The Heroes of Little Springs

With a sigh, Jet shook his head. He had better things to be doing then playing cat and mouse with two teenagers who were hopping over the same fence. This wasn't how he wanted to spend the night, nor was it how he wanted to waste all that energy he stored up at the burger shack.

Inspecting the dark alleyway, as a flying chunk of wood twirled by, he spotted just what he needed. There was an old garden hose, which was no longer attached. With super speed, he zoomed towards the hose, which unwound as it followed his speedy path.

First he chased and caught up to the fleeing teenager, grabbing and bringing him back to the alleyway. With the two teenagers accounted for, he spun around them, tying a knot in the hose so they could not escape.

With Jet's super speed, the two had hardly any time to react. One minute, the teenager was running and the next he found himself tied to his friend with a hose wrapped around him. Still, this didn't stop the two from trying to squirm free though their efforts were futile.

Sticking out of one of the teenager's pockets was a piece of paper. It was difficult to tell what exactly it was in its crumpled state.

Elsewhere, the two hiding shadows remained behind the dumpster, holding their breaths. It appeared as though the police were finishing their rounds and had decided no one was there.

One sighed with relief as she took a step back. Just as she did so, a hand reached out and grabbed the both of them from the shadows. They both yelped, one dropping their soda to the ground.

Quiver brought the two struggling teenagers towards the blaring police lights. They tried to pull free but her grip was firm. It didn't help that their hands were tied behind their back with vines.

Once the delinquent teenagers were apprehended, Jet stood, towering in front of them, with folded arms and a smug expression. "When will you learn, crime doesn't pay. Take a bite out of it." Jet remarked, still unclear about their appearance and what they were doing. "What did you watch as kids?"

Since his question was rhetorical, he didn't care if they replied to it or not, and was more interested in the piece of paper. Whether it was a note, a flyer, a leaflet or whatever, Jet pulled it out of the teenager's pocket, and unfolded the crumbled ball as delicately as he could. Or as careful enough so as to not tear it. "Huh, what is this?" He asked aloud, mostly to himself, as he was ready to read the contents.

The piece of paper was in poor condition even before Jet had his hands on it. The words, large and crude, "Behind you" were written across the paper. A stick man, equally crude in its design, was drawn in the corner of the paper.

As Jet was inspecting the piece of paper, Quiver was walking by the alley to deliver her own delinquents.

"Come on, let me go, let me go!" one of the teenagers was pleading.

Reading the crudely written message, that was hastily etched onto the crumbled and torn paper, Jet was confused to say the least. He had to reread it twice, possibly three times to even register its meaning. Still even that didn't help his confusion, as he rose a brow. Especially at the stick man design, that possessed nothing but an amateurs touch.

With both ends of the paper in his hands, and stretched to its limit, Jet slowly clasped and crumbled the wad together, before turning around to meet this particular being. They didn't bother speeding away or keeping their guard up.

They didn't need to, as they knew very well who was behind them, and they weren't a threat in the least. At least not for them. With a weak and sly grin, they folded their arms. "It's about time you showed up. You were about to miss all the fun."

"Not really," Quiver replied as she gestured to the two teenagers. With the teenagers in front of her, she led them towards the two Jet had rounded up. Quickly, she tied them up so the four could sit and complain together or do whatever it was teenagers did after being caught before the police discovered them.

Quiver then eyed the wad of paper in Jet's hand.

"What's you got there?" she asked.

"Looks like it's a tie again!" Jet remarked playfully and energetically, after seeing Quiver's own bounty. "I'll get you next time though." He added, as he kept his arms on his waist. Since all four teenagers were accounted for and now tied to the same hose, there was little reason for the two super heroes to stick around.

The police would probably be around this corner of the alleyway any moment, for their last minute detail sweeps. However, Quiver questioned Jet's crumpled note, which stopped him from even considering, much less moving away from the scene of the crime.

"Huh? Oh this?" He asked confusedly, as he rose the mashed ball of paper. "Wait," He uttered, slightly confused at her question. "I thought you..." His words trailed off quickly and lowly, a little too lowly in fact, before he shook off the thought. "I just caught this kid littering...seriously didn't you kids watch Captain Planet? Where did your childhood go?"

Quiver didn't say anything in response to Jet. Mostly because his escapades of being competitive either led her down the path of not being bothered by it or becoming so competitive it was ridiculous. She chose the first option this time. She was getting rather good at sticking to the first option.

Quiver held out her hand so she could see the piece of paper.

"Mind if I see?"

"It's just some liter and a terrible doodle by a teenager." Jet remarked to Quiver's question and request for this wad of trash. However, since she insisted she should take a gander at it, he wasn't one to decline her. Immediately he handed it over, still in its crumpled ball state.

With the crumpled ball of paper in her hand, she quickly began to unravel it. It didn't take her long before the contents were clear.

Although it was difficult to see in the dark, Quiver was turning a little red. A frown immediately followed as she crinkled the piece of paper back into the ball.

"I don't believe it, this is the fifth time this week," Quiver gritted. She was about to throw the paper on the ground and stomp on it but realized that wasn't the most mature thing to be doing right now. "What is it with kids and this Thin Man?"

Quiver stopped and took a breath.

"I give up on the youth of America."

While Quiver read the contents of the paper, Jet mostly kept to himself. He made sure the teenagers wouldn't be able to escape. Sure they tried their best, but it was futile with the tight lock the hose held onto them. And even if one or all of them managed to free themselves, two superheroes would be too much for them to handle.

However, once she was showing signs of irritation, Jet became slightly confused. His confusion grew even more with her later comments. "Fifth time, thin man?" He repeated, grabbing the balled message out of her hand, unfolding, and then rereading.

Within seconds, after Quiver's outburst, and she was muttering her hopelessness for the next generation, Jet laughed. However it wasn't at the teenagers or at Quiver, as his laughing seemed distanced, and elsewhere.

Holding and watching a internet video clip on his phone, he laughed again. "Hey, this guy is pretty funny." Jet said, as he watched a cartoony animation of this particular thin man dancing behind some unsuspecting person.

Quiver frowned.

"Don't encourage them," she scolded.


"Hey, I think I got something over here," someone, an officer to be exact, called from just a few feet away. The light from his flashlight was beginning to shine against one of the walls of the alley. Although the second officer could not be seen nor heard, a second flashlight joined the first.

"...what? He's funny." Jet replied to Quiver's bitter remark. However, before he or she could continue their conversation further, several flashlights and voices seemed to be converging on their location. Immediately he shut off his phone and pocketed, before directing his attention to these shaking light spots, cast onto the walls.

"Well, looks like it's time to get out of here." He remarked seriously, before grinning. "First one to escape wins!" He remarked energetically, basically zooming away, not even a second after his sentence.

"Hey--!" Quiver called but before Jet could even hear her, let alone allow her to finish her statement, he was gone.

Upon realizing he was no longer there, Quiver disappeared into the shadows.

The police arrived shortly after. One officer, a woman, shined her light on the four teenagers. She frowned as they smiled sheepishly.

"Mmm-hmmm." Her frown turned into a scornful expression. "Well, let's get you with your friends."

With the officers busy and the heroes whereabouts unknown, on the far side of town in a decent neighborhood two friends were walking home together after a late night of video gaming.

However, unbeknownst to them, something lurked in the shadows. It was hard to see any physical features other than it was very, very tall. Unnaturally tall even. And very thin, like a twig.

"Hey, knock it off Luce," one of the friends chastised after the other punched him in the arm.

"You're such a wimp. You can't even take a punch from a girl," she teased.

"That's not true...you're just really strong," he said as he rubbed his arm.

As Luce laughed, the shadow swept over them. It was swift, like a breeze of the wind. They barely had time to register what it was before they were gone.

There were no traces of them. There was nothing but the quiet of the night. And a piece of paper with a crudely drawn stick figure and the words "Behind You" written across.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa2jYn3LmlE

Since the police were taking care of the teenagers Quiver and he had apprehended, Jet did the only thing he could think of doing at an hour such as this. Speeding towards a twenty four hour mini-mart, where he could purchase and engulf an entire box of his favorite fudgesicles for a midnight snack.

With the last bite bitten and his mouth a chocolatey mess, Jet patted his stomach contently, before speeding away to his home. There he would no doubt rest off this fit day, awaiting the next adventure to come. "Another job well done! This calls for a homemade victory milkshake...and then off to bed!"

Well perhaps after his second midnight snack, he would rest off this eventful day...

It was early morning. So early that the sun was just beginning to rise and the sky's deep blue was starting to fade. But it was anything but a cheerful sort of morning.

Police cars blocked off a local street and caution tape carefully warded off any unwanted visitors from coming near the street corner. Specialists dusted for fingerprints along the sign signifying a bus stop while two officers questioned two very agitated parents. And another was carefully placing a worn piece of paper in a plastic bag. This one said "He's watching you."

There were some detectives who appeared to be in charge of the situation standing together with coffee in hand.

"I don't believe this. That makes five in three days. How the hell does that even happen?" one of them said before sipping his coffee. He was on the taller side, at least taller than his partner; his eyes were dark and heavy with bags starting to take form from sleep deprivation. Although he only went to take a sip, he ended up consuming nearly half the cups contents. His mustache managed to take some as well but the man wiped it away.

"We're doing everything we can. I got everyone covering the neighborhood. He won't get away," the other replied. He was younger, fresher, probably newly promoted. The first man said nothing, not right away. But he didn't appear satisfied.

"Get this place covered fast. Before the kids come out."


While this particular conversation took place, two figures watched from above. Quiver leaned on a railing, her eyes closing every once in a while only to be jolted open by her conscious.

Jet was full of energy to spare for the two and in no means drowsy or the tiniest bit sleepy. He held a glass cup in hand, which he stirred into contently with a spoon, pulling out heaping contents of a partially melting milkshake.

Although he seemed more into his snack then what was going on below, he still observed the entire scene, as he continued to spoon the ice-cream into his mouth every other moment. "We're wasting our time." Jet remarked, still with a mouthful, which he forcefully swallowed soon after. "Why don't we just speed to that statue lady, beat her up, and save the kids. Super quick and hero style." He added, gesturing several different motions with his hand.

"I'm not so sure it's her anymore," Quiver replied. She pulled out the crumpled paper the teenagers had from a few nights ago, having gone back to reclaim it. "Why would she keep leaving these Thin Man notes? It doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does, kids disappearing without a clue?" Jet replied, as he brought the cup up to his mouth, and shoveled the rest of the ice cream. "She's just using a scape goat. This just reeks of her. Let's raid her house for clues, what's it going to hurt?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt...," Quiver reasoned. The attacks had thus far been happening at night so it would stand to reason they had time during the day to investigate. "Let's go."

All Jet needed was Quiver's agreement, and with that he super-sped off of the building's roof, down a flight of stairs, and outside to some secluded alley. He didn't stop there though, as he maintained his pace straight to Ms. Gollard's residence.

Once he arrived, in record time, he barged into the building, by kicking the door forcefully open. There was no subtle approach this time, he went all out. "The jig is up!" He exclaimed loudly, so that his voice could travel to all rooms, as he stood in the living room.

Quiver stood on the rooftop, her hair blowing from Jet's quick departure. She sighed.

Ms. Gollard's home was completely and utterly empty. Or rather, it was completely and utterly devoid of any people. Everything was still. Sheets were thrown over furniture in evident of Ms. Gollard's 'unfortunate and sudden' departure as some newspapers had put it.

Light seeped through the enormous windows that covered the house. It was bright and, had an ancient mythological creature not resided there at one point, oddly welcoming.

Jet inspected the current room and the other ones, which were visible via openings. Almost all of the furniture was covered in white sheets, draped carefully as if one had just moved in recently or was ready to move out. There were also the numerous statues and art from ancient eras since passed. The only thing missing was layers of dust, as that's what Jet expected upon seeing all the rooms in such a state. It almost seemed as if he had stumbled into an abandoned buildings, from years ago.

"Come on, show yourself!" Jet shouted after his short moment of sightseeing and mild confusion. Yet it wasn't enough to dampen his current streak. "I know you're behind this!" He added, now taking the initiative, as he yanked off sheets from the furniture, opened drawers, doors, closets, and anything that might help him find a better clue.

As Jet scoured through the mansion, searching every nook and cranny, there was no hint of anyone living there. Although, there were still some of Ms. Gollard's statues about but these were the non-moving kind, the kind that had most likely been alive at one point.

Towards the end of Jet's escapade, Quiver stepped into the doorway. Or rather, she dragged herself through it. Panting, Quiver leaned against the frame to catch her breath.

"You...have got to stop doing that...." Quiver said in between breathes.

Even though Jet's little investigation was turning out to be fruitless, he wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. Once he had scoured every piece of furniture, cabinet, closet, and anything where something could be hidden, Quiver had arrived on scene.

However, he super-sped down to the basement, through a flight of stairs, and into the damp cellar, before she could get a word or action in edgewise. He hoped something was still down there, some statues, some sort of clues, something that would pin or give them a lead on her.

"Enough with the games." Jet remarked, inspecting the sculptures, statues, and everything else that was down there. "Where are you hiding it?" He remarked loudly, inspecting everything in the damp and dim basement.