Lost in Another World: Origin Story Part 4: Suit Up 3

“Link-up complete.”

The four heroes shared a look, and suddenly they each knew the other’s names and what element they represented.

“We don’t have much time; you need to put a stop to this to fix what has gone wrong. You need to stop him from going on a rampage; then either get him to give up the power the Owl has given him, or take it from him by force. After that we will teach you to undo the damage you and he caused. What have you learned about him that you can use to trap him?”

Flint spoke first. “He was afraid of the fire; maybe I could make a circle of fire that would at least keep him from running away again.”

“I can always freeze him in place too, once we get him to stand still.” Ice Raven suggested.

“Alright team, and then let’s save our city!” Rose Thorn took charge, and as Flint watched her, he couldn't help but notice how much she moved like Penny. It couldn’t be…could it? He looked to Ice Raven; his joking tone and confident movement couldn’t belong to anyone else but Trevor. And the self-reliance of Mighty Mage couldn’t be anyone but Sophie. Flint was sure he was looking at his friends behind the superhero masks.

Before they took off to fight Heart Breaker, he had to test it. So he offered the group a high five; all three looked at him skeptically and high-fived him. Then he lowered his hand, and they all gave him the low five; at that, they started to laugh and locked pinkies. Knowing they were fighting as a team of friends, they surged in confidence and jumped into action.

It didn’t start terribly well. Mighty Mage quickly learned that her fan could be used to more concisely control the wind and that if she threw it, it could grow like a glider to help catch someone from falling. She had to use these wind powers to catch Flint, as he lept like his friends without thinking. He was momentarily distracted by her help, making him misdirect his first attempt at the fire circle, which in turn knocked Ice Raven down. Thankfully, Rose Thorn was fast on her feet and caught him with a flower. Flint caught her blushing at saving her crush, but she shook her head and got the team back on track by calling out orders.

She was used to moving people around in photo shoots, and her friends easily followed her lead. Soon Flint had a semi-circle of fire ready, waiting for Mighty Mage to lead Heart Breaker into the trap. Ice Raven made ice barricades to keep the crowds back. And Rose Thorn blocked the path away from Mighty Mage with vines, so there was no chance of escape. Soon Heart Breaker was entrapped in the fire ring, and Ice Raven quickly encased his feet in ice.

The boys kept their focus on the fire ring and ice trap because, even though it seemed like magic, the fire needed constant attention and the ice was melting from the heat. The girls tried to talk to Heart Breaker. Might Mage started, “Look bud, we know this isn’t you; you’re hurting and someone took advantage of you.”

“We want to help you, but you need to help us first.” Rose Thorn swung down from her vine Lasso. “You need to let go of the power she gave you. You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”

Heart Breaker fought against the ice around his feet. “No, I don’t; but when she left me, it made me so mad! And I just want her to hurt as much as I do; she can’t be okay, can she?”

Mighty Mage looked to Rose Thorn. “Sorry girl, I don’t think he’s going to give it up voluntarily.” Rose Thorn sighed and wrapped him in the vine. Mighty Mage used a gentle wind tunnel to pull the metal from his body, and as the metal left his body it formed a solid ball of metal again.

Flicker’s voice came to Flint while he was tending the fire. “You need to burn it to ash, Flint.”

Flint noticed that Flicker’s voice is slightly different than the Elements combined. He turned his focus to the piece of metal floating on the wind platform that Mighty Mage had made. Once he started lighting the metal on fire, Ice Raven kept Might Mage’s wind platform cool to avoid creating some kind of fire-wind tornado. While they did that, Rose Thorn helped the poor boy out of the mess of vines and water that he had found himself in. He was sobbing; she felt for him so she gave him a flower which, if nothing else, made him smile.

Soon the metal burnt red and faded to ash. The four heroes stood together. “Alright Elements, tell us what to do,” Rose Thorn called out.

“The method is simple - each of you holds out a hand.” They stacked their hands on top of each other. “Good, now each of you uses your power.” They did and, within seconds, lights of pink, blue, purple and orange came shooting from their hands. This caused the puddles, leftover ice, charred marks from buildings, vines, and any other damage done by Heart Breaker to disappear. As the four friends shared a confident smile, they were quickly bombarded with questions from the public. The group looked to Rose Thorn.

Rose Thorn looked to Mighty Mage, who winked at her.

“Alright, everyone, back up!” The crowd did as Mighty Mage said. “Give our friend here some room to breathe; just like the rest of us, he has gone through a lot today. Can we have the paramedics look him over? We have no idea what damage Crazy Owl Lady can do.” Once that was taken care of, Mighty Mage gestured for Rose Thorn to come and take charge.

“Look, we know you have a lot of questions, but so do we. This all just happened to us too. Let us go and learn more about this, and we will give a press conference in a few days. If you want us to give these to the police we will, but if you choose to trust us and let us work as a team to fight for you, we will do that.” Rose Thorn stood tall and strong.

“We love Arcadia; it is our home too, and we want to help to keep it safe.” Flint offered his hands to Ice Raven and Mighty Mage, who stood on either side of him.

“We clearly were chosen for this job, so let us help you until we have proven we can’t anymore.” Ice Raven took the hand he was offered and offered his hand to Rose Thorn. The four heroes raised their hands in unison, then carefully took off, making sure to balance Flint so that he didn’t fall. After a short distance, they landed on a roof.

“We gather that the four of you already know each other, so we can skip the whole ‘keep your identity a secret even from each other.’ But you must keep the rest of the world unaware of who you are; it’s too great a risk. And never let the public know that you know each other’s identities.”

“That would make sense,” Flint responded. “Sorry, I had a hunch and had to test it, and I think it worked for our best. We are quite the group.” Everyone nodded and agreed with him.

“So we saw. You did quite well, but we will need to train to make you even better. For now, here is what you need to know: the piece of jewellery you were given holds your element; tap it twice for your costume to come on and off, and tap once to talk with your element. We will start training later. For now, you need to go eat something; your elements will drain you of your energy. Always remember to eat after a battle or after training sessions. Maybe even carry a small snack with you if you can.”

The four friends jumped down from the roof in different directions, and they all tapped their new elements twice and returned to their normal street clothes. As they met back up, Trevor looked at Andrew and Penny. “So when were you two going to tell us you could dance like that? It was amazing!”

“I guess we just didn’t think about it, we’ve been dancing since we were kids.” Andrew shrugged. “Everyone in our class knows, so we never need to bring it up.”

“Oh! That explains the class shipping you two - I’ve been trying to figure out why since I moved here!” Sophie’s eyes lit up with revelation.

Both Andrew and Penny burst out laughing, “Yep, that’s a big part of it. That and the fact that our families are so close. And that likely won’t change until we find real dates,” Penny explained between laughs.

This gave Andrew an idea. “Say, Trevor, you could help Pen out with that…. I would happily give up my Thursday with Pen if you wanted to take her out on a date.” Andrew winked at Penny, who stared at him in shock.

“Oh! Well, that would actually be great. What do you say, Penny? Will you let this bird take his favourite flower out on a date?” He blushed; maybe he noticed Penny the same way she had noticed him.

“I really would, Trevor…. But the pun - really?” She giggled blushing immediately.

“Hey, puns are the best part of writing!” He acted offended, but he was too happy to really be upset.

“Hey now, if Trevor and Penny are going to go on a date, then….” Sophie walked closer to Andrew. “Hey fire boy, wanna go on a date on Thursday?”

Trevor and Penny laughed at Sophie’s direct approach.

Andrew dumbly grinned. “That would make me so happy.”

The four friends shared a laugh and awkwardly stared at each other.

“Well, for now, let’s just hang out and have some fun. We can work out date details later. Come on, the gallery has a coffee shop inside, so we can get our snack and still check out the exhibits and get some inspiration.” Penny locked arms with Sophie and led the way. She just knew they were in for a great adventure.

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