly. "Now left hook. Duck!" Once more Vee does as instructed with a smile. "Bwaaahh! Ssllooooww mmoottiioooon!" she says. Both teens laugh, and Lajon resets his stance. "We'll speed up as we go. Now you punch me."
The sparing teens gradually increase their exercise speed, smiling all the while. In the distance, however, an older man in blue watches from his cruiser. "Yeah, dat's dem," he says to his flip phone, "You sure about dis?...Alright. Meet us at da old barber shop tonight. Bring betting money." By now Lajon's jab and hook combos were nearly at full speed, and Vee's dodging was becoming instinct. She launches back a quick jab. Blocked by the tall boy's left arm. A left hook is sent his way and dodged low. Now it's his turn again. His right arm readies to jab but is captured by handcuffs. "Huh!?"
The old man in a blue police uniform forces Lajon's other wrist into the cuffs as he says, "Assaulting an innocent dame? Not in my city!" "I wasn't hurting her!" the boy shouts, but it was too late. Vee grabs hold of her friend's hands and pulls tight. "He's not going anywhere!" "Let 'em go, miss! He can't hurt you anymore!" Despite the size advantage, Chief Sting finds himself struggling to out-tug the teen girl. Lajon spots her neck turning to steel and shouts, "Stop! Just let go, Vee." "What!? No!" "It'll be ok," he says with a comforting smile, "It's not worth it."
The officer pulls with more and more effort; still gains no ground. A tear enters Vee's eye before finally releasing her hands from Lajon's. As the tall boy is forced into the backseat of the old black and white car, his reassuring smile begins to fade. Vee remains on the cracked court, watching as he is driven further and further away on the Salt River bridge.
*BANG!* Vee bursts through the secret base door with desperation on her face. "Lajon's been arrested!" she shouts. Amy and Chester perk their heads up on the couch. "What!?" the dark haired girl asks, followed by Chester, "Don't worry! I know a guy. Better call Sa-" Vee interrupts, "We don't have time for court stuff! Lajon is the only one who knows how to get that computer working! Without him, I can't train to be a better fighter!...And I don't want to wait to see him again."
Amy stands over to the computer in question and hunches over the old keyboard to type. "Maybe he was working on something to fix it?" The other teens gather at both of her sides, staring at the screen for any clue. "There!" Amy says while pointing, "Cell tracker tool! We can find Lajon that way!" With a press of the enter key, all await the machine's program to open. All three of the teens look up at the screen with a loading bar of 1%. A single drop of sweat rolls down each of their faces at how slow the computer is.
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