Chapter Text
The first time it happened, Sabine was pretty sure it was an accident.
She was in the middle of an all out brawl on Main Street. Saxon and half a dozen of his most annoying goons were wreaking havoc, trying to rob a bank. One of these days, the villains in Lothal were going to be original.
Diving under another blast from the nearest goon’s gun (and WHY did every villain out there have the latest and greatest in tech? Couldn’t there be at least one scientist in the city who WASN’T evil?) Sabine grabbed a piece of rubble from the ground and squeezed it in her hand. She felt it grow warm, and threw it.
The glowing chunk of brick soared through the air, and clattered to the ground inches from where Saxon was filling his arms with bags of money. He glanced down at it briefly—and then his gaze snapped back, eyes going wide when he saw it was glowing. Sabine felt a surge of triumph as the rock exploded, sending Saxon flying back into two of his men.
Sometimes, being Force blessed was pretty handy.
Sensing movement behind her, Sabine spun around, blocking a blow from one of Saxon’s goons with her forearm. The goons may have been bigger, and tough, but Sabine had been training in martial arts all her life. Weaving past a few more blows, she delivered a quick kick to the side of his knee, which crunched unpleasantly. The goon hit the ground with a howl, and Sabine grinned triumphantly.
The next second she was moving again, flipping out of the way of blaster bolts and fists. Doing a quick backflip, she palmed two handfuls of gravel from the ground and sent energy into it. Her feet hit the ground and Sabine threw her handfuls. They sprayed out in a gritty, glowing cloud, and immediately exploded into a bigger cloud of smoke.
With two quick strides, Sabine was in the cloud, along with three of the goons. They were clearly unprepared for this, and blundered into each other uncertainly. Sabine, meanwhile, turned on the night vision on her mask, and took them on quickly and efficiently. Two minutes later, they were laying on the ground, groaning, and the cloud of smoke was only just beginning to dissipate.
That’s four down, she thought, scanning the area for her remaining opponents. The street was filled with the rubble of the back wall of the bank. Saxon’s crew had tried to blow open the safe, used the wrong material, and promptly blew up the wall, not the safe.
It was extremely embarrassing to witness, honestly. Especially since Sabine was pretty sure the ensuing explosion had taken out one of Saxon’s men. Which leaves just one more and him.
It wasn’t hard to find him. He and his remaining goon were frantically trying to pack up what they could of the money. “Going somewhere?” Sabine asked, and saw Saxon cast a look back at her.
She strolled forward, knowing there was nowhere he could go. Sirens were already sounding—the cops would be here any minute, which meant it was time for both of them to make themselves scarce. Sabine wasn’t super popular with local law enforcement. Probably because her power involved explosives.
Saxon hesitated, hands full of cash. And then, to Sabine’s utter shock, he dropped it and lunged for the sidewalk, where a group of passers-by were watching the fight. Sabine’s stomach dropped as he grabbed the nearest one and the others scattered with screams of shock.
Kriff. I should have seen that coming, Sabine thought, irritation flooding her as Saxon pressed the barrel of his gun against the head of his captive. He was just a kid, with scruffy bluish hair and two scars on one cheek. “Easy,” Sabine said, fixing her gaze on Saxon. Focus. You can do this. “Let him go.”
“Let us leave, and I will,” Saxon countered. “You’re new to this, child.”
“It’s Scarlet Starbird, actually,” Sabine said coolly.
Snorting, Saxon said, “You can use all the flashy names you want. None of that will change the fact you’re out of your depth.”
“I thought she was doing pretty good,” offered the kid, and Sabine’s gaze snapped back at him, startled.
He didn’t look scared. That was the first thing that stood out to her, even before she registered just how much orange he was wearing (which was a truly ridiculous amount of orange, even for her). If anything, he was actually grinning, like he was enjoying himself. Like this was just a walk in the park instead of a life or death situation. “Maybe stop talking,” she told him.
“Just wanted to be encouraging,” he said. “I mean, Saxon’s pretty villain of the week—”
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?”
“But there were still seven of them! And they’re pretty good fighters, all things considered,” the kid continued. “Just, you know, not too strong in the brains department—”
“Shut up,” Saxon snarled, lifting his hand to deliver a blow. The hand holding the blaster, Sabine realized.
She moved, diving forward, just as the kid dropped to the ground suddenly. His move pulled him out of Saxon’s grip, and he staggered back—just in time for Sabine’s fist to slam into his jaw.
The man crumpled, eyes rolling back in his head, and hit the ground with a clatter of armor. Now who’s out of their depth? Sabine thought, satisfaction warming her chest.
“Nice punch,” the kid said approvingly, and Sabine spun around. He was standing, slightly dusty from the rubble, off to the side.
Eyeing him, she said, “Pretty gutsy move, kid.”
Shrugging, he said, “I try. You’re new, right? I’ve only seen Scarlet Starbird mentioned on the news a couple times.”
“You keep track of all the superheroes that closely?” Sabine said sarcastically.
“I’m a fan. Plus I’m in the school newspaper. It’s good business to learn about stuff like that,” the kid assured her. “I’m Ezra.”
“Good for you.” The sirens were growing louder, and Saxon’s final goon was wavering next to the pile of cash, staring at the nearest alleyway. Bending over, Sabine picked up a rock. “You should get out of here,” she told the kid.
“But you didn’t tell me your name!” he protested.
“You’ve got the only name you’re going to get,” Sabine said unsympathetically. Without charging the rock, she threw it, and it cracked against the last goon’s head. He hit the ground with a thud, and Sabine turned on her heel. Time to go.
“Good luck!” she heard the kid call after her. But Sabine was already focusing on her next mission.