“Call me crazy,” said SteelStar, transforming to metal, “But you don’t look like police to me.”

Surrounded by men in power suits as they stood upon the roof of a skyscraper, SteelStar clenched his gauntlet glad fists and looked back and forth.

“Does that mean you’re going to fight us?” asked one of them, his features hidden by the power suit’s featureless helmet. “That’s fine by us.”

The eagerness in the man’s voice was unmistakable. SteelStar, weighing his options, realized he was dangerously low on electromagnetic energy. To make matters worse, he’d spent almost the entire day in metal form, and could start to stiffen at any moment. It became clear to SteelStar who was behind the mutant attacks all day, but he couldn’t do anything about that now. He wouldn’t have the energy to fight all of them, so that meant he had only one option.

Magnetically pushing against the metal framing of the building beneath him, SteelStar leapt over some of the men and soared over to the next building. Landing with a thump, he ran towards the other side of the building as he heard the jump sets from the men’s power suits behind him. As SteelStar was halfway across this roof, the men behind him landed, their impacts shacking the roof as they gave chase.

SteelStar wished he could afford to fly, but he had too little energy for that. A small burst to jump between buildings was all he could risk. As he pushed against the building beneath him and jumped high into the air, his mind raced, trying to come up with a plan.

###

“You guys got a warrant for that arrest?” asked Celerity, panting.

“Don’t get cute with me, power user,” said one of the men venomously.

Surrounded by men in power suits, Celerity saw civilians running away from the scene, taking refuge inside buildings. With an attack like this, the city would probably go into lockdown soon, so at least the common people would be out of the way. Celerity’s real problem was how tired she felt. Speedsters had incredible stamina, but even they had limits, and Celerity was very close to hers.

“Sorry boys,” she said. “As much as I love being the center of attention, I have places to be.”

Celerity spun around ten times in a second then knelt to punch the ground, knocking a cloud of dirt into the air. As the men raised their hands to shield their eyes, Celerity sped out of there, slipping past them, and running away. As she ran, Celerity clenched her teeth, feeling her legs burn from exhaustion. She found an alley out of sight, and immediately had to stop and take a breather.

Not good, she thought. Not good at all.

###

“John!” cried Amelia Gatlin as she ran through the house.

“Mom!” cried Samantha Gatlin, running out of her room. “What’s going on?!”

Martin and Abigail also poked their heads out of their rooms as their mother ran through the hallway.

“I got a city alert!” Amelia shouted. “Someone’s attacking Andy! John! Where are you!?”

“Why does this keep happening to him?” said Samantha, following.

“Why won’t people just leave Andy alone,” said Martin as he and Abigail followed Samantha.

Amelia ran through the house, then saw John in his office.

“John!” she said, approaching. “I just saw the alert. We need to…”

She stopped. John wasn’t responding but kept staring forward at his computer screen.

“John?” she asked, though in her heart, Amelia knew what had happened.

On John’s computer screen she saw the reports of mutant animals attacking. John just stared forward, blank eyed, a look of dismay all over his face as he remained unaware of the world around him. Amelia had seen this before, and it broke her heart every time.

“Oh, John, darling,” she said sadly.

Behind her stood Samantha, Martha, and Abigail, all watching their father worriedly. It was little Abigail who asked, “Mommy? What’s wrong with Daddy?”

Martin and Samantha looked at Abigail sadly. She was the only one of them who hadn’t their father’s situation explained yet.

Amelia took a deep breath. “Samantha, Martin, Abigail, go to the living room and wait for me.”

As the children left, Amelia went into the office and retrieved a Valtarian communicator from John’s desk. Lifting the communicator up to her mouth, Amelia said, “This is Amedara. Halsai, get the safe houses ready. Andy needs our help.”

###

SteelStar landed on yet another building, running as fast as he could. The Sons of Purity landed soon after, pursuing immediately. Running low on energy, SteelStar tried to think of a source of electricity he could absorb, but the nearest power plant was miles away. Even if he could reach it, suddenly taking power from the city could cause problems, even get people hurt. He needed another option.

Fortunately, one presented itself when his smartwatch beeped. When SteelStar raised his wrist, he saw the familiar face of his mother.

“SteelStar!” cried mom. “This is Amedara. I’m sending you the location of one of our safehouses. There will be Valtarians there to assist you.”

The smartwatch them showed a small map and a blinking dot. It wasn’t far. If he could just get there…

“Understood,” said SteelStar, leaping from another roof.

###

Celerity peeked her head out of the alley she’d been hiding in and saw the Sons of Purity members heading straight for her. How had they found her so quickly? Grimacing, she fled down that alley, running at normal human speed to conserve her stamina. After everything she’d done today, it would be difficult to run and full speed consistently. She’d only be able to afford short bursts, but even that would risk wearing her out quickly.

When Celerity heard the men enter the alley, their footsteps crashing behind her, she looked back to see them raising their wrists. Tapping into her speed, Celerity pushed through the pain and rushed down the alley just as something shot from small launchers above the men’s wrists. Celerity managed to zip around the corner and back against the wall just as something whistled past her.

Speeding her mind up momentarily, Celerity saw that the objects shooting out of the alley were small darts, which flew past her vision. Despite her body screaming at her to lay down for some rest, Celerity knew she had to flee. Running away at normal speed, Celerity suddenly got a beep on her smartwatch and raised it to see a woman with grey skin and white hair, like SteelStar.

“Celerity,” said Amedara. “My name is Amedara, and I’m SteelStar’s…associate. There’s a safehouse we can direct you towards with backup. Head there now and we can help you.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Celerity saw the map, and then sped towards the cover of another building just as the Sons of Purity stepped out of the alley and shot more darts.

###

SteelStar landed on another building and checked his smartwatch as he ran. The safehouse wasn’t far. Just a few more buildings and he could drop down to street level. As he heard the Sons of Purity land behind him, however, his limbs suddenly became harder to move. It was almost like trying to run through water, but SteelStar knew the truth. He’d finally run out of steam and was starting to stiffen.

“No, not now!” he cried, slowing down.

As the men behind him closed the distance, SteelStar struggled to reach the edge of the roof. The Sons of Purity got closer and closer as they ran and were almost on top of him as SteelStar neared the edge of the roof. Pushing himself as his limbs started failing him, SteelStar tumbled over the edge, the Sons of Purity just barely missing as they grabbed at him.

As he fell, SteelStar felt his body stiffen more. He didn’t sense any people below him. Presumably people would have taken refuge inside buildings by now, so at least he didn’t have to worry about crushing someone. What worried him right now was his inability to move his metal limbs. They were getting stiffer by the second.

Above him, the Sons of Purity jumped off the building, using the jets in their boots to slow their descent. It would be difficult to slow themselves if they’d already gained momentum, so they had to slow down now, which at least gave SteelStar some extra distance.

Still, as he lost his ability to move his limbs more and more, SteelStar started to feel a hint of panic. If he turned solid, it was over, and judging by how his vision was starting to blur, he could go solid at any moment.

Come on, SteelStar, he told himself. Fall!

After what seemed like an eternity, SteelStar crashed into the sidewalk, leaving cracks behind as he bounced, his rigid metal body rolling for a moment as it bounced a few more times. Eventually, SteelStar bounced off a car, denting it, and came to a complete stop on the road. Finally motionless, he turned to his organic form to lay flat on the ground, relieve flooding his mind as he could finally move his limbs again.

Standing, he immediately started running through streets empty of people, consulting his smartwatch. He was still close to the safehouse, but the amount of energy he’d extended thus far was considerable. He’d run out soon if he wasn’t careful.

Not far behind him, the Sons of Purity landed, running as fast as they could in pursuit.

“He’s not made of metal anymore!” cried one of them.

SteelStar looked back to see them raising their arms to aim some sort of wrist mounted launchers. SteelStar ducked behind a car as darts whistled past him, a couple bouncing off the vehicle. Now that SteelStar couldn’t use his metal form, he was vulnerable. Even using magnetism to leap off cars was dangerous, as he’d be a sitting duck in the air. He had to get to that safehouse now.

###

Celerity zig zagged through cars in quick bursts, keeping an object between her and the darts as often as she could. These smaller bursts of speed were easier to pull off, but she still felt like she could collapse at any moment and had to stop and rest each time. The darts whistled and tinked off each car as she made her way. When Celerity took a second or two to rest, the Sons of Purity closed the distance just a little bit more. Sometimes they used their jump jets to try and attack her from above, but she was able to dodge those as well, though barely.

Eventually, she spotted an opportunity to hide, if only for a few moments. Celerity sped into an alley and forced herself to jump through the pain, stifling her groan. Up she went until she landed on a fire escape, spreading the kinetic energy to silence her fall as best she could. There was no access to this fire escape from the ground, and it was in enough of a shadow to obscure her from anyone who looked up. Laying down on her back, Celerity took deep breaths as the men entered the alley and started talking.

“Where is she?”

“She couldn’t have gotten far. Hold on, I’m getting the thermal imaging from the choppers.”

So, they were tracking her thermals via helicopter, thought Celerity. She wouldn’t remain hidden for long. She would just have to take advantage of whatever rest she could get. Trying to keep her breaths silent, Celerity stayed still. Just a few seconds. That’s all she wanted.

“They’re saying she didn’t leave the alley,” said one of the men. “Look for her.”

The Sons of Purity looks through the alley, through giant garbage bins, in obscure corners, and even broke down a few back doors. After a moment, one of them looked up.

“Check the fire escape!”

She grimaced. It was time to go.

Celerity got up, turned, then ran, jumping off the fire escape. She landed at the head of the alley, hearing someone shout out her location, then sped away. Her limbs were still on fire, but she ran, nonetheless. She just had to get to that safehouse.

###

SteelStar’s energy reserves were dangerously low, and yet without the ability to turn to metal, shooting lightning bolts was the only way to keep the Sons of Purity off his back. Ducking behind cars as darts began whistling past his head, he’d peek out to strike the closest man with lightning, sending him flying back as the sound cracked in the air. It didn’t seem to do much damage, however. Not only were SteelStar’s lightning bolts weaker than normal, but the men’s power suits absorbed most of the damage. The men would get knocked back and would get up a moment later. When SteelStar heard one of them using jump jets to fly into the air, he was sure to knock him down with lightning.

The normally metal superhero had never felt so vulnerable as he did in that moment, dodging darts in his organic form. After throwing a lightning bolt, SteelStar kept looking out for the safehouse. In this area, he figured he knew where it was. Mom and Dad had showed it to him once. Finally, far off in the distance, he saw it, the entrance to a storehouse between other businesses. The inside was dark, and SteelStar just knew that Valtarians would be waiting inside.

Throwing one more lightning bolt behind him, SteelStar made a break for it, running as fast as he could. Dodging and weaving between abandoned cars, SteelStar pushed himself to his limit as he kept the safehouse in his sight.

Behind him, he heard more jump jets. SteelStar turned to blast a man out of the air with lightning, only to see another man jump into the air. SteelStar tried to shoot him, but the resulting lightning was tiny, absorbed by the power suit like it was nothing. With a look of horror, SteelStar realized he’d just run out of energy, and before he could react, the man before him shot a dart.

SteelStar staggered back, feeling a prick on his chest. Looking down, he saw a dart sticking out from his costume. SteelStar pulled it out, but he was already starting to feel dizzy. As he turned and tried to run away, SteelStar staggered, falling against a car to support himself. His attempts to flee manifested as little more than stumbling. Soon the men in power suits were right behind SteelStar, strolling up casually. SteelStar started breathing heavily, his terrified eyes locked into the safehouse in the distance.

“Oh, pass out already!” cried one of them.

The man kicked SteelStar in the side, sending him flying. By the time SteelStar landed on the road, he had, indeed, blacked out.

###

After Celerity zipped into another alley, she realized her vision was going blurry from the exhaustion. Checking her smartwatch, she saw that the safehouse was directly in front of her, and looking up she could just barely make out an open door in the distance. Summoning what was left of her strength, she sped forward. Though her legs felt like they could burst she pushed herself to run.

Celerity reached the building, finding herself surrounded by darkness. Unfortunately, it was that moment that her legs finally gave out from under her. Celerity fell, landing on her face, sweat splatting on the floor in front of her as she gasped for breath. Eyes wide with fear, she tried to move, but her limbs just wouldn’t obey her.

“Get up!” Celerity told herself uselessly. “Get up!”

Her head was swimming, and she couldn’t force herself to stand. After a minute or two, Celerity heard the Sons of Purity enter the building, their footsteps clanking against the floor. Her breathing sped up as she saw their feet surrounding her.

“Finally,” said one of them. “Let’s get her and get out of here.”

“No,” said Celerity as the men reached down.

Suddenly the door closed behind them, plunging the room into complete darkness. The men started shouting as something ran in from all sides. Celerity, from the floor, heard the Sons of Purity getting hit by something metal, and saw flashes of light as they tried to use jump jets to get away, only to be pulled down by people in black clothing. In the flashes, she saw the sons of Purity getting punched repeatedly. Celerity heard something crash, though she couldn’t see what it was. The sounds of fighting went on for a few minutes until they finally faded away.

A moment later, the lights turned on, revealing shelves full of canned goods, one of them knocked over with the cans scattered on the floor. The sons of purity lay scattered, unconscious, cracks on their helmets. Above them stood people taking off night vision goggles. Under those goggles, the people turned out to be Valtarians in metal form. There were steel, copper, bronze, and even gold Valtarians. Some of the older Valtarians were made of green metal, looking like miniature statues of liberty. One of the older green Valtarians started shouting orders, a burly man with a mop of green hair.

“Alright,” he said. “Get rid of these power suits and tie these people up. We can turn them to the authorities later. Let’s get this young lady some medical attention.” He brought out a communicator. “This is Halsai. The speedster is safe. Repeat, the speedster is safe.”

“Did…” Celerity struggled to say. “Did SteelStar make it?”

The older metal man, Halsai, looked at her curiously, then spoke into his communicator again.

“Did Andro make it?” asked Halsai.

The voice on the other end of the communicator replied, “No, he hasn’t shown up.”

Celerity closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“So now what?” asked one of the other Valtarians.

Halsai didn’t answer, but just looked at Celerity, who by now had finally passed out from exhaustion.