I am Felicia Rivers. I live in a tough neighborhood. That's why I became Starika, the masked heroine. I couldn't take the Smokers' ways anymore. That's why my whole life has changed.
I was with my best buds Marco Perez and Rose Williams that day in the cafeteria. They helped me out with the hero thing. Only they know my secret.
"So you're Starika? Weird name but at least it's original," Rose said, sipping her soda.
"Really original. Man, Eliza went around telling everyone how a masked hero named Starika saved her," Marco said.
"I heard some people didn't believe her," I said.
"It's true. Some don't believe her. They think she's been playing too many video games," Rose said.
"Hi guys!" Eliza Powell said, joining us. Her shoulder length blond hair was very shiny. She has a pale complexion. She didn't seem to have even a single bruise from the fight two days prior.
"Wassup Eliza," I said.
"Hi," Rose said.
"'Sup," Marco added.
"I'm sure you all heard about Starika. She's so cool! I wonder who she is. She looked very familiar," Eliza said.
I wanted to laugh. Afterall, Starika is me or vice versa. I can't believe Eliza didn't recognize me!
"Maybe it's someone we know," I said as I continued to eat my lunch.
"That would be so cool! A hero right at school! It just blows my mind," Eliza said.
I looked up towards the door of the cafeteria. Then I gasped as I saw who entered. The member of the Smokers that I had cut a star on had entered. It was Mike.
I went pale. I couldn't say a word.
"Felicia, what is it?" Rose asked.
"Hey Felicia, you look really pale. What is it? Is something wrong?" Marco asked.
Eliza turned and saw Mike. She shuddered. "That's one of the guys from before. Starika cut a star on his cheek. That was cool," Eliza said.
I stared at Mike. He had heartless gray eyes and brown hair. His hair on the right side had been shaved off, but the left side still had hair and it was long. Mike looked so muscular. I couldn't believe he was the one I beat!
"Mike is such a jerk. That's probably why the Smokers accept him at all," Eliza said.
Mike stared at me. I suddenly felt very scared. Did he recognize me? Did he know I am Starika? He walked up to our table.
"Hey baby, wassup," He said, putting an arm around me.
"Go away Mike," Eliza said, hatred in her eyes.
"Was I talking to you? No, I was talking to this gorgeous girl. Can I have your number? You're hot," Mike said.
Marco stood up, his eyes burning with rage. "Go away. Leave Felicia alone," He ordered.
Mike smirked. "Who's gonna make me?" He asked.
"I am," Marco said.
"You wanna fight? Well, come on Marco! Let's go! I dare you,"
Mike said.
Let me just say this: Marco has a short fuse. You never should provoke him. The consequences are always fatal.
So, Marco punched Mike in the face. Mike hit Marco in his chest. The fight began. Other students stood up and crowded around to watch. Marco slammed Mike down on the table. Then he punched Mike in the nose. Mike punched Marco in his eye. After quickly recovering, Marco started to punch Mike again. The fight would have continued, but some teachers pulled Mike and Marco apart.
Mike was sent to the office. Marco was sent to the health room to have someone look at his eye. I went with him.
"You didn't have to fight him for me," I said.
"I had to! I wasn't just going to sit there and let that creep hit on you! You're my friend. I have to look out for you," Marco said.
I smiled. "You're so sweet."
"Does it look that bad?" Marco asked, letting me see his eye.
"Not really. But it's a bit red," I said.
"Aw man," Marco said.
Just then, I noticed a poster on the wall. "Become a Superstar" was at the top in bold print.
"Hey, what's that about?" I asked Marco, gesturing to the sign.
"You didn't hear about it? There's a talent show going on in a week. First prize is a thousand dollars and the chance to become famous," Marco said.
"Woah. Can you still enter," I asked.
"Yeah. Why? Are you thinking of entering a story you wrote?"
Marco asked.
I write a lot. All of my friends know it. I should become a writer. I'm already a member of the school newspaper staff. "I dunno. I guess it's worth a shot."
"How about that great Sailor Moon fanfic you wrote?" Rose asked.
"Nah. It's not good enough. Besides, half the people there will probably hate Sailor Moon or not know what it is," I said.
We were at my house now. It was just Rose and me, hanging out in my room. We were trying to decide which story I should enter it for the contest.
"Not good enough?! Felicia, you won awards for it on the internet! It must be good!" Rose exclaimed.
"Well, it's in parts. Twenty parts. Get the point?" I asked.
"Okay, fine. How about that mystery you made up? Or that one cool sci-fi story about the girl who fell in love with the dude from another dimension?" Rose suggested.
"The mystery is complicated. But the sci-fi has merit...." I said.
"So you'll enter it?!" Rose asked excitedly.
"Sure. Why not? That's one of my favs," I said.
"All right! I hope you win," Rose said.
"Thanks," I said with a smile.
Then for the rest of the night, Rose and I filled out the entry form and then we hung out until Rose had to leave.
So I entered the talent show. I didn't have much else happen to me until the day of the show. Rose and Marco were there. They were going to cheer for me. Yay. Eliza entered the show, it turned out. She's a dancer and she made up a dance to a song. She even had a whole costume picked out.
Everybody did their thing. Eliza's dance was awesome. My story did okay too. But the person who won was this snobby girl, Alice Bowman. She just did some gymnastics moves. That kind of stuff always wins. But then, before Alice could get her award, the lights in the auditorium went out. Some people screamed.
"What happened?" I asked a teacher.
"Some kid must have turned off the lights. They'll be back on in a second," the teacher replied.
The lights did come back on. However when they did, Alice was gone. That caused some commotion.
"What happened to Alice?" Eliza asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"Alice Bowman? Alice if you're here, come up to the stage please," The principal said into the microphone.
Just then, the PA system came on.
"Weird. I thought everyone was down here," I said.
"Everyone is down here. Something's up. I don't think it's good either," Eliza said.
"Attention students and teachers, we have precious little Alice Bowman. And 'we' are the Smokers." A voice said on the PA.
Everyone gasped. The Smokers had kidnapped Alice!
"You have 24 hours to give us one thousand dollars. If you do, Alice will be returned to you. If not......Well, let's just say the next time you see Alice, she won't be very lively," The voice said.
With that, the PA system shut off. Everyone started to talk, causing the auditorium to be very noisy.
"Enough!" the principal said,"We're calling the cops. We're going to do everything we can."
It's Starika time! I thought.
I went home, as did everyone else. Marco and Rose came with me. I took out the costume and put it on. Then, Rose and Marco came in
"Are you sure about this? You could get killed!" Rose said.
"Babes saving babes....I love this society!" Marco said with a grin.
"You think Alice is a babe?!" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah. What guy in our school doesn't?! Besides, she's a cheerleader...." Marco said with a grin,"I just love the short skirts."
Rose sighed. "We really need to stop meeting like this. Who knows who could walk in?" Rose pointed out.
"Yeah. We do need a hideout, but let's think about it later. I've gotta save Alice," I said.
Marco handed me a sheath for my sword. "Sorry I didn't give this to you before. It was missing," He said.
"Thanks Marco," I said, putting the sword in the sheath.
"I know I'm famous for worrying now, so be careful," Rose said.
"I will," I said.
Then, I headed for the Smokers hangout.
I soon arrived at the hideout. It was deserted. Part of me said, They're not here. Go away. and the other part said, They're here. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there.. I agreed with the second thought. It seemed the Smokers were planning an ambush.
Sure enough, they were. Ten members of the Smokers gang leapt out and surrounded me. There were 7 guys, 3 girls. One of them was Mike.
"This time Starika, you won't win," Mike said, grinning wickedly.
"You wanna bet on that?!" I asked, taking out my sword.
They never answered. A guy leapt at me. I put a gash across his left arm. Another one came at me. I karate kicked him in the head. When he refused to fall, I kicked him in the stomach and sliced at his chest. He fell over in pain with a 5-inch long gash across his chest.
I put my sword in my sheath. The other 8 people simply stood there. Then, one of the girls ran at me. I was ready. I took out my little tazer and shocked her. She let out a shriek and soon fell.
Mike called a girl over. She had black hair in a high ponytail and green eyes. "Yes, Mike?" She said.
"Kali, kill her," Mike said to her.
Kali smiled. "My pleasure. Good bye, Starika," She came at me, holding a knife in her hand. She attepted to stab me, but I leapt out of the way. I pulled out my sword and slashed at Kali. She did a back flip and avoided the attack.
Some of the guys had the bright idea to jump in on the fight. I quickly tossed 3 tranquilizer darts, one at each guy. They were surprised at first. Then, they slowly fell to the ground. The last girl went over to help Kali.
"Kali! I'll take out this little witch," She said.
"Be careful, Vanessa!" Kali said.
The orange haired girl ran towards me. Her hair hung a bit below her ears. Her green eyes shined as she took out a switch blade. She dove at me, trying to stab me. I somersaulted and pulled out my tazer.
Vanessa karate kicked me in the head. I let out a cry. Then, I punched her. She was about to fall, but I grabbed her and shocked her with my tazer, knocking her out.
The remaining three people were Kali, Mike, and some other guy. I threw a ninja star at the guy. It hit him right in the upper left arm. Blood rolled down from the wound. Before anyone else could do anything, I tossed down a smoke bomb and ran inside the Smokers' hang out.
When I ran in, I headed upstairs. There, I found Alice, tied to a bed with a gag in her mouth. She turned to me, fear in her eyes.
"Don't worry. I'm Starika. I'm here to save you," I said softly.
She seemed to understand and relaxed.
I took the gag out of her mouth.
"Thank you! We gotta get out of here quick! I think Mike has a gun!" Alice said. I unsheathed my sword and sliced away the ropes that held Alice down.
"Let's go! To the fire escape!" I said. I lead Alice out the window and onto the fire escape. Mike was below.
"You're mine Starika!" Mike shouted, coming up the fire escape.
Alice screamed.
"Alice, go! Hurry!" I cried. We both ran up the fire escape to the roof. Mike followed. He confronted us. Alice backed up behind me. I pulled out my sword.
"Starika, you think you're so strong because you have a sword. Well, guess what? I have one too," Mike said. It was just then that I noticed he really did have a sword. His trench coat had hidden it. He pulled it out and lunged at me.
I blocked his attack with my fan shield. I thrust my own sword at him. He blocked it. I slashed at him. He dodged and swung his sword at me. I blocked it with my fan shield.
"Oh hell! I don't have time for this!" I said. With that, I simply punched Mike in the jaw. He fell. I put my sword away and lead Alice down off of the roof.
I took Alice back to the school. Her parents and friends hugged her and told her how worried they were.
"Are you okay?" Alice's mom asked.
"I am now! Starika rescued me!" Alice said.
"Thank you. Take off that mask. I want to see the face of the hero who saved my girl," Alice's mom said.
"Sorry miss. My identity must remain secret....For now," I said.
