Ms. Justice:
QuickShot and I step back as the "sandman" slams his giant arms down, shaking the entire dock. The dock shakes even more when the sandman drags himself toward us. In two quick pulls, he reaches us. Raising an arm again, the sandman slams it down.
"Get out of the way," QuickShot screams. We turn and run as fast as we can. The arm misses us, hitting the dock instead, but it still sends shockwaves. The shockwave hits and sends us into the air.
"Ahhh!"
Screaming as I fly through the air, I cross my arms and brace for a painful landing.
"Hold on!"
Instead of a painful landing, I feel a pair of metal arms wrapping around me. Someone catches me, and I have a graceful landing instead.
"What the--"
Opening my eyes, I see SpeedBlade.
"Ms. Justice. Are you okay?"
"SpeedBlade! I'm fine."
Letting me go, SpeedBlade reaches behind him and pulls out my shield. The moment I see it, I lunge for it.
"Thank you," I say.
"What manner of thing is that?" SpeedBlade asks, pulling out his sword.
"It's the black sand?"
"That is the black sand? But how can that be? How has it grown to such a vast size?"
"I don't know. Wait, remember what we learned? That the black sand grows by eating metals?"
"Aye. It must have devoured quite a sum of raw metals to grow so large."
"Yeah. No kidding."
Seeing us, the giant sandman shoots one of its arms at us. Raising our weapons, SpeedBlade and I prepare for the attack, but SharpShot runs in from the side before we can move.
"Watch out," he yells.
Raising his dual blasters, SharpShot fires and hits the sandman's hand. He breaks the whole thing in a few minutes, skidding to a stop.
"SpeedBlade! Quick! Get me to SharpShot."
The sandman moans as he pulls back his arm and holds his wrist. While the sandman is distracted, SpeedBlade grabs me and carries me over to SharpShot.
"SharpShot. Have you seen QuickShot? Did you see what happened to her after we were thrown in the air?"
"No," SharpShot replies, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."
"Hold," SpeedBlade says, looking around. "Where has JumpStart gone?"
"JumpStart fell into the ocean," I answer.
"What?"
"The black sand grabbed and held JumpStart down before throwing a whole cart at him. It hit JumpStart and knocked him into the water."
"Incoming!"
SharpShot yells and points. We follow his fingers and see the sandman's hand regrowing. Black sand moves from all over his body, traveling to his bare wrist before turning into another hand. With his hand back, the sandman turns to face us. He raises his new hand, his palm also facing us.
"What is he doing?" SpeedBlade asks.
"I doubt he's saying hello," SharpShot answers, reloading his blasters.
We keep watching as what looks like tentacles — actually tentacles like an octopus or a squid — burst out from the sandman's palm. Made entirely from black sand, the tentacles rocket through the air toward us.
"Get back," I yell.
SharpShot, SpeedBlade, and I jump back as the tentacles hit the dock, breaking through it. They disappear for only a few seconds before breaking through again and coming at us.
Raising and blocking with my shield before turning around to swing it, SharpShot shoots with his dual blasters. Together, we destroy dozens of sand tentacles. However, no matter how many we destroy, they quickly reform. Worse, they seem more focused on SpeedBlade.
Even with his sword and speed, the tentacles keep coming after him. He runs in circles, up and down the docks, cutting and slashing through tentacles before one finally grabs his foot. Pulling him down, other tentacles break apart, burying SpeedBlade alive.
"Ahhh--Mmmm---"
"SpeedBlade!"
Running to help him, one of the tentacles tries to snap at me, but I jump over it. The other tentacles, seeing me, all begin attacking.
They lunge at me from all sides. I have to jump, slide, roll, and block them before finally reaching SpeedBlade. I grab one of his hands and try to pull SpeedBlade up, but the sand must be keeping him down.
"SpeedBlade! I can't—pull you up!"
I pull SpeedBlade up enough to see his helmet, but the black sand quickly covers it. Burying him alive, another tentacle shoots out.
"Ahh!"
Screaming as the tentacle hits and launches me into the air, I flip through it while falling. Seeing the dock get closer, I close my eyes and brace for impact. However, before I can crash, something shoots out from the side and grabs me.
"Thanks again for the save, SpeedBla--"
Opening my eyes, I still see the broken dock below, with SharpShot trying to fight all the tentacles, shooting them with his blasters non-stop. That's the problem. I'm seeing the dock, the countless tentacles, and SharpShot all from a bird's-eye view.
"What the--"
Looking up, I see the giant bat carrying me, only now, closer, I see more. The giant bat doesn't look like just a bat. I think it's also half-human.
The giant "bat-man" is carrying me in the air with its sharp claws, but despite the claws, the bat-man isn't hurting me. His claws are wrapped around my arms, not piercing into them. Flapping his arms, the skin, or membrane, if I remember correctly, between his arms and the sides of his body shakes back and forth. While he's flying, I look closer and see the bat-man wearing a pair of torn, stain-covered blue pants. Seeing the torn pants reminds me of when I was homeless.
"You're not a bad person," I say. "Are you?"
I watch as the bat-man flies toward the beach.
"Wait! Stop!"
Shaking in the air, kicking my feet and swinging my arms, the bat-man shrieks at me.
"No, I will not be still," I answer before realizing something. "Wait, I can understand you? How?"
Hearing a loud boom, I turn back toward the dock and see SharpShot and SpeedBlade being thrown around.
"Don't take me to the beach," I yell, "Take me back to the dock."
The bat-man looks at me and shakes his head.
"Please. My friend needs my help. We may also need your help. SharpShot, the man in the purple and orange armor. He told us. He saw you. When the dock exploded, and people almost fell into the water, you dived in to save them and dropped them off at the beach. Whatever, whoever you are, it doesn't matter right now. What matters right now is making sure my friends stay safe and take down that sand monster!"
The bat-man looks at me again. I stare back at him, looking him right in his bright red eyes. A few seconds later, the bat-man nods and turns around.
Pulling his wings in, the bat-man and I dive toward the sandman.
"Hey," I yell, raising my shield. "Incoming!"
QuickShot:
My head feel like it's on fire, and my whole body feels like a bag of rock. A heavy, immovable bag of rock. I inhale through the holes between my teeth before pushing myself up.
"Ahh..."
Seeing my bow lying a few feet from me, I shoot my hand out and grab it. Back on my feet, I look around, my head turning left and right.
"Ms. Justice!"
Seeing one of the monsters holding Ms. Justice, I reach for an arrow and load it into my bow.
"Justice! Hold on!"
Closing one eye and lining up the shot, the air monster is in my sight. About to fire and rescue Justice, I stop when I see the monster throw Ms. Justice.
"What in the world?"
I watch as Ms. Justice falls through the air, holding her shield out. Like a bullet, she shoots through the sandman, entering through its back before coming out its front. The sandman screams as he looks down at the hole in its chest.
"QuickShot," Ms. Justice yells, "Get out of the way!"
Opening both my eyes, I jump out of the way. Ms. Justice rockets past me. She hits the dock, bounces off it a few times, and hit an empty game booth.
"Ms. Justice! What the heck was that?"
I start running to her, but barely take two steps before Ms. Justice pushes herself up. Letting out a sigh and rubbing her arm, Ms. Justice turns away from me. She limps over to SharpShot, grabs his shoulder, and talks with him.
"What is she telling SharpShot? What's going on?"
I keep watching as the monster, the bat monster, the one that was carrying Ms. Justice and then just threw her, lands on the broken dock beside SharpShot and Ms. Justice. SharpShot jumps and raises his blaster, but Ms. Justice steps in front, blocking him. She tells him something again. She turns back and forth between the bat monster and SharpShot before the bat monster jumps into the air. Then, without warning, it grabs SharpShot with its sharp claws.
"What the---"
I watch as the bat monster carries SharpShot higher and higher into the air. To my shock, SharpShot isn't screaming or shouting. He's not firing at the bat monster. Instead, he's staying calm. Once, about a hundred feet high, SharpShot raises his dual blasters and starts firing at the sandman.
The sandman cries and moans as the monster and SharpShot fly around his head. He raises one of his hands and uses it to shield his head. When the sandman does this, all the black sand on the dock pulls back, and I see SpeedBlade lying on the dock.
"SpeedBlade! When did he get here?"
Running over to him, Ms. Justice beats me. She reaches SpeedBlade first, drops to a knee, and helps him up. I can hear SpeedBlade gasping as Ms. Justice pulls him up.
"Nnooo!"
The sandman screams when he sees SpeedBlade freed and standing. Raising his other arm, he throws it down. In the shadow of the falling arm, Ms. Justice grabs SpeedBlade.
"SpeedBlade, move!"
Pushing SpeedBlade out of the way, out of the shadow, the arm hits the dock, and Ms. Justice disappears underneath it.
"Nnnnoooo!"
Seeing Ms. Justice gone, something starts to happen, and my hands start glowing bright red.