The Heroes of Little Springs

"Yeah, but look," Quiver said as she pointed to the log. "He played the game Thursday, Friday, last Sunday, last Thursday, the Saturday before that, and the Friday before. The kidnapper's been acting Thursday through Sunday. And the last two missing happened Yesterday and Thursday."

At first, it took Jet some time to assess the information Quiver was giving to him. When he was finally able to piece it together himself, a few seconds if that, he rose a brow as he stared at the computer screen.

"Wait..." He remarked in a tone that hinted disbelief. "You're not trying to tell me that this has something to do with the missing kids."

He then removed himself from the screen and desk he was leaning on, so that he could pace about the kid's room. "So what, some computer game has found its way into our world?" Jet asked, after a short laugh or two.

"I don't know," Quiver said. "But it can't be a coincidence that Tyler's been potentially playing the game every time a kid's gone missing."

Quiver looked in the direction of the black spot in the corner of the floor. She got up to examine it, leaving the computer to Jet if he wished to inspect it.

Quiver placed a hand over the dark substance on the ground. It didn't seem like a stain of any kind, more as if a shadow had been stuck on the floor.

Still not completely believing what Quiver was insinuating, Jet stared at the computer screen. Even when she went over to investigate a strange substance on the walls, he paid her no mind. In fact, he started to play with the computer.

Because the cursor and mouse had went into sleep-mode, he dragged it across the desk a few times. Once everything was aligned and the cursor was working properly, he opened up the game log that Tyler was playing.

Of course, he hadn't made it too far. A page or two on one game, three on a different try, but he didn't make much progress from there. He figured he would let Quiver take the lead and find a clue, if there was even one to be found. Instead he decided to have some fun, and started up a game. He figured Tyler would be shocked to see that his game log showed him getting a perfect score on the very last round.

At least that sounded more entertaining then playing detective with his partner. With the click of the mouse, another game was started.

It was as if Quiver had eyes in the back of her head as she examined the floor. She spun around shortly after Jet started the game.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed. "You could be tampering with evidence!"

"Tampering, that's a good one." Jet remarked, as he was starting a new game up. The menu and beginning title had flashed through, until he was under control of the first person view character. "We haven't found anything at all, this week, to make it worth our while."

"That's not the point--" Quiver began.

But before she could continue, footsteps were heard coming down the hall.

"Tyler?" someone called.

Quiver didn't waste anytime: she made for the exit out the window before securing a place to hide in a nearby bush.

Quiver had already bailed, as soon as someone's voice and footsteps were heading towards the room. Jet however took notice of her escape too late, because she was already out of the window and behind some bush.

He didn't have to worry about making a clean exit, as much as she would have to. Having super speed on your side had its advantages in a few places. Instead he placed everything the way he found it, except that he kept the computer and game windows opened. He didn't want to 'tamper' with the evidence too much.

Casually he pulled himself away from the computer and realized that the door to Tyler's room was closed. It wasn't closed as if someone had left the room, but more like it had been shut for privacy when someone was inside.

At least that's what Jet assumed, on account that he didn't know too many people who would lock their bedroom door when they exited it. He slowly walked towards the door to get a closer inspection, just in case he was wrong.

But sure enough the door was locked. Which begged to question where Tyler was and then the window that was opened before their arrival came into picture. Quickly he flicked the lock off of the door, just so the person on the other side could enter, before making his own escape.

"No Georgia, Susan hasn't been here," a woman's voice was now clearly audible as she approached the door. There was a pause. "I'll ask Tyler. Tyler!?"

Tyler's mother opened the door. as she called for him.

"Tyler?" she inspected the room but it was empty. She walked towards the open window. "Tyler!?" Although Quiver couldn't see Tyler's mom, there was an undeniable panic in her voice now. She saw a set of hands open the window a bit more. His mom poked her head out the window, her cellphone pressed against her chest. "Tyler!"

There was no answer from outside.

Her head vanished from the window. "Oh God, Georgia, he's not here!"

Her voice died down as she hurried down the hall and eventually out of range of the two heroes. When the coast was clear, Quiver came out of her hiding place. She knew the window had been suspicious, why didn't she dwell on that sooner?

Although Jet was already well aware of what had went down before the woman entered the room, who was probably Tyler's mother, the fact that she was extremely worried meant that he was supposed to be home.

The locked door and opened window brought him even closer to what he thought happened. Tyler probably left his room through his window. And if the other person on the line was worried about Susan, who he was assuming was the same little girl he was thinking of, it probably meant wherever Tyler was, Susan was possibly accompanying him.

Maybe they were just playing hooky, but instead of a school it was to get away from their homes. Or maybe just maybe them being labeled as honorary super heroes got to their heads. Which was the worst of the two to go through with, especially because himself and Quiver would probably be blamed for this instance. Even more so if something happened to them.

But despite all that thought process that went through his mind, all he could think of was how terrible of a name that lady on the other line had. "Georgia? I'm surprised she didn't name her kid Florida."

OOC: Bless you Jet.

"Where did they go?" Quiver asked aloud. She scouted the area for signs of their location. There were a few broken twigs on the ground but since they had come through the same area, for all she knew, it could have been her or Jet that broke the twigs. If they could at least narrow the search, Jet could superspeed towards their direction and hopefully find them before anything bad happened.

There was really only a handful of places that popped in Quiver's mind...

"If they're out investigating or trying to find us, they're probably heading to the scenes of the crimes," Quiver said.

"How should I know?" Jet remarked casually as he folded his arms. "I can't even remember half the places that are related to this incident. The only one I do know of is the school."

All the different crimes they had to deal with this week had all mixed together to the point where he couldn't remember which crime scene was which. "What do you want me to do anyway? Super speed to all the possible places and then slap them on the wrist?"

Quickly he removed himself from the garden and bushes. "Besides, we're jumping to conclusions here. We don't even know what they're doing."

"Do you have a better idea then?" Quiver asked. "I mean, either way, if we want to find them, it's probably best if you go ahead of me and use your superspeed. I'm just trying to narrow down the search."

The problem was that Jet only really remembered one of the places linked with this particular case. However, Quiver didn't seem to be giving him any other suggestions or listing off the locations of the missing children, so he shrugged and super-sped off into the darkness.

He had no idea where he was going, but the school where at least one of the children went missing seemed as good as any place to start. After all, it was also where Tyler and Susan had acquired their honorary super hero status. Maybe they were attempting to relive that glory or thought that retracing their steps to where they had gotten their titles would inadvertently give them a clue or lead to follow.

It was worth a shot at this point. As soon as he made it to the elementary school, the parking lot was empty, the lights in the building were off, and all the doors were locked. Or at least Jet suspected they would be.

Quiver wasn't sure if Jet's sudden departure was because he had a better idea or something else altogether. Either way, she rolled her eyes.

"Yes Jet, just speed off without giving me a way to contact you. That'll work just fine," she thought. She pulled out one of her arrows, an arrow she was going to give to Jet to use as a signal if he found the kids. But now, she held it ready as she started her pursuit forward.

Since Jet had mentioned the school as being the only location he was aware of, she figured she'd start to head that way. Perhaps she could catch Jet (though this was unlikely) and settle him down before he sped off again.

Elsewhere, somewhere between the school and Zach's way home, Susan and Tyler walked side by side in the dark.

"Come on Susan, let's go back..." Tyler was persisting. Again.

"Not until we get to Zach's house," Susan said. "Even if he didn't make it, we have to scout the whole area."

"How can we scout the area when we don't even have a flashlight?"

"What do you take me for? A chump?" By Tyler's command, she pulled out a flashlight and proceeded to turn it on. It flickered but remained as a decent source of light.

"Why weren't we using it from the beginning?" Tyler asked, annoyed. He hated the dark, hated the fact they were walking blindly alone down the dark streets where who knows what lurked.

"Because superheros don't use flashlights. Duh," Susan explained. "Besides, the batteries are almost dead." Tyler groaned. Why did he let Susan kidnap him? He could be in his room now, reading, playing video games, anything but wandering the streets where he knew a monster lurked.

Jet inspected every section of the school. Or at least most of the outside and areas that weren't locked or secured. He really didn't want to bother going inside, because he could risk tripping some kind of security system. Plus if all the windows and doors were locked, there was no way two kids could get inside.

He sped to every window and door, around the playground where they had the meeting, but they weren't there. So that ruined one of his theories of them hoping to find clues where their honorary status started.

It was also a dark and quiet night, so unless they were being very silent and stealthily, they probably weren't close to the school at all. He was pretty sure most kids would cause a commotion in some form or another, because that's what kids always do.

With that in mind, he immediately abandoned searching around the school and started to super speed around all the developments, streets, and sidewalks within a five to ten mile radius. "Why did I tell them they could be honorary super heroes?"

After checking through a few different places, he finally sped by what seemed to be erratic and wobbling light, which was all fixed on one location. Confused at this sight in the darkness, he then turned down another road to head back from where he was.

Sure enough there were two people walking down the sidewalk, with a flashlight in hand. Upon closer inspection and being able to hear their voices, he recognized them as Tyler and Susan.

He super-speed from behind, so that an unexpected gust of wind blasted them in the back. "What do you think you two are doing?" He then remarked in a somewhat condescending tone. Jet made sure he did all of this as unexpectedly as he could, for the trouble they were making him and Quiver go through currently.

It would especially be interesting to see how Tyler reacted, because he had been playing the Thin Man game during this usual day and hour.

Tyler and Susan jumped and let a small scream escape them as they heard a voice from behind. Upon seeing it was Jet though, they relaxed. But Tyler only relaxed a little as Jet didn't seem too happy at the moment.

Susan, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to Jet's remarks. Or, at least, she chose to ignore them.

"We're looking for clues on Zach's disappearance!" Susan exclaimed.

Of course he had to tell them they were honorary super heroes. Something like this was bound to happen, but he was so very desperate for information at that point. Then again, he knew Tyler wouldn't act on these impulses alone, when the kid was so skittish that he would jump at his own shadow. Or at least that's how it seemed, when they met them at the school's playground for the first time.

So he could chalk this one up as Quiver's fault. Yeah, that's a good idea. She was the one to give Susan the title anyway! I was only going to give it to Tyler, because he knew something...even if it was nothing useful. At all.

He knew that when Quiver caught up, whenever that may be, she would probably be angry and scowl. And it wouldn't just be at the kids who were going around playing detectives, but at him as well. She would find somehow to blame this on him, but she was the one to give the loose cannon the power.

At first, when they explained themselves, Jet was going to reprimand them, tell them to go back home, or take them there by force, or all of the above. However he just grinned at their guts. "Well, what do you expect to find, that the police haven't already?" His tone wasn't condescending, he was just curious to hear what they would have to say.

Tyler looked towards Susan as well. He wasn't sure what Susan had meant to find either. She had forgotten to mention that part.

Susan paused. She really hadn't thought that far in the process. But now, with the superhero's eyes on her, she knew she had to come up with something. And fast.

"Well criminals usually return to the scene of the crime so the culprit might come back here. Especially since Zach was the last one to go missing."

Tyler didn't like the idea that Susan's entire plan revolved around the fact the Thin Man might return to the scene of the crime. He didn't like that at all.

"Well if we're hoping for the bad guy to come back, you should probably not be standing out in the open." Jet remarked, as it was true enough that some criminals weren't the most sharpest tools in the shed. But then he realized what he had said and probably made things even more difficult. He had to just open his big mouth instead of telling the two to go home.

Now they were probably going to blend into the darkness somewhere, maybe behind a bush, inside a dumpster, under a bench, or whatever. But then again he knew where they were this time, so he could always keep an eye on them. At the very least, until Quiver showed up to either fix or complicate matters further.

"Okay, so then let's go hide over there and wait for him to come," Susan said as she pointed to some trash cans along the path.

"Do we have to?" Tyler asked.

"Yes. Now come on." Susan led Tyler behind the dumpster. She didn't wait for Jet and kind of figured he would follow quickly behind the two.

Elsewhere, Quiver had made it to the school but she saw no signs of anyone. But this didn't seem to stop her: she kept scouting the nearby area for any signs of Jet and the kids.

Jet played along, for the time being. He hurried along with the children, which was to his standards like a slow-motion walk, behind the dumpster. When their eyes were all fixed on the sidewalk near the street, partially lit with streetlights, he stealthily removed himself.

He did want to keep his eyes on them at all times and or not leave them alone at all, but he knew Quiver would be coming soon, and would possibly be lost. So first chance he had, he would zip off to find her. Then again, this would be all his fault if somehow the culprit was waiting for the chance to get the kids when all signs of adults and hindrances were out of their way.

So for the time being, he laid low with the children. This sure is boring...next time I'm just going to give them an autograph.

Tyler wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed. But it felt like forever. And sooner rather than later, he was bored. But still, he'd rather be bored as opposed to scared which seemed like the better option at this point.

Just when he thought nothing was going to happen, he could hear very faint footsteps. He froze in place. He turned to Susan. She had heard it too.

Tyler poked his head from the trash cans. There was no one in clear visible sight. Whoever, or whatever, was out there was sticking to the shadows.

"What are you doing?" Susan hissed very lowly as she pulled Tyler back to the confides of the trashcan. Tyler didn't say anything as they heard more steps. And they were now closer. Whatever was out there had heard them. Tyler was certain of it.

Jet wasn't sure what to do at this point, as someone began to approach the dumpster. Whether or not they heard the kids bickering, they were heading towards their path. While the wait was excruciating, so was most of this week. Or at least the events that happened, whenever he donned his costume.

If this was the culprit, he was shocked they would be stupid enough to return to the scene. Then again, he had two kids to look after, so that could complicate things if this was someone potentially dangerous, even if they were or weren't the culprit.

Then again, it could be someone else like an officer, one of the worried parents, or anyone else who would complicate things and give Jet trouble. Especially if word got around, because then that would make all their super hero duties even more troublesome.

He decided if they were heading towards the dumpster, whether to jump on the kids, investigate what was going on behind the obstacle, or whatever, that he could always get the jump on them as well. He slipped by and sped in a long circular pattern, so that he could get behind whoever was heading their way, before they even knew.

Whoever was there had decided to step out of the shadows upon hearing the noises behind the trashcan. And Jet would quickly see it was Quiver. However, Quiver could feel Jet's presence behind her and, unable to see who it was, she spun around and aimed her arrow at him.

Meanwhile, Tyler very quickly discovered Jet's disappearance. While he knew Jet was probably off to find out who their intruder was, it didn't make him feel any better being alone behind the trashcans. So he did the only sensible thing in his mind: he turned on the flashlight.

"Tyler!" Susan scolded. "Turn that off!"

"No!" Tyler hissed. Susan tried to grab the flashlight from Tyler. But Tyler refused. The two wrestled with the flashlight until they were both pushed into the trashcans, toppling them over.