The small, ancient town of Wellington bustled with activity. People rushed in and  out of slightly unkempt buildings. Cars traveled by slowly, making sure to stay under  the 40 kilometre per hour speed limit, and families walked past the dusty shops on  the worn-down, chiseled pavement. A candyfloss vendor sold sticks of unpromising  candyfloss from his rusted, sugar-coated van to the young children who were too  hyperactive to notice. The bright and scorching sun beat down onto the old, yet  useful, withered road that connected this little town to the grand, developed city  beyond. 

“Ahh, what a beautiful day,” remarked the well-known superhero Speedy, as he and  his everlasting companion Maroon the Genetican sat on torn seats at the back of a  spluttering old taxi.  

“Speedy, you do know that we could have gone to a more EXCITING city, right?”  sighed Maroon, as he aimlessly counted the stains on his striped yellow T-shirt, like  a 6-year-old in a university lecture. Most people would have agreed with Maroon.  This boring settlement had nothing to offer. But on the contrary, Speedy was in  two minds. 

“Well, maybe if you looked around, you might change your mind!” retorted Speedy,  with a quick response. He then went back to looking out of the dust-encapsulated  window until they reached their restaurant, “Foody Food Galore”, for lunch.  

The rickety, unkempt buildings looked like they would topple over any second, as the  taxi hobbled past some unpainted houses. Even the traffic was out of place, with  cars cutting through lanes and pedestrians scrambling in an amusing heap to get to  the other side. The faded zebra crossings hardly did any good as people never saw  where it really was. “Maroon is right, I guess,” thought Speedy, “I could run twice  as fast as these cars.” He looked down at himself and his extraordinarily speedy  legs. Life had never been the same since Maroon the Genetican had crash-landed  from space into the Intergalactic headquarters, which was Speedy  McSpeedster’s team of extra-terrestrial superheroes. From that day onward,  Speedy and Maroon had been loyal companions.  

Speedy McSpeedster, a.k.a Kevin Ramon Stewart, had gotten his speed powers  from falling into a pool of chemical waste at an abandoned chemical wasteland. At 

first, he was freaked out, but he then decided to use his powers for the better  good, and became Speedy. 

In a dark alleyway, off the corner of a shady tobacconist, there was a flash of  light. A man, wearing an ominous black hood and torn denim trousers, stepped into  the blinding sunlight. Slowly, the well-built man mechanically moved his head side to-side, and walked onto the road. Cars swerved and crashed into buildings and  public phone booth. A frightened man in in a Suzuki screamed, as his car hurtled  towards the man. All of a sudden, the seemingly crazy man turned around and held  his hand straight. A lightning bolt shot out, and the Suzuki flew over his head,  which made the hood fall from his face. This revealed gruesome red skin and slit  green eyes.  

A woman on the pavement screamed in fright, “It’s Thunder Rage!” People  frantically ran this way and that way. The candyfloss vendor abandoned his worn down van, just before it was obliterated by a thunderbolt.  

“My family heirloom!” he cried. 

Speedy and Maroon noticed the panic and asked the driver to stop, but he had  abandoned ship and was seen running into a library.  

“Huh, chicken,” taunted Maroon, as he got his extra ray blaster out of his jacket  beside him. Speedy pressed the symbol on his chest, and a blue suit with yellow  highlights formed over his vibrating body. He flexed his legs, went into battle  mode, and sprinted out of the car, stopping in front of the intimidating super villain, 

as “Thunder Rage” used his telekinesis to bring a withered motel down onto a police  man.  

“You, stop right there, or I’ll have to make you!” demanded Speed, as he flexed his  fists. 

“Move, you insolent brat. Or else taste my thunder bolt,” said Rage, in a  monotonous and abominable voice.  

“He’s not alone, punk!” cried Maroon, as he rolled onto a car and pointed his ray gun  towards the floating super villain. 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, imbecile,” replied Thunder Rage. The car, along with a  trembling Maroon, was lifted into the air and flicked with ease towards a run-down  flat. Maroon jumped off at the last moment, and landed with a thud onto the roof  of a house. 

Speedy was furious. He zoomed at lightning speed around Thunder Rage to make  him dizzy and lunged at Thunder Rage with his fist at the last moment, but Rage  was quick, and he evaded the punch, just before grabbing Speedy by the neck and  flinging him onto the hood of a car. Thunder crackled from the super villain’s hand.  Just as the bolt was about to hit, Maroon hit Thunder Rage using his ray gun, and  Rage flew back into a lamp post.  

“I owe you one Maroon,” thanked Speedy, as he got off the car.  

“No problema compadre, happy to he-” But Maroon did not finish, for a blinding  thunder bolt hit him, and he was hurtled through the air crashing through the  window of an abandoned factory. 

“Nooooo!” cried Speedy. 

“I warned you, punk. You are just like those bullies that turned me into this  monster. You know what I did to them after? I incarcerated the-” 

Speedy hurled himself at Thunder Rage, and did a flying punch to him. Thunder  Rage was too distracted and was dazzled by the impact, shooting out random  thunder bolts. Speedy dodged them all with uncontrollable speed and, summoning  all his might, ran around Thunder Rage. Rage spun around and shot random thunder  bolts in all directions to try and neutralize this new threat, but a circle of dust was  forming around him, soon mixing with lightning. Speedy kept going. Rage was lifted 

up into the air and to the top of this thundery tornado of debris. All of a sudden,  Speedy jumped as high as he could and did his signature uppercut.  “AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Thunder Rage screamed in a blood-curdling voice, as he  hurtled over the buildings and went out of sight.  

Speedy couldn’t celebrate, for he ran to the factory where Maroon had crashed.  He found Maroon almost immediately, with singed fur and bruised limbs.  

“Maroon!” Speedy cried. His fellow Intergalacticans appeared out of nowhere. “Speedy,” said Atom Boy, “What happened?” 

“Maroon’s dead,” mumbled Speedy, as he slouched against the wall, holding his head  in his hands. 

Everybody stood in silence. 

Speedy’s tears fell on Maroon’s green bruised forehead like raindrops. All of a  sudden, Maroon’s eyes began to open. Everyone watched in awe, as Maroon came  back to life. 

“Maroon!” cried Speedy, as he hugged Missile, who had a baffled face. “Did I just die?” inquired Maroon, “cos’ it felt like I did.” 

“My tears brought you back to life!” cried Speedy in astonishment.  

“YEAH! WOO-HOO!” shouted Maroon the Genetican, as he stood up and did a  skeleton dance. 

Everyone laughed, and Speedy McSpeedster was filled with joy that he got his  best friend back.  

“To Speedy!” 

“To Speedy!” everyone exclaimed. 

By Yash Nanayakkara, 12 years old