The Heroes of Little Springs

"It's time we told these super sideshows what we think of them. You're no super heroes, you're..." They stated and then pointed to their audiences to continue. "Super Zeroes!" The crowd echoed, a few even flashing crafted posters displaying these very words.

The camera panned to the talk host, their audience, and then the entirety of the building. In the process they managed to come across a sign which read 'Little Spring Reports, Channel 8' If one was to catch it in time, they would realize where this was being locally broadcasted, and with a little extra research would be able to pinpoint its exact location.
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Elsewhere the bunker the agents were inside was now vacant, except for the newly battered walls, and lifeless and weakened bodies of the gas-mask group. Several authority cars had now arrived on scene, their lights flashing vibrantly across the outside. The perimeter was secured outdoors, paramedics were tending to the groggy and weakened guards, who had been previously gassed, as others began to inspect the inside, the damage, and the unconcealed bodies.

In the shadows, having avoided contact, Lunar Knight began to conduct his own inspection. Having followed up on the cannon fiasco, it led him here. There wasn't much information that helped him at all. Sure the damaged walls were alarming, as was the pile of injured people, but that didn't explain anything.

However one thing did stick out amongst the other evidence, a discarded empty vial and needle. Inspecting these two items carefully, footsteps and flashlights began to advance on his position. Fortunately as they entered his whereabouts, he was no where around to be seen.

Anaea rolled her eyes at the woman's catchphrase. Okay, now that was just lame. Still, she forced herself to stay in front of the television sets. If she was going to do any research on this woman to find out just how much of threat she could be, she needed a name. Or, at the very least, the name of the talk show. Unfortunately, the name of the show was not in the corner of the screen and instead was just an obscure logo that could have meant a number of things.

However, there was then a sign one of the people were holding with the proper channel this was currently being broadcasted on. Vaguely knowing where that was, she immediately headed for her car to drop off her things and then towards the station.

"And if that's not enough, I have with me a book by a local writer about child psychology." The talk show host stated, holding it up for the audience to see. Quickly skimming through some pages, they then read an section. "Some children who look to these super-heroes as role models, do poorly in school, fight with their family, and refuse to eat their vegetables." Finishing the quote, they placed the book down, and stared at the camera.

"I would enjoy asking these so called 'super heroes' how they would respond to these accusations, but I can't!" They exclaimed, "Because they don't have the guts to show up!"

When reaching Channel 8's studio, a large screen with the talk show hung just over the entrance to the building. A group of people, no doubt supporters, gathered around with signs that were similar to the ones being shown indoors. Anaea noticed a couple of cameramen walking around as well who would probably be filming anyone they deemed interesting.

Here, Anaea stopped. While she wanted nothing more than to tell this woman off in some way, she still wasn't entirely sure she was willing to take those risks. Sure, she was certain there were some super heroes that spoke with the press fictional or otherwise. But did she want to become one of those? Not to mention, she was almost positive this woman would find a way to corner her in an argument and the last thing she wanted was to tarnish her reputation again.

But then Anaea reasoned that perhaps she didn't have to represent herself as Quiver.

"I have a question!" Anaea said loudly over the protestors as a cameraman passed her. She waited for the cameraman to give her the slightest attention before continuing. "What do you do to protect this city?"

The audience began to cheer among hearing the host's last words, clapping loudly, as well as booing at these so called 'super heroes'

Just then another voice echoed over, after the audience's voices began to settle. Staring at this unexpected guest, befuddled slightly, the host soon regained their composure. Chattering and whispering their voices in an echoic tune, the audience stared at Anaea, at each other, slightly confused.

With a sinister grin, the host beckoned their hand towards Anaea, "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a 'hero' supporter in our mix." They stated, which quieted any doubts of the audience, in fact they now stared disapprovingly at this person. "Not that we should be surprised, I mean look at her!"

The audiences voices soon became echoic again, as they nodded in agreement. "Did you know that since your so called 'heroes' came child obesity is up by five percent! Or maybe you'd care to explain why on their watch, white collar crime is up!" The host stated these facts loudly, in Anaea, as they pointed at them.

Boisterous and angrily, the crowd rose and shook their fists, as they shouted echoing words of agreement. Proving their point, they fixed their tie, and alerted security guards immediately on the premise. The two men grabbed Anaea's arms, one each, as they began to escort her away from the set.

"Thank you for proving my point, that only a person like you would support these heroes!" They shouted, as Anaea was dragged to the exit doors.

Anaea couldn't help but to look down at her attire upon hearing the hosts' words. She really didn't see anything wrong with what she was wearing considering it was semi-professional attire. Under normal circumstances, this would have caught her completely off-guard. But by this time she was prepared for personal and illogical attacks.

"No, thank you for proving my point by completely and purposely avoiding my question," Anaea replied loud enough for the host to hear just before she was being dragged away.

With their minor yet helpful convenience out of the picture, the show had to go on, and with a grin the host began where they left off. The guards escorted the woman all the way to the exit, where they then forcefully but promptly dropped her outside of the set's back alley. The host, the audience, and the shows liveliness echoed through the walls, slightly muffled from the barrier.
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Elsewhere a thin flimsy cut-out from a newspaper, seemingly handled one too many times, had a bold headline. It read 'The Hunt is On', followed by two pictures of Corporal Hunt, one during his time in service, and the other during his arrest and stained reputation. 'Losing and being striped of everything, this man has one last piece to give up, the truth.

A testimony is to be held on March 3rd.' One of the lines stated, but apparently someone had different plans...immediately the loose piece of paper gently floated to the ground, as the shaded figure reading rushed off into the distance.
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Nearby a local unmanned police car, with their windows slowly lowered, received an emergency call via their radio. "A local bank robbery is currently in progress. The use of explosives and guns has been confirmed. Suspects are hostile and top-level threats. All patrols nearby Burns Street report immediately to Little Spring Bank." The man's voice explained, sounding quite static via the radio.

Soon after, several police cars sped by quickly, with their sirens flashing and screeching loudly. Burns Street was just another street in Little Springs, but with little to offer, except for the local bank, some cheap snack shops, and various concession stands. However these were all vacant, as most pedestrians cowered behind what little cover they could, as the echoing roar of machine guns filled the air.

Several police cars already on spot, were turned so their sides were facing the entrance of the bank. Using their vehicles are protection, the police armed with simple pistols, held off these terrorists as best as they could.

From where they were, they could only get an visual on the threats outside, and it was unclear how many were inside, or if there were any inside at all. Covered all in black suits, with ski masks, they all sported a machine gun of their choice, which they constantly fired onto any police brave or foolish enough to get in their way.

Anaea didn't say anything as the guards led her outside but once they had gone, she brushed off her sleeves. She knew in a way it was a tad bit pointless to do so but still she felt obligated.

Just as she was about to leave and head towards her car, she couldn't help but to overhear the police car's radio. Looking around for a potential officer and spotting no one nearby, Anaea slowly stepped closer towards the vehicle. Still, she made sure to look as though she were just hanging around idly while the radio continued its distress call.

"Looks like it's just going to be one of those days," Anaea thought as the message ended.
_______

Crouching on the roof of the building next door, Quiver surveyed the area. Although the officers couldn't get passed the men wearing black, they were causing enough of a distraction at the front entrance. With a rope tied at the end of one of her arrows, Quiver aimed for the banks roof. When the rope was secure, Quiver crossed over.

Once she was on the other side, Quiver cut her rope before slowly attempting to open the door on the roof.

"Put down the guns now, this is your last warning." One of the officers announced sternly through a megaphone, and behind the cover of their vehicle. While he was covering himself, he wasn't cowering, and was staring coldly at the terrorist at the entrance, on top of the last stairs of the bank.

Each police car there was subjected to bullet holes everywhere, glass was shattered, and some were even smoking, no doubt rendered useless from the brutality. Sneering and grinning at the police's threat, especially with their lacking fire and manpower, the terrorists laughed. They knew this was going to be an easy job, the authority on spot were a joke.

"No, you listen here! We're making the rules!" One of them exclaimed, unleashing several bursts of bullets into the police car, from where several cops ducked for cover. One even managed to be hit in the process, thus being the first officer down, even if it was only a minor wound. Pulling his body back behind the safety of the car, two officers checked their comrade. He would be fine, after this ordeal was over, but he wouldn't be helping them any further.

As Quiver entered the building, she couldn't help but to feel that the place seemed rather empty. Descending the stairs, she didn't hear a single thing occurring. No hostages, no other criminals, nothing. So the question was, why were they holding up a bank without potentially taking anything?

To clear her suspicions, she moved towards where the safes were kept. But she didn't have to go very far before confirming her suspicion that no one seemed to be interested in money. Not at the moment anyway.

Another assault of bullets came from outside the bank. Not wasting any time, Quiver slowly made her way towards the entrance. However, rather than going directly towards the entrance, she crept towards a nearby window. She could see some of the men clearly. Slowly, she aimed and fired her fire arrows towards the machine guns two of the men were holding.

As the terrorists rained down hot lead into the police and their cars, parked and barricaded around the bank, a single arrow came whizzing pass them. One of the first terrorists in its path, wasn't able to dodge, nor see it in time.

The arrow picked up the machine gun, by slipping through the trigger handle. As it reached the end, it hoisted the gun away, pinning it and the arrow against the wall on the other side. Slowly the machine gun spun to a halt, as the now unarmed terrorist stared in disbelief at his trapped gun.

The second terrorist however managed to move out of the way in time, and still had his gun fully intact. Spotting the lone archer inside the building, he growled. "There!" He shouted, bursting several shots at the window, in order to either flush the person away from the opening, or injure them.

The unarmed terrorist ripped a grenade off of their vest and lobbed it into the window, where the archer was, while the remainder kept their fire on the police to keep them occupied. The unarmed terrorist took great measure in allowing the projectile to cook long enough, so that the fuse was ready to blow seconds once it reached the ground inside the bank.

If this defiant archer wanted to make it out unscathed, they needed to think quick. There was very little time to toss or move the bomb anywhere, without risking a heavy casualty.

Quiver ducked under the window as bullets came flying towards her. As she went to look and see her targets, an object came flying towards her, forcing her to once again duck.

Seeing the grenade fall beneath her feet, Quiver jumped out of the window. She gracefully rolled to the side in order to avoid the potential bullets and to get out of the way more quickly.

That grenade was going to come back to haunt her as she thought of the talk show host.

As Quiver leapt and rolled out of the window, a few of the terrorists took shots at her in mid-fall, as the grenade inside went off simultaneously. The explosion erupt into an echoing mass, shaking the ground and walls nearby, shattering glass, and spewed hot flames through two windows. There was no way of knowing what the damage inside was like, but judging by the blast radius, it had to be serious.

As Quiver reached the ground, softly rolling, and missing bullets from the terrorists, there were several barriers which she could possibly take cover behind and under. There was an overturned and smoking police car, riddled with bullets, but the metal was withstanding the brutality.

Several concrete street barriers were posted nearby, as a construction project was underway, however none of the workers were currently present. Only some shovels, wheelbarrows, dirt and asphalt mounds, small craters, and traffic cones were left behind.

A few newspaper dispensers, postal boxes, fire hydrants, street lines, and power-lines would provide the slimmest of protection, but protection nonetheless.

Quiver ducked behind the battered police car for protection. However, as soon as she was safely behind it, she momentarily popped up and fired an ice arrow at the terrorists' gun who was currently firing at her.

As the terrorists machine gun was heating up and firing away, a chilling arrow lodged into its barrel. The intense heat and coldness from both weapons sizzled loudly, as steam swirled around. Of course the gun jammed and wouldn't fire with an arrow sticking out of it, and immediately after the front end barrel burst open in a smoky mess.

Taken aback from the blast the masked man yelped, before falling backwards. Several other terrorists who were busy toying with the pinned police brought their attention to the archer who had just incapacitated their comrade. With frowns and scowls of their own, they opened fire on this new threat.

With even more terrorists firing at her, Quiver had even more difficulty finding an opening. With precision, she aimed one of her wind arrows towards the fire hydrant that was nearby. The extra speed of the arrow allowed it to puncture a hole just enough to send some of the water sprinkling the ground.

Quiver waited for the water to spread towards the terrorists before firing an ice arrow towards the ground. The water began the freeze, causing a sheet of ice to form underneath the terrorists' feet. She then quickly fired a small series of arrows, one that they would have to avoid if they did not want to be hit in the feet.

As the terrorists tore away at the barriers Quiver was using for cover, an arrow zipped by, puncturing a nearby hydrant. Immediately water began to pump excessively, bursting and dropping from great lengths, until most of the ground was soaked in the chilling water.

Relentlessly the archer froze the ground, which three of the terrorists found was much more difficult to maneuver and balance on. This caused some of them to cease firing, as they tried to keep upright. However the archer had other plans and was already firing several arrows there way.

Attempting to move out of the way, the first thug slipped and slid, still standing, and eventually twisted and fell on his nearby comrade. Immediately the two dropped, painfully on the floor, as the third terrorist's pant legs were pinned to the ground by the arrows. Unable to move further because of these restrictions, he too fell abruptly on his face.

Angrily the third terrorist grunted and grumbled, pushing his comrade's dead weight off of him and to the side forcefully. He then proceeded to grab his machine gun and stood upright, with some difficulty. Elsewhere one of the other terrorists received a call, intently listening on their phone.

"We're ready." The voice on the phone said, to which they nodded. "Understood." The terrorist replied, clicking the phone shut. Once the call had been finished, the inside of the bank began to rumble. It almost seemed like a powerful earthquake, however it was just coming from one building.

Ceasing fire for the time being, the police stared confusingly. From inside the bank, via the windows, one could make out a large shadow walking towards the entrance, carrying something large. "Uh Captain..." One of the snipers on top of a roof radioed in to the police on the street. "You won't believe what I'm seeing..."

This was all they were able to radio in, before the entire front entrance and walls were completely busted through, leaving a large and smokey hole.

Once Quiver was in the clear, she jumped from over the police car and rushed towards the third man that was attempting to get up and grab the machine gun. She aimed an arrow at the gun and sent it flying across the ice.

Just as she was about to get the man who was still barely able to stand, the bank began to rumble. Quiver stopped and turned towards the bank. Almost immediately after, some sort of explosion occurred from within. Quiver shielded her eyes as bits of debris came flying towards her.

When she was able to look again, there was a gaping hole in the bank's entrance.

With several terrorists disarmed and or incapacitated, thanks to the archer's wits and quick arrows, the tide seemed to be changing. However, that was until the powerful explosion, erupting at the front entrance. There was no firey explosion with this damage, only smoke, dust, and debris which flew outwards.

The terrorists began to rise, reclaiming their weapons, with a wicked grin. They didn't seem worried with this new turn of the events, likely because this was their doing in some way. Before the police could assess the situation, or attack the regrouping terrorists, something happened.

Suddenly the ground began to shake. It wasn't on the lengths of an earthquake, just weak echoing tremors. These echoes continued in pattern...like footsteps. Through the dusty barrier, a shaded figure appeared at the entrance.

They wasted no time in making themselves visible. This behemoth of a beast was huge, they stood on two legs, like a man, but clearly they were not. Muscle bound was an understatement, as they were rippling with veins popping through all their muscled limbs. They bore sturdy and thick gray scales, sharp to the touch, on their back, and body, along with twisted horns, and a large razor jaw.

They took no interest in the police or anyone else around, as they continued down the staircase, carrying the entire vault on their shoulder...

Quiver wasted no time upon seeing the behemoth. She ran along the giant creature's side, aiming a fire arrow at his hands. The arrow released from her grip, whizzing towards him.

Taking two regular arrows, Quiver came closer to the creature. She stuck two arrows in its legs in an attempt to hoist herself up and mount the beast.

Slowly but ferociously, the large behemoth took one step at a time down the bank's stairs. When each foot reached the surface, the entire ground nearby shook, the stairs even cracking and breaking under such heavy pressure.

It didn't seem the least bothered by the police nor the archer, who defied his brute strength, and threatened them with a fiery arrow. With the vault still in hand and over their shoulder, the arrow banged and ricocheted off of their hand. It was just too fortified, the arrows heading to its kneecaps did little damage either.

They stopped at the bottom, hoisting the vault into the sky with a thunderous roar. Several officers taking cover behind their cars soon scattered, as the metal box plunged into their vehicles. With a fiery explosion, everything was totaled, before the vault sunk deeply cratering the curb.

With their roaring fit over, the beast slowly brought their arms back to their side, before addressing Quiver disapprovingly.

Quiver stood dumbfounded at what to do as her arrows would not penetrate his skin. She jumped out of the way as the beast continued to push his way through as though it were nothing.

"Stop right there!" Quiver ordered. Refusing to give up, she fired several ice arrows at his feet.

As the behemoth did little after its monstrous roar, except for seemingly moving away from the scene and Quiver, the ice arrows made direct contact. Since the excess water that had flooded the curb from earlier was still around, the ice arrow froze the water, and the beast's wet feet, therefore freezing the two together.

They of course took notice, when it was slightly more difficult to move, but it seemed to be more of an inconvenience to them then a serious situation. Elsewhere, two of the terrorists from before groggily rose, reclaiming their guns.

As they were behind Quiver, and practically hidden, they figured she would not be able to detect their location quickly enough, especially because she appeared more interested in this beast now. Slowly they aimed their sights, ready to fire at her back.

What they weren't expecting was for her to have backup. Swinging in from his leather back rope contraption, Lunar Knight used the other rope grapple to latch onto and hoist a money bag. It whipped right into one of the gunmen, taking him out instantly, as his machine gun fired upwards into the ceiling once it hit the ground.

Dropping nearby the other terrorist, he was too close to fire at, so they swung their gun at him. Lunar Knight evasively maneuvered the attack, before leg-sweeping the terrorist onto his back.

Angrily, the behemoth broke out of the icy hold with such ease. This time however, he was through with ignoring these people. With a monstrous roar, he charged Quiver, slamming his fist into the ground where she stood.

Quiver rolled out of the way of the giant behemoth. As soon as his fist made contact with the ground, Quiver ran towards his backside. Once there, she made an attempt to climb onto his back by climbing up his hind leg.

With evasive maneuvering, Quiver was able to dodge this behemoths downward fist strike, which pounded a crater into the sidewalk. This concrete was too little of a match for his fist, or even its fortified skin. It didn't even leave a scratch, let alone a cut or bruise.

Smokey concrete dust and debris shot upright and expelled everywhere, as the concussion blew it and many other obstacles away from ground-zero. Successfully managing to miss the attack, Quiver attempted to scale the beast from its back.

It was large and cumbersome, but not incompetent. Angrily growling, it reached behind Quiver, quickly snagging her clothes, before tossing her away and into the air.