Starika

Episode 1 : Becoming the Hero

I'm Felicia Rivers. I am 16 years old and I live in a tough neighborhood. If you don't like rap, you get jumped.If you're a banger, you can get killed. There's gangs,violence, and drugs everywhere. My mom, my sister, and I only still live here because we don't have enough money to leave. I wish we did.

My brother already lost his life to the gangs in our 'hood. I still remember his dark hair, his mysterious eyes,the way he'd never let me down....... My brother Will was two years older than me, but he and I were close. So when a member of the Smokers gang jumped me, Will found out. And Will got very angry. He was so mad, he jumped the guy that beat me up.

Then, the rest of the gang showed up. One had a gun. They shot Will three times at point blank range. I could never believe he was dead. I still think it's my fault. I don't think I can take it much longer. If they ever went after my 10 year old sister, Angela, I'd lose it. It would be sooner than I thought.

I had gotten off early from school. Me and my friends Rose and Marco were hanging out at my house. We're a bit of a group. Rose is my best bud. She's really beautiful. She has long brown hair and luminous green eyes. She has really dark lips, like the color of red roses. Maybe that's how she got her name.

I, on the other hand, have dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. I have a pale complexion, like my mom. My hair is straight and shoulder length. People say I'm pretty. Yeah, whatever. Marco is a really good friend of mine. He's hispanic and has dark curly hair and dark eyes. He's a tough guy. You don't mess with Marco if you wish to live another day.

"Did you hear about Matt?" Marco asked. Matt Davids is his best bud. He's a banger. He's into Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osborne, and other stuff like that.

"No. What about him?" I asked as I took out some sodas from the refrigerator.

"He got jumped yesterday by the Smokers. All just because he's a banger! They cut him up a bit. He's in the hospital," Marco said. I could tell he was mad.

"Oh my god!" Rose gasped.

"I can't believe this! Haven't those creeps ever heard of freedom of choice? We can like what we want," I said angrily.

"That's not the way they see it. If you like Metallica and broadcast it around the school, you get banged," Marco said.

"This sucks. Felicia, when you move, adopt me. My folks won't care," Rose said.

Rose's mom died when she was only 11. Then her dad married some other woman whom he'd apparently been having an affair with months before Rose's mom died. Rose hated her and she hated Rose. Then Rose's dad started to neglect her. Rose always thought that only her mom loved her for real. She was probably right.

"I won't leave ya' here Rose. Buddies stick together," I said.

"I was thinking of payin' back those jerks. I was experimenting and I came up with another cool weapon," Marco said.

Marco likes to experiment with stuff to create new weapons. He never uses them. At least he hasn't used them yet.

"Marco! You can't do that! We don't need them after you," I said.

"Oh Felicia, I know you love me," Marco said, grinning.

"Stop dreaming," I said, giving Marco a playful push.

"Hey, it's past 3:30 now. Shouldn't Angela be home by now?" Rose asked.

"She might have had an art club meeting again," I said.

Just then, the door unlocked and Angela came in. She was crying. Her shirt was ripped and her black hair was messed up. Her nose was bleeding and her legs were cut a bit.

"Angela! What happened?!" I cried, running to her.

She looked at me, her brown eyes full of tears. "Some older guys beat me up and stole all of my money!" She cried.

"How much money?" Rose asked.

Angela sniffled."Fifteen dollars. I was saving it for a CD," She said.

"Don't worry Angie. I'll give you the money," I said.

"She's bleeding really bad. Better get the first aid kit," Marco said.

"It's in the bathroom. In the bottom cabinet," I said.

Marco went to get the kit.

"Do you know who those jerks were?" Rose asked.

Angela wiped away some blood and said,"They were the same people that killed Will. I thought they'd kill me too."

The Smokers had beaten up my little sister, and they'd mugged her. I was angrier than ever. They had to pay.

"Here's the kit,"Marco said, returning with the first aid kit.

I took the kit and started to clean and bandage Angela's wounds. Then, I told her to rest. She went in her room and put on her night shirt. I came into her room. Rose stood behind me. Angela got under the covers.

"I don't really want to take a nap," Angela said.

"It's good for you. Helps you heal faster," I said.

"Will mommy get mad? I didn't mean for my shirt to get ripped,"Angela said.

"She won't be mad. Besides, I'll fix it for you. How about that?" I asked.

"Okay," Angela said,"I love you Felicia."

I smiled. "I love you too Angie. See you later," I said.

I turned off her light and left the room with Rose, shutting the door behind us.

"You're really mad Felicia. I know you are. I can feel it," Rose said, looking concerned.

I sighed. "They got to my brother. I can't let them get to anyone else. Not my family. Not my friends. They've already jumped Matt and Angela..... What if they come for us?" I asked.

Rose shrugged. "Dunno. Let's do something to get our minds off this," Rose said.

I nodded in agreement. We went back into the living room with Marco. Then, we went up to my room and got on the internet. Most people here don't have computers. Marco and I do. We have the internet. Rose has e-mail and always does it at my house.

So we got online. We surfed the net. I ended up on a Sailor Moon page.

"How'd ya' get that?" Marco asked.

"Mistyped the address. Oh well. I like Sailor Moon," I said.

As we looked at the page, I began to think. A heroine in a costume and mask out to right wrongs and triumph over evil.... I liked that. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"I have an idea on how we can pay the Smokers back," I said.

"What?" Rose asked.

"What is it, Felicia?" Marco asked.

"I've been thinking. This place needs a hero or rather, a heroine. I could become a masked hero and fight the Smokers," I said.

"No!" Rose cried.

"Cool! Do it!" Marco cried.

"Felicia, no! Remember what happened to Will?! You can't do this!" Rose cried.

"I am doing this for Matt, Angela, and especially Will. Are you in or what?" I asked.

Rose blinked. "You're really serious, aren't you?" She asked.

I nodded. Rose smiled.

"You know I'm in. Let's do it!" Rose said.

Marco's weapons finally came in handy. He gave me some of his best ones: a fancy light weight sword with a 16-inch blade, retractable ninja stars, a 7-inch switch blade, and a little tazer-like device he'd concocted. He also gave me some defense-like items. These included a bunch of marble-sized smoke bombs, tranquilizer darts, and a metal fan-like shield made of some sort of metal. It was just like one of those paper fans, only made of metal.

Meanwhile, Rose created a costume for me out of clothing I don't wear to school and some of her things. The result: A blue midrift top with a short blue skirt that had gold stars on the waist band. Also, there was a pair of blue boots that Rose gave to me, a pair of white gloves, a gold mask, and a pair of gold star barrettes Rose gave up.

"Not bad," I said, admiring it.

"Oh yeah, there's also this," Rose said, putting her old black leather jacket by my costume." You can carry little extras in the pockets."

"Thanks buddy," I said to her.

"Well, try it on," Marco said.

"Okay," I said.

I went in the bathroom and tried on the costume. When I came out, Rose smiled.

"I did a great job. You look cool," Rose said.

"You did great all right! I almost want to ask you out Felicia," Marco said, smiling.

"Please don't," I joked.

"Oh fine, well I see that!" Marco said, pretending to be hurt.

"I'm going to see our little Smoker pals. Maybe they're having a meeting tonight," I said, putting the weapons in the pockets of the jacket.(Except for the sword of course.)

"Be careful Felice," Rose said.

"Yeah. Don't get shot like Will," Marco said.

"I won't. See ya'," I said. With that said, I simply left for the Smokers hang out.

Everyone knows where the Smokers' hang out is. It's this abandoned house a few blocks away from my home. They don't keep it a secret. I went there, and sure enough, they were starting something.

They were beating up this girl. She tried to fight back, but some held her down while others beat her. I slowly realized that the girl was my friend Eliza. She sat next to me in most of my classes and we hung out a lot. To see her get hurt too made me really mad.

"Hey! Stop it!" I cried.

Sure enough, they stopped beating on Eliza to look at me.

"Why should we?" One asked.

"Hey, who are you supposed to be, baby? Halloween is a month away," Another said.

A name! That's one thing I didn't think about. Then, it seemed to quickly come to me as I looked at the gold stars on my skirt. "I'm Starika, bringer of hopes and dreams to those of good hearts and punisher to those of evil ones," I said

"Save me Starika! Please!" Eliza begged.

"Oh please," The first member of the Smokers said.

"You're pitiful. How old are you supposed to be?" The second says, coming to me. He tried to grab me. Mistake. I slash at one of his legs. A long bloody gash develops there. Many others run simply at the sight of my sword.

I kick the wounded Smoker away. Another guy comes at me. I kicked him in the crotch with the toe of my boot. He collapses on the spot in pain. It had to hurt. A third person throws some rocks at me. I quickly whip out my fan shield and hit them right back at him. He gets hit and goes unconcious. A fourth comes at me, knife in hand. I kick the knife away and kick him a few times, then I punched him. He fell.

The last guy left is the one that first talked to me. He smirked. "Pretty good, Starika. But you can't handle me," He said.

"Yeah whatever mister....." I said.

"Mike," He said,"That's my name, don't forget it babe."

Then, he came at me. He hit me a couple of times. I struck him with my sword, leaving a cut on his arm. He tried to strike again, but I tripped him. Then, I slam the heel of my boot into his back. He cries out. I turn him over and take out my switch blade.

"Here's a gift so you won't forget me," I hissed. With that, I cut a small 5-pointed star on his cheek. He curses at me. I don't care. I throw down a smoke bomb and take Eliza out of harm's way. By the time the smoke clears, we are long gone.

I leave Eliza by her house. She thanked me several times, not knowing I am Felicia. I go home and take off the costume. I put on my other clothes. I hide the equipment and costume under my bed. No one will notice. I just wonder when the next fight will be. I like being a hero.

Comments? Questions? Ideas? E-mail me at= Gillespie16@rocketmail.com

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