The Adventures of Amy Jeakins

Stolen Ruby

Amy tossed and turned under her blankets. She couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was because of the recurring headaches she got during a fight with the mysterious Coder. Yet, she felt that there was something else. Something wrong. That was when a loud beep came from something in her coat pocket. She ran over and picked up the two way radio just as the beep sounded again. It waited about a minute before someone spoke.

“Orange Hero? Are you there?” someone asked.

“Yes, sir,” Amy answered.

“We need you at Mrs. Rich's house right away.” As soon as the man said 'we need you', Amy started using her powers to pull her superhero suit out of her dresser drawer.

I need to find a better hiding place for my suit, Amy thought.

“On my way,” Amy said, slipping her suit on over her regular clothes.

Amy opened her window, then flew outside. She surveyed the town as she flew, looking out for the mansion that the billionaire was renting for a vacation. She landed in front of a huge building painted a cream color with light blue trim. On the porch, a woman with ruby earrings and a ruby necklace sat on her front porch crying, her makeup running down her cheeks. A policeman stood next to her.

“What happened?” Amy asked as she landed softly.

“My jewel,” the woman sobbed, “Is stolen!”

“Which one?” Amy asked.

“The ruby.”

“I'm sorry, ma'am, but you'll have to be clearer. Obviously not the ones you're wearing, so do you have others?”

“No, the ruby. The huge one.”

“Oh, the biggest one in known existence?” Amy asked, “That one's missing?”

“Yes!” the woman said, the crying starting all over again.

“Don't worry, ma'am,” Amy assured, “We'll find it.”

The woman nodded, but didn't say anything.

“Orange Hero, do you have any ideas for where to look?” the policeman asked.

“Where was it kept?” Amy asked.

“In the Gem Room,” the woman sniffled.

“Can you take me there?” Amy asked.

The woman pointed to a window on the second story, then said, “I don't think I can bear to go up there and not see it, but that was where it was kept.”

“Thank you,” Amy said before flying up to the window. She concentrated for a moment, the window opening. She then flew inside.

There were many, many gems and jewels in the room, about as many as in Mr. Gem's Jewelry shop, many of them displayed the same way as Mr. Gem's. Some gems were by themselves, others were parts of necklaces or earrings. Right in front of the one window sat an empty glass case, similar to one you'd find an antique in at a museum. Amy bent down to look around it, but found nothing out of the ordinary. She searched thoroughly around the ruby's container, but found nothing. Then something caught her eye from inside the case. She used her powers to pull it out.

It was a hair. The hair was green and nearly a foot long. It wasn't much, but at least she had something to go off of.

Amy flew back down, using her powers to make the hair float near her. She landed next to the policeman.

“Did you find anything?” he asked.

“Only this,” Amy said, her powers holding the hair near him.

“Odd. Is that all?” the policeman asked.

“Yes, sir. That was all I could find. Could we do some DNA tests or something on it?”

“Yes, but, well . . . ”

“What is it?” Amy asked.

“Who knows where the criminal is by now. I don't know how long this will take to process.”

“I see. I'll try to find him,” Amy answered.

Something rustled in the bushes. Amy ran over to see what it was. She peeked in the shrubbery, but couldn't find anything. Then a piece of green moved. A person underneath it stood up. The young man had long, green hair, pale green skin, and creepy, red eyes.

“I see someone's trying to find me,” he laughed, starting to run off, “I suppose I'd best be going now. G'day!”

Amy flew after him quietly. She made sure he couldn't see her and that he was going back to his house. The older teenage boy dashed into the backyard of a house Amy thought she recognized. She had once gone there a lot. Her mother used to babysit some children there. The Traces, Amy remembered. Their oldest child always somehow had green hair.

“Simon Trace!” Amy called out to him.

“Huh. Why'd ya say that?” he asked.

“That's who you are, right?”

“Oh, fine, ruin all my surprises. I suppose I'll show you this other surprise, too, since you seem to like them so much,” Simon said.

Simon ran into the shed on his family's property. He soon came back out with a huge, long, gun-like machine. Sticking out of the top was Mrs. Rich's ruby. Simon aimed it at her and pulled the trigger. Amy didn't have enough time to fly out of the way. A bright red light hit her shoulder. Amy lost focus and fell on the ground. She landed on her belly, the air knocked out of her.

“That's what you get for messing with the Green Monster!” Simon called, walking toward her with the gun still in his hand.

“Green Monster?” Amy asked hoarsely, barely able to find any air inside herself to speak with.

“Yeah. What's wrong with that?” Simon glared at Amy.

“Nothing.”

Amy stared at the gun in Simon's hand, and it began moving. The laser-gun floated up. It lifted Simon off the ground. He barely held on, his hand slipping. With some quick movements of the gun, Simon fell from it, landing on his feet on the ground. Amy made the gun land gently next to her.

Amy slowly got up, but as she started, Simon grabbed the gun and kicked Amy in the ribs. Amy collapsed again, but could still see Simon out of the corner of her eye, walking away. Concentrating, she made Simon float up in the air. She took the laser-gun from him, and tied him to a lamp post.

“Here you go, Mrs. Rich,” Amy said as she handed the huge ruby back to its owner.

“Thank you, Orange Hero!” the woman said, hugging her over-sized gem.

“No problem,” Amy answered.

The next morning, Amy read the newspaper while checking on the burn on her shoulder from the laser. She was surprised by the headlines.

"The Orange Hero Returns Mrs. Rich's Ruby, Thief Surrenders Himself."

That's not exactly how I remember it, Amy thought, I wonder how many other mistakes this paper publishes . . .