Prelude   •   ZERO TO HERO

STAR CITY
March 21st, 2008

     "What did you do?" Outlaw asked herself that question too many times that night.

     The day started out normal — or as normal as it could for a fourteen year old girl dressed in a knock-off superhero costume gotten from the dollar-store ridding the town of petty crime. Originally, she finished her school day with limited hallway shenanigans which was a major success given Star City was known for having bullies every corner of every school within the district. After having long talks with her friends in the hallways outside their lockers, a teacher came out to usher them home after a few minutes. So, with her homework tucked under one arm, and her school bag hanging off her shoulders she stomped down to the bus stop having already regretted her fashion choice. Her denim skirt was a size too small for her, and with the studded black belt wrapped around her waist she found it even worse. The lack of ability to breathe was suffocating, and the pressure on her stomach made her what to throw up any time she overfed herself on her school lunch. If it weren't for the cotton leggings she wore she knew she would have chaffing — and the mere thought of having chaffing for the rest of the week pained her. She tugged on the spaghetti strap of her singlet, trying to adjust it so it prevented the rubbing of her backpack but it didn't work as she slumped onto the wooden bus seat. The jacket her mother had forced her to take to school was shoved in her backpack, puffing it out which she shuffled to act as a pillow while she waited.

     Thankfully, as usual, the bus ride to the end of her dirt road was empty. She was able to listen to the radio station with a clear head, and with much gratitude was able to spend most of the walk home with her cowboy boots in one hand as she carefully stepped on soft patches of grass to avoid harsh rocks. When she got home by using the spare key under the doormat (yes, original she knows but living in the middle of nowhere there were limited crimes and so her parents didn't try to hide access to the house) she greeted her mother with a smile before disappearing into her bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. Often her mother would leave the door unlocked through day and night, but ever since a certain person followed Evelyn halfway home after one of her sleepovers she has begun locking the door even if she was in the house.

Her mom was halfway through baking the red velvet cake for her father's birthday when Evelyn interrupted her flow in the kitchen. It was not that she minded, in fact her mother was grateful for the company. Half an hour later Bigos, a Polish dish that her maternal grandparents had forced her to learn ever since she was able to hold a spoon, was stewing in a pot with the occasional stirs from the daughter. It was a childhood classic for her mother, one that she cooked for her husband when they first moved in together and has been important to their family ever since. According to her father, it was the dish he made the night he proposed to her mother — and Evelyn couldn't help but smile at that story.

Yet, as she sat at the dining room table doing her maths homework while she waited for the egg timer to go off and signal stirring, a crinkle came from her bedroom before a voice boomed down the hall. The words echoed through the hall, forcing them into the ears of the Eldridge girls. Her mother looked at her with a pathetic frown as Evelyn's posture tightened and her fingers curled around the pen until her knuckles turned white.

"It's too dangerous." Her mom said simply, placing down the wooden spoon covered in batter firmly onto the kitchen bench as she folded her arms. Evelyn pouted at her words, already getting up from her seat to rush to her bedroom to grab her special bag as if ignoring her, "Evelyn Eldridge-Velasco, do not leave this house."

     Evelyn looked at her as she slung the bag over her shoulder from the doorway of her bedroom, puffing her chest out to look more proud, "They need my help."

     "And I need you home, well." She stated, her gaze softening as she walked over to her daughter. Evelyn did not budge from her spot in the hallway, and simply looked up at her with determined eyes, "What about your father? It's his birthday, and he would want you there. And Camila? You are supposed to pick her up from her karate lessons that she is only taking because of you."

     Evelyn's heart skipped a beat at those words. The girl bit the inside of her cheek, tilting her head to the side as she looked toward the clock in the kitchen. Her mind raced with a compromise, "I have five hours until papi comes home. It will be finished by then, and Cami's class finishes at 5pm. I can pick her up on the way home."

     Her mom stayed silent, frowning at her daughter and her dedication to saving her home.

     Evelyn simply smiled and headed to Star City.

     The bandana hid the lower half of her face, and the cheap blonde wig altered her appearance enough that no one would question it was her. The black-themed outfit she bore covered her skin completely to hide any determining marks along her body that could be used to identify her. It had been a cheap costume from the dollar store, one meant to mimic some over-sexualized woman but thanks to Outlaw's lack of a 'woman' body, it fit her perfectly. Her combat boots were a size too big but by wearing a couple of layers of her father's thick socks it prevented any blisters, and also were hard enough if she kicked someone it would hurt. Her outfit allowed her to blend into the shadows of the alleyway where the crime was reported from, and the closer she drew the louder the noise became.

     Silently creeping past the police officers waiting at the end of the alleyway, Outlaw hid herself behind a dumpster as she peered around it to get a view of the crime but soon realized it was too exposing. She gritted her teeth as she moved empty beer bottles from a crate to use it as a perch, peeking over the closed dumpster lid. A group of thugs had surrounded civilians dressed respectfully, and based off their attire Outlaw assumed they were the owners of the nearby shops. They were shoved against a brick wall, curled and crying whilst begging for their lives but the thugs cared little. The guns pointed at the hostages shook; not from the thugs fear by from how heavy the gun weighed but the cockiness. They were holding the weapons in one hand, the heel of their guns resting on top of their hip bones.

The thugs were bulky, their get-up tight enough to reveal their muscles and she knew they were a lot larger and a lot older than she was. Stereotypical robber masks were hanging over their faces, poorly cut eye and mouth holes that they used to make faces at one another while laughing. The lack of urgency made Outlaw question what was truly going on, but the continuous checks to one of the shops made her quickly realizing there was at least one extra thug inside.

A neon sign flickered above the back of the shop they continued to look at, and Outlaw was starting to think her eyesight was bad due to her not being able to read what it said. (It was starting to become a bigger problem than she had hoped because it now began effecting her schooling too.) Shaking her head to stop herself worrying about unimportant things, the girl crawled herself as quietly as she could on top of the dumpster and pressed herself low. She directed her gaze toward the unreadable neon sign, squeezing her eyes shut as she began imagining different colors rapidly changing in her mind before she opened them. The sign matched the colors dancing in her head, flickering at a fast enough rate it made the thugs look up in confusion. They shouted something at the hostages, asking them if this was normal but as they watched their guns slowly turn neon pink they realized something was at play. One of them shouted in fear, dropping the gun as he moved his hands in prayer as if warding off any evil magic. Outlaw slid off the dumpster to grab a few bottles, peaking over once again before throwing a bottle as has as she could at the nearest thugs head.

     Instinctively his hands went to his head, releasing his gun as he whined in agony before more beer bottles began flying from the dumpster at them. The thugs shouted as they tried to dodge, not knowing what to do until Outlaw rushed from behind the dumpster and tackled the one to the concrete. Her heart was racing as she wrestled him for the gun, quickly throwing it away in the direction of the hostages before she looked up at the others. The three stared at her; the prayer who was weaponless, the one she hit with a glass bottle who was scrambling to pick his gun off the ground and the other who was quickly raising the barrel to aim at her.

     Her eyes widened as she leant back as far as she could, twisting herself around the larger man's body before wrapping one arm tightly around his throat and pulling him up with her. Her legs wrapped around his waist, holding him securely in her grasp despite their differences in weight. The thugs froze at the use of their friend being a human shield, unknown on what to do and Outlaw knew they were amateur. Any hardcore thug would have shot through their ally to kill an enemy. She noted his finger still rested on the trigger however, meaning she was not free yet.

     "Let the hostages go." Outlaw demanded, forcing her voice to go deeper than what it usually was. The thugs looked at one another briefly, confused on what to do which only forced her to tighten her arm around their friend's windpipe until he began choking, "Let them go... Now."

     A few seconds later the hostages were running down the alleyway toward the gathering of law enforcement, their sobs echoing against the walls. Outlaw gritted her teeth, thankful that innocent civilians were out of harms way but now she was stuck using a man as a shield with three thugs ready to shoot when she let him go. She bit the inside of her cheek as she closed her eyes quickly, only opening them when she heard a grunt as the one holding the gun attempted to rub away the blue in his vision not realizing it was his eyelashes. She took this brief moment of freedom to let go of the now unconscious man, leaping to her feet as she ran at the one with a gun and connected her knee directly into his groin.

     The man groaned as he doubled over, allowing Outlaw to jump over him to get to the praying man, swinging her first to hit his jaw. He only stumbled back briefly before charging his way toward Outlaw, throwing punch after punch against her skin until her cheeks throbbed. She ducked a punch as she kicked out to the man doubled over, forcing him to drop onto the ground as she used her momentum to throw the praying man at the one with the gun and his blue lashes. He dodged his friend easily, raising the sight to his eyes as he flicked the safety off the gun. Clearly he knew what the blue was now. Outlaw froze, her body paralysed knowing that there was no safety barrier for her now as she slowly raised her hands.

     The man chuckled, rolling his shoulders back before he lowered his finger. As he was about to pull the trigger, a loud noise erupted over the group which forced Outlaw to cover her ears and scramble back as the thugs shouted in pain. A figure dropped in front of Outlaw, furiously but precisely weaving their way through the disoriented thugs until they ended up groaning messes on the ground. The figure turned to her at the same rapid pace, and with blocked ears, a blurry vision and a fear of nearly dying she threw her hands up and willed for it to all stop as she squeezed her eyes shut.

     "What did you do?" A voice boomed from a rooftop, forcing her to open her eyes as she dropped to the ground with a thud. It was that question she was asking herself already. Green Arrow, in all his glory, stood above with his protégée and their arrows aimed at her. Outlaw furrowed her eyebrows, looking toward the figure only to watch the Black Canary disappear from view with a concerned look on her face as she watched her body turn invisible. Outlaw's mouth popped open in fear as Black Canary spoke to the group, stating she was there but unseeable. Green Arrow leapt his way down from the rooftop, his bow still drawn as he closed in on the girl and a furious expression, "Change her back now."

     She felt like she was being scolded by her father, and that made her heart race as she raised her hands higher above her head. Outlaw's gaze flickered up to Speedy who still remained looming above, before back to his mentor as she stuttered out, "I don't, I don't know how."

     "You turned her invisible you can—"

     "Arrow." Black Canary cut him off firmly, her voice alerting them all of her location. Green Arrow turned to look roughly in direction over his shoulder, bow lowering, "She is not our enemy. Speedy, lower your arrow."

     Speedy waited until Green Arrow's confirmation where he gestured for the sidekick to do as told before he leapt down the buildings aside his mentor, bow hidden. He frowned in Outlaw's pitiful direction where she remained on the ground in shock before heading to the thugs and cuffing their hands together, reading himself to deal with the police. He continuously looked toward her however, eyes narrowed through his mask as if afraid she would do something. Speedy was quite lanky however, it would be a fairly even fight. Green Arrow clipped his bow on his back, looking down at Outlaw with pursed lips, "We need to relocate but you need to turn her back to normal. Understand?"

     He held his hand out to her as a peace offering, a gentle smile on his face. That scary figure who had yelled at her only moments before was gone. Outlaw took a moment before she slowly nodded her head and took his grasp, allowing him to help her to her feet as she asked weakly, "Can I call my mom first?"

     Green Arrow quirked his eyebrows at her question, unknown on what to say as it dawned on him how young the hero was. He sighed, pinching his eyebrows before he accepted her request. They all knew it was going to be a long night, at least someone should know she was safe.