Bandit #1 (2009)

                Armand Allen lived in an orphanage for the first thirteen years of his life. He had parents at one point in his life, they will be discussed further on. This is the story of how Armand Allen went from an orphan who didn't care about much to a superhero trying to save the world.
         
                His story starts in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Saint Paul is a great place to grow up, even for orphans. Armand loved all the schools he attended even though he was somewhat teased. It still wasn't that bad, but when he went home it was a different story. He was practically tortured at home by the same group of three boys.
         “I saw Armand coming up the stairs, right? I threw a book down and hit him in the head. He started bleeding and had to go to the nurse,” Julius said. Julius was the leader of the three bullies. They all laughed at Armand's expense, which bordered on maniacal.
                “That'll teach that turd to fight back and hit me in the face,” Marcus said.
                “I want to get him to. You guys always get him,” Kent said. “Be patient Kent, you'll get your chance.”
         Armand was and still is African American and he was a slightly chubby kid, maybe that was why the three bullies bothered him. Maybe it was because he thought in different ways.
         Armand was always smart, more than other children at times. More than being smart, he could think in possibilities. What that meant was he could see the bigger picture faster at his young age. As smart as he was, he didn't put much effort into school. He did enough to get by and no more. He had a thing for looking up into the sky and daydreaming.
              “I wonder what's up there? I wonder what it feels like to be up there looking down on people,” he said and thought on several occasions.
         Armand was also an adventurer, but back then he would not have called it that. Armand frequently got in trouble for not coming home after school. “Armand Allen! You have been coming home later and later. What is the matter with you?!” One of the care givers shouted. “This isn't my home,” he would say under his breath. “Excuse me, speak louder,” she said. “Nothing.” “Armand do you not realize there are people here that care for you? Who want the best for you?” “Whatever.” “Go to bed and please think about that.” If there were people who cared about me, he thought as he walked up the stairs. Then they wouldn't let the crap that happens to me happen.
         Armand would spend the majority of his time at his friend Robert's house. Robert lived down the street from the orphanage. They met on the city bus on one of those occasions when Armand “missed” the school bus back to the orphanage. They had been best friends up to this point for three years. Robert's parents were sort of background figures. They never said much when Armand was there, but according to Robert, they were awful. He also had an older sister who loved Armand, she was the typical older sister to Robert. She loved Robert very much, but never showed it.
         “Hi Armand, How are you?” Stephanie said as she greeted Armand at the front door. “Hi Stephanie, is Robbie here?” “Yeah, you avoiding the children's prison again?” “Of course.” “Hey Robbie! Bring your ass down here!” A flash of blond hair flew down the stairs and greeted Armand with a warm smile. “Hey Armand! Want to play video games?” “Yeah!” Armand would be at Robbie's house for hours playing video games or something else. Armand didn't always go to Robbie's house to hang out with him, sometimes he came to the orphanage.
         Of course it wasn't as rosy as it was at Robbie's house. Armand and Robbie would be attacked by Julius and his two cronies every time. When they would fight, sometimes Armand and Robbie would win and sometimes not.
         In addition to Armand being so different, he would question everything. He would ask a lot of questions in school, not about the subjects but about random things. “How big is this building?” “What year was it built?” “Who was the first person inside the building?” He would also question any adult he could at the orphanage. “What happens to your stomach when you chew gum?” “How many stars are in the sky?” “When did the world  begin?” His questions would usually result in him being thrown out of many offices. He would also question what would happen to the characters of a story after the story is over.
         The one day that changed Armand's life forever was on a warm April day. It was already an odd morning for Armand, because Robbie and his family were gone. He was walking around aimlessly and brought himself to the attic.
         He spotted Julius and his gang doing something shady. He looked closer and saw they had a stock pile of stolen items. They spotted him as soon as he spotted them.
         “What are you doing up here, turd?” Julius said. “Nothing, I was just walking around,” he replied. They grabbed him before he could escape. “We can't let you get away, now that you have seen our treasure cove,” Marcus said. Julius struck him in the stomach so hard that he spit up a little blood. Marcus and Kent let him go and  he fell to his knees. He stood straight up and Marcus slugged him across the face with another blow and he went back to his knees.
         “Does he have blue outline?” Kent asked. “Yeah, I think so. Let's finish this, Marcus open the window,” Julius commanded. Kent walked back to Armand and kicked him in his already tender stomach. He spit out a little more blood. He got back to his feet again and lunged at Kent. They fell to the floor and Armand started punching him in the face repeatedly. Marcus and Julius grabbed him off of Kent and tossed him out the window like he was garbage. Armand expected to fall to the ground and be hurt or killed, but that didn't happen. They threw him out back first and was still looking at him as he floated there. What is going on here? Why am I floating?  He thought.
         He stretched his arms and legs out and moved to a vertical position. Julius and Marcus stared with their mouths agape. He pointed at them and he emitted a blue light that flew past them and hit their stolen goods. The blue light exploded and erupted into a fire. The fire took their minds off the floating Armand and onto their escape. What was that? It came out of my hand?  As the gang ran of the attic he looked at them with contempt. He put his arms straight up in the air and moved upward.
         He hovered high above the orphanage and looked down at it with contempt as the smoke from the attic rose it the sky. He turned his body horizontal and pushed himself forward. As he pushed himself harder, he flew faster and faster. He looked back at his Saint Paul home for the last time and kept going.
         The feeling of flying was better than Armand imagined. “Whoo! This is great! I wish I could have done this before!,” He shouted as he soared high above the world. “I feel at home here!” He quickly forgot about the wounds he had received. He kept flying over cities and towns that he would never recognize by looking at them. Armand had no clue where he was going or what direction.
         As Armand flew he got comfortable with the sky. The wind had stopped bothering him long ago. After hours of flying he crossed a huge body of water. That must be the ocean, but which one is it? A couple of hours after that he made it to an island that was seemingly deserted. He decided to stop and give himself a rest. He turned vertical and dropped slowly to the shores of the island. As he planted his feet on the ground he stumbled forward. “Whoops, I might have to work on those landings,” he said.
         Armand marveled at what he just did and where he was a few hours ago. “I have to be dreaming. I did not just fly half way across the world and I did not just fly away from the orphanage.” He pinched himself and felt the pain. He tried shooting that blue light again by extending his arm and forcing it out. The blue light emerged and destroyed some of the Terra. He got excited again and let out a “Whoo!” I must be able to shoot energy beams. That's what they call them in the cartoons.
         He sat down on the beach starring at the water. “I wonder where these powers came from?” He asked a loud. As he sat pondering, he got sleepy and laid down.
         He awoke and wiped the sand from his body. He glanced at the water and seen something gleaming. He had to double take because he didn't know what he was looking at. It took him a while to realize that it was a bottle in the water. There was something odd about the bottle, for one it was floating in the water and the second thing was it had a cork in it.
         I thought bottles had tops that you screw on or those old ones that you have to pop off. He quickly got up and ran out to the cool water. He fished the bottle out of the water and noticed there was a piece of paper inside of it. The paper started glowing as he looked at it. “This is definitely something that only happens in cartoons.” He got out of the water and back on the beach. He sat down and opened the bottle. The note fell out and read: “Dear Armand.” He dropped the note out of shock. He was hesitant to pick it up, but couldn't resist. The note continued: “Your destiny is calling, please answer. There is a great need for you and your abilities. There is an evil coming to Earth and it must be stopped. If this evil is not met with full resistance, the Earth as you know it will be gone.”
         Hmm... This seems weird, but I want to know more, he thought. “Before this goes on any further, you must go to the deserts of Egypt to retrieve crystals for the other people that will help fight this evil. The note will lead you to a sand cave and at the very end of the cave will be the crystals. Bring all of the crystals back to the island and you will find out more” 
         I am not sure about this. Why would this note be addressed to me? What if I didn't get this? What if it fell into the wrong hands? He paced the beach for a few minutes and came to a conclusion. I won't find out more just pacing here.
         Armand came to another hurdle, how did he get back into the sky? He jumped in the air and flapped his arms and nothing happened. He tried that one more time and the same nothing happened. He stood still and put his arms straight up in the air. He focused on getting up in the air. He felt gravity let him go and he floated in the air. Armand pumped his arm in victory. He pulled the note out and the words had changed themselves into a black arrow pointing northwest.
         He turned in the opposite direction and the arrow turned red. He turned back in the right direction and the arrow went black again. “Alright! A compass!” He shouted. He flew off in the right direction. As Armand flew faster he noticed a blue hue around him.
         As he crossed the ocean and it brought excitement to his body. He got closer to the water to get a better look at the water. Wow! The ocean is so beautiful. He looked at the note again and the arrow began to blink. “I think I am going faster than I was this morning.”
         He crossed lands and countries that opened up his perception of the world. “I never thought the world would be so breath taking. The world is definitely bigger than Minnesota.”
         As he got closer, the note started making noise and the arrow got lighter. He pulled it out of his pocket and examined it. “How is it doing that?” He wondered. He looked down and spotted a tiny opening from his height. This cave was the type that didn't get a high volume of traffic. He landed at the mouth of the cave and slowly walked in. The note had stopped making noise, and the arrow had turned back into words.
         He walked to the back of the cave and spotted the crystals on a plateau like rock. They were grouped together in fives and they were held together by a tiny piece of crystal. They looked like they could be separated easy and broken easily. He picked one up and read the inscription. “Energy beams and flying. That sounds like what I can do. Why would that be on this crystal?” Suddenly, the crystals glowed a similar blue, like the one Armand has. The crystals then melted into Armand's hand. He could feel the three inch crystals in his wrist, then after a couple of minutes he couldn't feel them anymore.
         Suddenly, an instruction manual on the crystals filled his brain. The first crystal is the fighting suit. The second is the fighting armor, the third is the ultra suit, the fourth is the ultra armor, and the last is the ultimate suit. They all have different uses, but the more commonly used is the first one. He held his hand out and mentally commanded the fighting suit crystal to materialize. It appeared in a  blue flash in the palm of his hand.
         He dropped the crystal on the ground and it broke open. A blue energy ball floated out of the shards and came chest level with him. The shards turned into energy and merged with the energy ball. It stretched to cover Armand's whole body and then covered him like a blanket. The energy blanket wrapped all around and hardened to a black and blue cloth like material. Armand's new “clothes” featured gloves and boots made out of a unfamiliar material. It came complete with a helmet that enhanced his vision and scanned objects around him. He looked at the crystals again and the helmet gave him a count of eleven groups with a total of 55 individual crystals.
         “This is freaking amazing!”  He scanned around and discovered a sword embedded in a rock. Armand's curiosity got the better of him and he tried to pick it up. An electric energy started to fry him and he started seeing visions.
         He saw that the crystals were supposed to go to eleven other people on a team. He would be on that team and build many friendships. He didn't see the faces of the people on the team, except for one. It was a pretty African American girl who was on fire. He also saw him self being able to use his powers freely and with more ease. He saw him self fighting several opponents and they represented the evil coming to Earth.
         After a minute of being fried, which was the longest one of his life, he passed out. When he awoke several hours later, he was greeted by sunshine. “Ow, what was that? Was that visions of the future? Who was that pretty girl? What is going on with that sword?” He arose and remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He looked at the crystals and wondered how he was going to get them back to that island.
         He scanned the cave again, and spotted something in the ground close the plateau. It looked like a brown belt, but he couldn't really tell. He looked closer and found it was a belt like thing. He tugged on it, but it was stuck in the ground. Armand pulled as hard as he could and yanked it out of the ground. He discovered that it was a canvas satchel. Armand cleaned the dirt off of it, he examined it and found it was usable. I must be lucky. He carefully placed all the remaining crystals in the satchel and left the cave. The moment he stepped out of the cave, the mouth closed. I guess they didn't want any more  visitors.
         He took off into the wild blue yonder. I took off from the ground way easier than I did. I am going faster too. Must be my new clothes. He made it back to the island with a time that amazed him. He landed back on the beach like he had been flying for years. He looked around for some kind of sign, but found nothing. He reached for his pants pocket, but he remembered that he was wearing his fighting suit. The suit made a hole so he can access his pocket. “Is it responding to me or does it have a mind of its own?” He looked at the note, “Mission complete” was all it read. “That's it! Where are my answers,” he demanded.
         The island began rumbling and a hatch opened in front of him. Hmm... that was a little too convenient. He peered down into the hatch and spotted a ladder. What am I going to do if this is a trap? I cant fight my way out, I barely know about these powers. If it is a trap, I'm going down fighting! As soon as he touched his foot on the ground, the whole place lit up. Armand climbed down into a huge empty room. It was almost airplane hangar big. A lighted pathway pointed Armand to a door at the end of the hangar. The pathway's lights blinked up and down the path. I suppose that means go to the door. He walked to the end of the door and put his hands on the doorknob. He was hesitant to go through the door. Here we go.
         He turned the knob and walked through. He looked around and saw a big screen over a huge computer console, he didn't see anything he could recognize except a keyboard. He spotted chairs that were stationary that were few feet away from the computer. They looked like movie theater chairs except they were a little bigger. He spotted an office chair at the console. To the left of the computer and the chairs was a kitchen. He could see a refrigerator, a stove, cabinets, and an island counter in the middle of the kitchen. To the right of the kitchen was a dark hallway, he couldn't see down the hallway. He also noticed two double doors directly across from the kitchen and by the computer console. If this was a trap they would have gotten me by now. Still though, I should be on my guard. He walked down three stairs past the chairs towards the console.
         When he got to it, the screen suddenly turned on and a sort of face appeared on the screen. “Whoa!” He said as he stumbled back. “Greetings, Armand. Welcome!” The computer said cheerfully. Armand was stunned speechless. “I see you are well, you must be hungry after flying so far.” Armand still had a shocked look on his face. “What is wrong? Are you taken back by me?” “What do you think? A computer just talked to me, the computers I know don't talk to me.” “I am slightly more advanced than other computers.” “I see! You must be from another planet, because this does not happen on Earth.” “Armand, you are as smart as I thought. Yes I am from another planet. So are those crystals you have in your possession and that fighting suit you have on.”
         “How do you know my name?” “I scanned you on the beach.” “Did you send me this note?” “You are correct my boy.” “Is it true, that there is an evil coming to Earth.” “I am afraid so. It is the very evil that ran me away from my home planet. If it is not stopped here, then it will never be stopped.” “Why is that?” “Because there are many more people that has special abilities like you. Although, none of them are as unique as you.” “What makes me unique?” “What doesn't make you special? You just learned to fly two days ago and you have been half way across the world. You are like a pool of amazing.” “What is the deal with this note? How did it change to an arrow and how did it make that noise?” “You aren't going to believe this, but it is made of nanobots and magic.” “You're right I don't believe you. What about this suit? Same thing?” “So full of questions, like another I used to know. Yes the suit is made of the same thing.”
         “Did you see what happened in the cave?” “Yes, I have a camera in there. And when you put on that suit, I started picking up your vitals and the things you said.” The computer then brought up his vitals, like his heart rate (which was beating rapidly), his body temperature, and his body's energy level. “Your energy level is flat right now, but when you use your powers, it fluctuates.” “What happened with that sword?” “That was unfortunate, you shouldn't have touched it. I figured you would, it is a cool sword. But the reaction you got was one that should not have happened. The ones who put it there assured me nothing like that would happen. It must be that specialness I was talking about.” “Who put it there?” “I cannot tell you right now, but rest assured I will tell you in due time.” “What did I see?” “That I don't know.” “How come I could fly better with this suit on?” “The suit does not enhance abilities, that was all you. You are a natural flier.”
         “That would explain a whole lot. Like why I felt so comfortable in the sky. Why aren't you sick of all my questions?” “You are curious and I respect that.” “What is your name?” “I am called the Computer.” “I don't like that. It sounds too cold, can I call you something else?” “Like what?” Armand thought for a minute. “You seem like you have a soul. So I am going to call you Computer with Human Soul or CHS for short.” “Splendid,” CHS said. “Now, how I am supposed to fight this evil?” “You will learn how to use your powers better and you will learn hand to hand combat. First, before we start training, you need a codename. Do you know what that is? “Of course I do, I watch cartoons.” He paced for a minute and it hit him like a thunderbolt. “I got it! I have continually favored the name Bandit.” “Why that particular name?” “I felt like I had to steal things that were mine, like my time and my freedom. So I am going to steal back the world from the hands of evil.” “That is a little corny.” “So! Its how I feel and I am sticking to it.”
         “Fair enough, are you hungry?” “Yeah, now that you mention it again.” “There is food in the kitchen. We will begin training in the morning.” “I still don't really trust you, but I will go along with it.” “Okay, Bandit. You will trust me sooner or later. Your room has both your real name and your codename.” “Did you just put it there?” “I just put your codename there, but I put your real name on it a while ago.”  Bandit fed himself and went to bed in disbelief over his new life.