Superteam: Short Story from High School

[For an assignment sophomore year. Read this post first. Names shortened to first initials.]

Once upon a time, the way many exciting, fun-filled, and action-packed stories start, a group of five talented heroes came together to form Superteam.

Their names were as follows: Ellye, who was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and an unparalleled swordswoman; [J] “The Snake”, who was an expert in all things electronic; [J2], the Samurai Ninja; a girl by the alias of H-Ventura, who could understand animals; and [S] “Cute Kitty”, who had the senses and agility of a cat. These five were hired by the CIA to help on secret missions, but that is another story.

Our story begins on a particularly slow day in Smithton Missouri, before the quintet had known of their special talents…

Ellye heard the sound of a car and a motorcycle pull into her driveway. She closed the book she’d been reading, and got up from where she was sitting, outside at the picnic table, and walked over to the gate. Her cousins, [J], [J2], and [S], came over from where they’d parked [J]’s Ford GT and [J2]’s Kawasaki Ninja dirt bike. Ellye opened the back gate and let them in.

“Hey E,” [J] said as he passed. [S] and [J2], or [J2], as they called him, both raised their hands in hello as they all walked up the steps of the front porch and into the house. [J] sat at the table and was followed by Ellye and [S]. [J2] leaned against the wall.

“What are you guys doing today?” Ellye asked.

“Hanging out with you,” supplied [S], resting his head on the table. Ellye nodded.

“So what do you want to do?” she asked.

[J2] tapped his chin and mocked thinking. “Hmmm….how about we…race four wheelers? And my dirt bike?” He looked at the others for an answer.

Ellye laughed. “I saw that coming,” she said, “Sure.”

The four of them went outside and to the barn, where Ellye had two four wheelers. They rode all afternoon on the vast back pasture and only came in when the sun began to sink below the horizon.

Going inside, Ellye asked, “Do you guys want a sandwich or something?” There was a chorus of yeses and into the fridge they dove for ham, turkey, and lettuce sandwiches.

As they finished, [S] asked, “Do you guys want to watch a movie? It’s to dark to do anything outside.”

[J2] swallowed his last bite of sandwich. “I think we should play shuffleboard.” And so began the ritual argument that was shared between [J2] and [S] every weekend at Ellye’s.

“I really feel like a movie tonight, c’mon,” [S] would wheedle.

“But we can play teams in shuffleboard,” [J2] would counter.

“Movie.”

“Shuffleboard.”

“Movie.”

As they quibbled, Ellye shook her head and went to the window. It was evening, and the sun’s light was fading quickly. [J] joined Ellye at the window. He looked for a minute, and then said curiously, “Who do you think is at the end of the driveway?”

Ellye jerked her head in that direction. Sure enough, a car sat at the end of the driveway with its lights on. Ellye squinted. It didn’t look as if anyone was in the car, or near it. “Maybe they…” but they never found out what they may have done, because the next second, Ellye, [J], [J2] and [S] heard a bark, and then a whine from the backyard.

Ellye ran to the back door, flinging it open in her rush to see what was wrong. Her dog, Indiana Jones, had been in the backyard, sitting quietly in a chair on the porch. Now though, she was gone. Instead, the companions could see a dark figure running to the car holding a squirming bundle in its arms.

“Indy!” cried Ellye, running to the back gate. She flung it open and hastened to the driveway. [J] was right behind her, followed by the other two boys.

“Quick, get in the car!” [J] told her, jumping in the driver’s seat of his Ford GT. Ellye threw herself into the passenger’s seat and [S] got in the back. [J2], however, swung himself onto his motorcycle. He started it, peeled out, and began following the dognapper in hot pursuit. [J] did the same, speeding up the gravel road behind him. The gravel road ended, and the chase proceeded onto the highway.

[J2] tried to block the criminal into going into the ditch, but failed, and resigned to following him closely.

The man turned onto three more roads in quick succession, but still the others followed. Then, came the moment they almost lost him. The dognapper turned left onto another road, that couldn’t be seen easily from [J2] and [J]’s views. [J2], who was going top speed, couldn’t slow to get on the curve, and he passed the turn. As he turned to get back on track, [J], who was farther behind, said, “I know how we can keep on his tail, we’ll take the shortcut.”

“What shortcut?” asked [S].

“This one,” said [J], “hold on,” and he tore off across a field to their left, cutting right behind the dognapper. [J2] caught up and got behind them, and they raced after the man together.

After a short chase, the man made another attempt to throw them off, and this time it worked. He tore around the edge of a warehouse, that seemed to pop out of nowhere, and was gone. As the others made the same turn, they couldn’t see or hear his car. [J] and [J2] stopped, and everyone got out.

“He must have…I don’t know, maybe he went inside?” [J] threw out into the silence.

The others shrugged and went to the warehouse door. Inside, it was dark, and they couldn’t see the man, but they saw someone else.

A girl was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. [J2] rushed over and untied her, helping her up and taking the gag from her mouth. “Who are you?” he asked.

“H,” said the girl. At their questioning looks, she said, “Just H.”

Ellye asked, “How did you get here?”

H sighed. “I was chasing the dognapper, and, he caught me here earlier today. I’m glad you guys found me.”

“Is he here?”[ J] asked next.

H nodded. “Just went through that door,” she said, pointing to a door on the other side of the room.

“Let’s get him!” cried Ellye, “C’mon.”

The group followed her through the door into another room, which must have been forty or so feet long.

They ran half the length of the room, and then stopped suddenly. A giant pit lay in the center of the big room, ten feet across and flush with the wall. It was ten feet deep, and in the bottom, sniffing ravenously in their direction, was a razorback.

Worse still, the only way across was a thin, suspended tightrope that stretched straight across to the other side of the pit. If one of them could make it there, a board was propped against the wall that could let the others cross. Also, they could spy steps leading up to a doorway on the opposite wall.

“We’ll never make it!” cried Ellye miserably.

“Yes we will,” [S] said from behind her. Everyone looked hopefully at him.

[S] was ten, and, being the youngest, most people probably would have thought that he would be a cumbersome burden to have on a mission such as this. That was not so.

[S] stepped forward and over to the tightrope. He looked down once at the hungry razorback, and it gnashed its long, bloody teeth at him and snarled. [S] gulped and stepped one foot carefully on the rope. Even more slowly, he set the other down beside it. Everyone held their breath.

Balancing on only centimeters of rope, [S] slid his feet forward. He stared straight ahead, as if fearing that if he looked down, that would be the direction he would go. Again, he slid forward. Now he was almost halfway. Another two times he slid forward, passing the halfway point.

Just as he moved forward again, his foot slipped from the rope. His body tilted forward; H gasped.

[S] caught himself in a graceful cartwheel, landing nimbly on both feet at the other side of the pit. The razorback growled.

The other four, still watching from the opposite side, exhaled. [S] sprinted over to the board, and laid it near the tightrope, crossing the pit. It just fit.

[S] stepped on one end, and [J] on the other as H crossed. [J2] followed, then Ellye. [J] was the last to cross. He slid along it, much like [S] had on the rope, while the board creaked and warped beneath him. With no weight on the other end, it began sliding closer to the hole. Just as [J] stepped onto solid ground beside[ S], the board tilted precariously and fell into the pit. It split at the bottom with a resounding crack.

The companions looked at each other for a moment, and then let out sighs of relief.

“That was a close one,” [J] said, as they climbed the steps to the door. Here they stopped again. [J2] reached for the handle, and swung it open. As they stepped inside the dark room, they all gasped.

Inside were rows and rows of dog cages, stacked head high and filled with whining, yapping dogs. The bare-bulb light that hung from the ceiling swung back and forth, casting light briefly over the dogs’ thin faces. Several of the animals were lying in their cages, barely making a sound. H’s hand flew to her mouth and she cried out.

“Where did he go?” [J2] whispered to the others. They shrugged.

“Wait,” H said. She cocked her head, listening. “He’s here. Third row from us,” she said over the yapping dogs.

The other four looked at her in surprise. “How did you…?” Ellye began.

H got a look of wonder on her face, and told them. “The dogs told me.” She stated matter-of-factly. At the stunned looks on the others faces, she said, “No, seriously!”

[J] shook his head in amazement, but said, “I’ll stay and guard this door, you guys try and sneak up on him.” They nodded. “Be careful!” he added, as they tiptoed along the rows of dogs.

As they cleared the third row, they could see a figure standing in the middle, holding a large pipe, and grinning evilly. His lips were pulled back in a devilish snarl, and he laughed coldly. Ellye stepped forward.

Another pipe lay on the ground at her feet. She kicked one end, and it flew up. Catching it, she set herself into a battle stance in front of the man.

For a moment everything was still, even the dogs barks seemed to fade. Then, the man lunged at Ellye. She ducked back as he swung his pipe at her, and she counter-attacked. Her make-shift weapon crashed into his, and there was a resounding ring. The dogs barked louder still, until H yelled, “STOP!” Amazingly, the animals did, falling silent as the man swung again at Ellye. As she looked around her, surprised by the sudden quiet, he swung low and this time hit her right leg. As Ellye fell to her knees though, she flung out her weapon and collided with his side.

The man stumbled backward toward [J2], who caught him with a quick side kick, and the man fell. He got up again though, and stumbled toward [S]. [S] moved agilely out of the way, and the man crashed into a wall.

Ellye stood, leaning on her pipe for support. The man regained his balance, picked up his fallen weapon, and charged her. Ellye, thinking for a brief moment that he looked a lot like a jouster, lifted her own pipe and rammed it into his chest as she ducked to the side. The man stumbled backward again, gasping for lost breath. As he hit the wall, Ellye placed her pipe against his throat, and applied what pressure she could muster. The man dropped his pipe, and, gasping, held his hands up in surrender.

“Guys, could I get a little help?” Ellye called out, and in moments [J2] was at her side with a length of rope, tying the man’s arms and legs.

Ellye let [J2] handle the man, and slid down against a row of dog cages, sighing.[ J] came over and stood in front of her. “I found how to open the dog cages; it’s all on an electronic circuit. Come here and I’ll show you.” He reached out a hand, helped Ellye up, and took her and the others to where a small number pad was fixed to the wall. He pressed a few buttons, and all the cages opened. Luckily, the dogs seemed to sense the need to wait, and stayed in their cages, which eliminated a lot of confusion. One dog did run to the group though, and Ellye scooped it up, letting it lick her face happily. “Indy!” she cried, hugging her little Jack Russell Terrier.

In the end, the group called the police, and a dognapper who had been terrorizing the area of [Town] and [City], [State], was sent to jail. After this, a member from the CIA contacted the group, and all five signed up as secret agents, and they lived happily, and adventurously, ever after.