The Heroes of Treecian Chapter Two
On her way home from school, Katie was dissapointed. Her crush had failed to see her again. Last year, she’d told herself she’d have the courage to ask him out next year, but she was still not good at it. Her baggy hoodie weighed over her, making her feel like an outcast. Growing up, she’d always had a love for cats. Creatures that kept to themselves instead of silly dogs. She had her hands in her pockets until she saw something on the ground. It was a silver bracelet with a feline design to it. Her love of cats overwhelmed her as she picked up the artifact and slipped it on her wrist. Weirdly, the bracelet was huge on her but then shrunk to an exact size.
“That’s.. weird.” Katie said.
“Oh of course it is young madam.” A strange disembodied voice remarked. “But you’re the one who put on my object.”
“Who are you?” Katie asked, her voice rising. “What are you?”
“Apologies, my name is Silver.”
Suddenly, a cat strolled out from behind a nearby tree. Silver glittering fur blinded Katie when it refracted off the sun.
“I am a Mini Elemental and YOU are my new master I suppose.” Silver remarked as she inspected Katie. “Yes, yes you will do nicely.”
“Nicely?” Katie asked. “What do you mean nicely?”
“For your new duty of course!” Silver stated. “You will be my new master and become a protector, a hero!”
“Well, I have nothing better to do but why me?”
“It is fate! You must become something bigger than yourself to help keep this place, and maybe even the world safe!” Silver exclaimed.
. . .
The town park at twilight was supposed to be peaceful. Instead, it became a disaster zone of runaway superpowers. None of them had any idea that they weren’t the only ones in the city with a magical secret. Katie was the first to arrive. She was sprinting along the tree line, completely out of control of her new form. Her reflexes were too fast. Every time she tried to take a normal step, she launched herself ten feet into the air.
“Whoa! Whoa! Too fast!” Katie shrieked, her gray mist trailing behind her.
“Lean into the curve, miss!” Silver the silver cat cheered from inside her bracelet. “Feline agility requires a loose posture!”
“I am trying!” Katie yelled, instantly tripping over a stray root. She went flying face-first toward the main fountain. At that exact moment, a boy in a red ninja outfit came soaring over the park fence. Kendrick was laughing like a maniac, living out his absolute best superhero life. He flipped through the air, completely mesmerized by the katana on his back and the grapple hook on his hip.
“This is amazing!” the red ninja shouted to the sky.
“Told you so, Poppy,” Red’s relaxed voice chuckled from the ring. “Just keep it chill. Watch that landing though — “
“Wait, how do I brake?!” Kendrick panicked. He overshot his landing completely, tumbling head-over-heels across the grass, directly toward the fountain. Meanwhile, a towering figure plummeted from the sky like a metallic meteor. Jude was completely encased in heavy armor, his face hidden behind a glowing, copper visor. The weight of his massive copper shield was highly disproportionate to his jumping experience. He was falling straight down, panicking loudly.
“Despair not, young squire!” Sir Cobalt roared valiantly from the crest. “Brace thy shield! Let the earth tremble before the might of justice!”
Suddenly, screaming like a maniac was Kendrick swinging off of telephone poles as he crashed into Katie and they got tangled in a mesh of wire. Kendrick kept consciousness but the girl he crashed into took a few minutes to come too. Her lopsided brunette hair hanging smoothly caught his attention.
“Ow,” the red ninja groaned, his mask lopsided. He blinked. “Bonjour! I usually like to get a girl’s number before we tangle ourselves into a round of vertical twister. Name’s… uh, Shinobi. Yeah! Scarlet Shinobi at your service mademoiselle. What’s your name?”
“Are you serious right now?!” Katie yelped, her face flushing red under her gray mask. She tried to push him off her with a silver-gloved hand, rolling her eyes. “Get off me, you weirdo!” The worst part was the wire from the grappling hook was insanely tight.
“Halt!” the copper knight bellowed, his voice heavily distorted and deepened by the metallic paladin armor as he struggled to stand up. “Identify yourselves! Art thou allies of the realm or agents of darkness, or foes?”
“Wait, who said that?” Katie asked,”And what are you guys?”
Suddenly, the Mini Elementals made their presence known. Red floated out of the ninja’s ring, hovering with a relaxed grin.
“Well, well, well. Looks like we have a party on our hands.”
Sir Cobalt popped his tiny lion head out from the knight’s crest, drawing his microscopic broadsword. Unlike his glowing metallic namesake, his translucent form radiated a brilliant copper warmth.
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“Speak, strangers! Uphold the code of honor!”
Silver the cat stepped out of the girl’s bracelet, shaking the dust off her fur.
“Oh, pipe down. They’re clearly rookies.”
“Aye!” the Copper Knight yelled, finally seeing the two heroes’ current predicament was not purposeful. “Allow me to help ye two down from this cursed object.” He grabbed the grappling hook and retracted the line of rope sending the two falling to the ground hard.
Kendrick quickly rose up, dusted himself off and demanded his grappling hook back.
“Alright metal dude, give it back,” he said.
Copper Knight handed him his grappling hook as the three masked teenagers stared at each other, then at the tiny knight lion, the silver cat, and the relaxed dragon spirit. The silence in the park was incredibly loud. The red ninja leaned against the fountain, giving Katie a cheeky wink.
“I never got your name.” He said.
Katie thought for a minute. She was NOT about to tell a random stranger her name. “Silver Claw.”
“So, claws, since our floating pet monsters seem to think we’re on the same team… what do you say we grab a smoothie and talk about it?”
Silver Claw crossed her arms, turning away from him to hide a small smirk. “In your dreams, ninja boy. We have bigger problems to worry about.”
Copper Knight adjusted his massive shield, looking around nervously. “She is correct. We must discover what brought us all to this battleground and I fear it must be done quickly because he is already approaching.” Jude seemingly pointed to nothing.
“Um, mister Metal Knight guy, sir? I think you might’ve hit your head on that fall, there’s nobody there-” Kendrick was suddenly cut off.
Slowly, a strange individual hobbled out. There was something in its head.
“Crap.” whispered Kendrick as he readied himself. He didn’t know if this thing was friendly or not. “Alright, I’ve got a plan. Step one, Claws get close and see what he wants and come back.”
“Marvelous beginning to ye plan, but what is thy next step?” Jude asked Kendrick.
“Step two is I have no idea and we’ll work on it when we’re in the moment.” Kendrick replied as the strange individual sprinted towards them.
“I am this town’s doom! I am Titan!” Titan exclaimed loudly.
The sunset over the park fountain bled from warm orange into a bruised, uninviting purple. Titan didn’t look like a standard comic-book villain; he looked like a broken machine. His posture was warped, his clothes were tattered, and a harsh, pulsing violet light emanated from a mechanical node embedded directly into the base of his skull.
“Step two is actively happening!” Scarlet Shinobi yelled, diving out of the way as the Snatcher lunged forward with terrifying, unnatural speed. The villain slammed both fists into the concrete edge of the fountain, shattering the stone structure into explosive fragments. “Claws, a little help here?”
“Don’t call me that, ninja boy!” Silver Claw snapped, though she didn’t hesitate. Her feline reflexes took over, her body rocketing ten feet into the air as she extended her glowing, razor-sharp silver claws. She swung downward, aiming to disable his arms, but Elemental Snatcher caught her wrists mid-air with an iron grip.
“Feline momentum requires a dynamic exit strategy, miss!” Silver the cat warned from inside her bracelet.
“A bit late for that!” Silver Claw gasped as the villain swung her like a ragdoll, throwing her directly toward the park benches. Before she could hit the wood, a brilliant wall of warm, metallic energy materialized out of nowhere. The copper knight slid into place, burying the bottom rim of his massive shield into the turf. Silver Claw hit the translucent copper barrier with a soft thud, completely unharmed.
“Stand firm, fair maiden!” the copper knight bellowed, his voice echoing with deep, mechanical resonance through his visor. “Thy shield is absolute!”
“Thanks, bucket-head,” Silver Claw breathed, scrambling back to her feet, her heart still hammering against her ribs.
“Immobilize him!” Silver Claw shouted at the top of her lungs so Copper Knight would hear her.
“I’m on it!” Scarlet Shinobi shouted. He reached into his weapon belt, pulling out a glowing red grappling hook. With a practiced snap of his wrist, he fired the line, wrapping the high-tensile wire three times around the Snatcher’s ankles. “Yo, Copper! Hit the deck!”
The copper knight dropped his shoulder, charging forward like a freight train. The heavy plates of his paladin armor ground together with a deafening metallic roar. He drove the flat face of his shield directly into the Snatcher’s chest at the exact moment Scarlet Shinobi yanked the grapple line taut. With a brutal crack, the villain was swept off his feet, crashing heavily onto the grass.
“Ha! Teamwork makes the dream work, beautiful!” Shinobi cheered, giving Silver Claw another lopsided wink through his mask. “Did you see that move? Totally flawless.”
