The alarm rang out into the night over the rooftops of London. People in the nearby houses woke up groggily at the sound of its high-pitched whine, but when it stopped a few seconds later it didn’t take them long to return to sleep. However, it had presented an entirely new set of problems for the robbers that had activated it.
“I thought you’d shut down the alarms,” the group leader hissed at his subordinate.
“Only the ones I know about. That alarm wasn’t on the building plan,” the subordinate hissed back, beginning to sweat underneath his balaclava.
“Just get this thing open,” the leader replied, shining his torch at the large metal door. His subordinate nodded and placed a circular device over an electronic keypad at the door’s side. He pressed some buttons and a small blue screen lit up as thousands of possible combinations of numbers flashed past.
His leader kept on staring at the safe’s door with greedy intent. Once he had possession of its contents he could retire, and with enough money to last the rest of his life. Years of small time bank jobs and hiding from the police had finally paid off. After this final job he could put his life of crime behind him and buy himself a large villa somewhere hot and out of the way. Maybe he could bag a pretty young lady or two.
They had planned this operation meticulously, watching the research centre for weeks to learn the routines of its employees. Having picked the night where they would encounter the least resistance, they cut off the building’s main power supply before restraining the security guards and a few late working researchers. Only then could they begin breaking into the safe, in which lay the object they were being paid a large amount of money to retrieve.
The device gave a loud chirp as it completed its task, followed by a loud clunk as the safe unlocked. Moving forward slowly, as if he would wake up a monster lurking behind the metal door, the leader grasped the circular handle and began turning it like the wheel of a ship. It was stiff and obviously not opened very often. There was another clunking sound. As he pulled the handle back the door slowly swung open. The two robbers picked up their torches and moved inside.
The interior was filled with shelves and drawers, on which sat numerous files and paperwork. The two crooks ignored these and continued to search the rest of the interior. Eventually the light from their torches fell onto a metal briefcase lying on a shelf. When they saw it they both gave relieved smiles.
Picking up his radio from his belt, the leader said into it, “We have the case. How are our hosts?”
In a different part of the building his second accomplice answered, “Oh they’re just fine. They don’t seem to mind too much that we’ve outstayed our welcome.” She smiled at the six people lying at her feet with their hands and feet bound with tape, and more strips covering their mouths.
She cackled happily as she looked around the darkened laboratory, filled with computers and tables she had overturned just for the heck of it. She fiddled with a strand of blonde hair protruding from under her balaclava, before she began reloading the rifle she was holding.
The hostages began murmuring fretfully and squirmed against their bonds. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. If I was going to shoot you I’d have done it ages ago” she taunted.
Suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass. She raised her gun and looked about the room. The light from the torch attached to the end of her rifle found nothing, the only movement coming from her restrained prisoners. “If whoever made that noise doesn’t show up, my trigger finger might get itchy,” she shouted into the darkness. She got no reply. She began inching forward, her eyes straining to see any sign of movement. “Don’t think I won’t do it! I ain’t exactly little miss sunshine.”
“Who are you talking to?” a voice spoke from behind her. She whirled around in alarm and came face to face with her two colleagues, the leader clasping the briefcase tightly.
“I think we’ve got a snoop somewhere nearby,” she told them.
“You mean that shattering glass wasn’t you?” the male accomplice asked.
“Why would I go about breaking windows, you idiot?”
“Ssssssshhh,” their leader hushed. They heard a door opening and the patter of footsteps down a nearby corridor. They instinctively drew closer to each other. This hadn’t been part of the plan. They had made sure to cover all areas of the building and had found nobody but those already taken hostage. This meant that whoever was making those noises had only just arrived.
“I don’t suppose it could be...have you heard those rumours...?” the male accomplice stammered nervously.
“Bit old for fairy stories aren’t you?” the female accomplice muttered at him.
“Shut up,” the leader barked as the footsteps returned, closer than before. Suddenly the lights in the room were turned up, momentarily dazzling everyone. Only after their eyes had readjusted did they see the teenage boy standing in the doorway.
He was tall and muscular with unkempt blond hair. But what amazed everyone was that he wore a suit of armour, with boots on his feet and brown gauntlets over his hands. He was holding a shining, silver shield and a sword that sparkled in the light. Staring at the crooks with a defiant stare he said “You villains fight with no honour!”
A couple of seconds passed in silence, before the crooks burst into laughter at the sight of him. “Get a reality check kid. This isn’t the Battle of Hastings,” the female accomplice spluttered.
The boy ignored them. “I do not wish you to force my hand. Leave now, or you leave me no other option!”
“Come off it,” the male accomplice snickered. “What are you going to do, joust us?”
The boy gave a wry smile. He pointed the tip of his sword at them and closed his eyes, concentrating intensely. The looks on the crooks faces changed from mirth to astonishment as the sword began glowing a bright blue, bathing the room in its fierce light. They could only watch as the boy pulled back his sword behind his head and swung it vertically downwards. A ray of light shot out of the blade in their direction. It passed straight through the tables standing in its way, slicing them clean in half. The three crooks dove to the floor as it hit the wall behind them, cutting its way through.
Suddenly more scared then she had ever felt before, the female accomplice grabbed her rifle, got to her feet and took aim. “Don’t even think of trying that again!” she bellowed.
Now it was the boy who was laughing. “Take your best shot, young wench” he taunted as he raised his shield, also glowing in the same blue light. Not wanting to give him another chance she fired. The bullets did not reach their target; they simply rebounded off an aura surrounding the boy’s shield. The female accomplice could only watch in horror as the bullets fell harmlessly to the floor.
“How did you do that?’ the leader uttered in disbelief.
“If you find my abilities impressive, wait until you see those of my comrades,” the boy replied mysteriously. Some of the hostages began screaming into the tape covering their mouths. The leader turned to see them staring at the windows, and when he looked he cried out in shock.
Through the glass was a teenage girl, dressed in a long sleeved top, skirt, tights and boots that were all coloured a vibrant purple. The top part of her face was covered by a mask that looked like it had been made out of ivy, and similar strands of plants entwined about her body and through her purple coloured hair. This was nothing, however, to the pair of gigantic, brightly coloured butterfly wings on her back, which she flapped effortlessly to maintain her position, floating in mid-air three floors above the ground.
The girl gave a happy wink at the stunned spectators. From her hands purple bolts of electricity fizzed towards the window. A hole appeared in the centre of the glass, growing in size until it was big enough for the girl to fly through. Once she had passed into the room the hole shrank until it sealed itself shut, the glass pane completely undamaged. As she landed elegantly she said, “Don’t suppose you’ve seen many teenagers do that before?”
This was too much for the criminals, and they scurried towards a fire escape in the corner. The girl waited until they had almost reached it, before sending more bolts of purple electricity at a fire hose hanging on the wall. None of the crooks saw the hose slowly begin to unravel itself, as if it had a life of its own. The female accomplice only became aware of it when it wrapped itself around her shoulders down to her ankles, sending her crashing to the floor. The other two paused briefly, before barging through the door.
“Come back you cowards!” The female accomplice shrieked as she wriggled against her bonds, but found herself unable to escape.
A pair of purple boots walked into her line of sight. “How do you like being the one all tied up then?” the girl asked her.
“You really think two kids can take on three professional criminals?” the woman spat.
“Who says there are only two of us?” the girl remarked casually.
The two remaining crooks ran down a metal staircase clinging to the side of the building, normally reserved for emergencies. It led them into an empty courtyard surrounded by high brick walls, which was filled with delivery trucks during the day, but was now empty. The only light came from their torches and the orange glow of streetlights over the far wall.
“Oh dear God, what do we do?” the male accomplice fretted. “It’s them, it really is them!”
“Just shut up will you!” The leader paused to catch his breath. “We just need to find a way over the wall to the car and we’ll be fine!”
The male accomplice fell silent, frantically looking about him, trying to find a way of escaping. His eyes travelled all the way up to the building’s roof, where he saw the outline of another person standing on it. He gave a panicked yelp, as the sound of a gun-shot echoed around him as the outline fired a sphere of green light.
The leader pulled the male accomplice out of the way just as the light orb hurtled past, colliding with the tarmac and disappearing in a puff of smoke. “What are you trying to do, kill us?” the leader bellowed, trying to sound as defiant as possible.
“Actually, that was an electro-magnetic pulsar, designed to send an electrical message through the nervous system to the subjects brain with the intent of causing unconsciousness!” the figure replied, moments before leaping off the roof. The figure landed on its feet with a loud thump, then drew itself up to its full height, completely unhurt.
It was clad in a suit of metal armour that covered every part of its body. The thin metal plates covering its torso were coloured a deep black, as was the helmet which completely encased its head, save for a red tinted visor and a small slit for its mouth. Mounted on its shoulders was what resembled a pair of cannons, barrels glowing a gentle green whilst aimed on the two crooks.
The leader pulled out his pistol from his belt and said, “Don’t come any closer, or I swear I’ll...”
“Fire your gun and watch the bullets bounce off my titanium infused armour?” the figure replied, its voice unmistakably that of a girl and sounding like it was speaking through a microphone. “Sorry, but that’s not going to work on me, or my teammate for that matter.”
“What teammate?”
Immediately there came a crashing sound from behind them. They whirled around and saw that a massive hole had been punched in the wall, throwing bricks and dust into the courtyard. Through the debris stepped another teenage boy, who had evidently just smashed his way through. He was tall and bulky, and only wore a pair of jeans revealing the top half of his body. His skin seemed to glint in the low light, and as he stepped closer the two crooks realised that this was because his skin, from his bare feet all the way up to his face, was made out of jagged white diamonds fused together. His feet clunked against the tarmac as he moved forward, and he gave a brilliant smile which literally sparkled at them.
“I’ve got a question for you guys,” the boy said in a deep voice. “On a scale of one to ten, just how cool am I? Be honest now.”
Panicking, the two men took off in different directions. The boy yelled, “Bit old for tag aren’t you guys?” before setting after the male accomplice. The girl raised her arm, as a small cannon emerged from the armour around her forearm. She fired, and the male accomplice stumbled as wires wrapped tightly around his legs, sending him to the floor. He was picked up by his neck and hoisted off the floor by the diamond boy. He thrashed and kicked but the boy’s grip was unbreakable, holding him as if he were some sort of ragdoll.
“Please,” he spluttered in terror, “don’t hurt me. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Tough” said the boy with a smirk on his face. “You should have thought about the possibility of being stopped by a band of super powered teenagers before you broke the law.”
“His boss escaped through your hole in the wall,” said the armoured girl.
The diamond boy didn’t look too upset. “It’s not like he’s going to get far, is it?”
The leader was now running down a deserted alleyway. It emerged onto a small residential road and he saw the getaway car parked on the pavement. He felt a warm, encouraging relief flowing through him. He was still clasping the briefcase tightly, and with the other two out of the picture he could now claim all the money for himself. He stopped and looked about him, and when he was sure the coast was clear he ran towards the car faster than he had ever run before.
He was only metres away when a ball of fire fell from the sky onto the car. There was a blinding flash as the car was engulfed by flame. The force of the following explosion pushed the leader onto his back and made his ears ring. Time seemed to pause as he lay on the pavement in a daze.
“I hope your insurance was up to date on that.”
The leader looked up and saw another teenage boy standing over him, wearing a jet-black hoodie and a pair of dark trousers and boots. His clothes were padded in a way similar to bullet proof vests, and his hood was up over his head. Only the bottom half of his face was visible, the rest of it hidden by a black mask that covered his face from the mouth upwards, with slots only for his eyes.
The leader had dropped his gun during the blast, and turning he saw it resting just out of his grasp. The boy saw him looking and said “you won’t be needing that.” He held out his hand. An orb of fire appeared hovering in his outstretched palm. The boy casually flicked the fireball to where the gun lay. There was a fierce crackling followed by an acrid burning smell. When the fire orb disappeared the leader gawped at his gun, now half melted and welded to the ground.
The leader looked back up and watched as the boy in the hoodie was joined by the purple haired girl, the blond knight, the girl in the armour and the diamond boy, forming a tight circle around him. He could only stare back at them, knowing full well that he had been beaten.
“Are his friends sorted out?” the boy in the hoodie asked his comrades.
“All restrained and accounted for” the blond knight replied, sounding thoroughly pleased with himself.
“We should do the same with this guy. I’ve intercepted police transmissions saying they’re on their way here” the armoured girl announced.
“Wait,” the leader croaked. “How did...you do that. Who...are you?”
“Well I’m Nymph,” replied the purple haired girl.
“Sir Matthew at your service,” boasted the blond knight.
“I’m Cybergirl,” said the armoured girl.
“You can just call me Diamond,” the diamond boy grinned.
“And I’m Fireflash,” the hoodie boy concluded, “and when the police arrive, tell them you were caught by the Renegades!”
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