Out of the Limelight

“Graaah! Hahahaha!” Goon Brick cackles as he wades through red dust clouds seeping through a ruined city block. “It’s only lunch and I already levelled all the biggest buildings in the neighbourhood!” he then turns his attention to an alabaster, flatiron department store at the fork in the street: the new Drake Kazama Fashion Complex on its grand opening. “Except that one.”

Most people would run away from a creature like this, but I got as close as possible, hiding behind a post box to get a better view of it. You might think I’m a nosy photographer, or an idiot looking for trouble, and you’d be right. But I’m more than that.

The moment the blockhead takes his first step towards the store, a white, glittery blast rockets into the back of his head. “Not on our watch, Goon Brick!”

“Here comes the cavalry…” I said to myself, smirking as I raise my camera and snap a picture of today’s saviours.

Wafting away the red dust with their lacy fairy wings are the Sugar Sprites: seven fairy heroes defending our world from the evil Etanola Committee and their Goons, dressed in fabulously glittering dresses and empowered by magic soda! In reality, they’re ordinary high school girls from different walks of life, chosen to take up the mantle of heroes. How do I know all this? My name’s Brad Limetto, and for all intents and purposes, I’m their sidekick. If they need someone to run errands, intel gathering, or make sure they get a good rep in the paper like I’m doing now, I’m their guy.

“Sugar Sprites! You’re harder to get rid of than I thought!” Goon Brick growled.

“Your demolition streak ends here, Goon! We won’t let you lay another finger on a building in this city!” declares Sprite Grape.

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Goon Brick tosses chrome mines that explode not into flames but an army of X-headed robotic minions armed with hyper-sharp red daggers.

“Alright, Sprites! Let’s make this short ‘n sweet!” Sprite Blueberry rallies her friends as they jump into battle.

This was my cue to emerge from cover to get a closer look at the action. Most sidekicks jump in and fight with the heroes, but since I don’t have magic powers, all I have is my camera and good ol’ human ingenuity.

“Grape Shot!” Shouts the Sprites’ brave leader, Sprite Grape, rapid-firing purple orbs at the mooks, her real name Corvina. Intelligent, brave, and dorky in her own adorable way with those librarian glasses of hers, she’s led her team countless times towards victory through thick and thin, fizzy and flat.

“If ya wanna play, then I’m your playmate! Cherry Bomb!” Flinging magic cherry bombs from the twin buns on her head is Cecilia: Sprite Cherry. Bubbly as soda and just as sweet, she never fails to make her friends smile with her baked treats, jokes, and her infectiously cheerful personality.

“You’ve ruined a perfect day for shopping, so you’ll pay at an extreme mark-up! Heavy Cream!” With globs of gluey, thick vanilla cream, Vanillina A.K.A. Sprite Cream, captures three minions to allow her friends to finish them off. You heard that right: she’s more worried about shopping for makeup or whatever than the literal monster in front of her. Despite being obsessed with her vanity like a supermodel, she puts the safety and needs of others over her own beauty.

While the robots whittle at the Sprites, Goon Brick gathers brick fragments from the surrounding ruins into a massive block that hurtles towards them like a meteor. “Apple Hard Core!” But then Sprite Apple comes in with apple-shaped forcefields to shatter the attack. “That trick ain’t gon’ work twice, buckaroo! We Sprites learn mighty fast.” Tipping her raggedy Stetson, Pom’s a rough-and-tumble redhead from a farm in the country, and she’s as much of a cowgirl you’d expect her to be.

“Hey, blockhead, you’re open! Blueberry Jamming!” Sprite Blueberry bicycle-kicks a blue orb, ricocheting it off any robots it comes across before smacking Goon Brick’s behind. Mirtilla’s a textbook star athlete, breaking records at our school every chance she gets. Unlike the others, she swapped her skirt out for flexible shorts, allowing for powerful kicks like the one I just snapped.

As I snap away behind a car, someone bumps into me and I put up my dukes, but it was just Sprite Lemon; my cousin Limona. “Brad! You’re awfully close this time! Did the Goon see you?” Softspoken, kind, but a shrinking violet, she barely fits the profile of a hero, but she’s willing to put aside her fears to save the world.

“No, I’ve been on stealth mode since he wrecked the cinema.”

“You shouldn’t be here, Brad. It’s—”

“I could say the same thing to you, Limona. I’m not the one with magic powers.” I told her, trying to boost up the confidence she oh-so needs. “You can’t hide when you can do something.”

“B-b-but!” Then, robot minions ambush and threaten us at dagger-point. “Aaah!” With a whistle of a scream, Limona grabs the car by the skirt and effortlessly lifts it overhead, slamming the robots into scrap with it. “Oh, that was close!” she drops the flattened remains of the car behind us before covering her mouth in surprise.

That wasn’t her magic Sprite powers, she’s always been crazy-strong since I could remember. She said it runs in the family, but apparently not on my side.

Now that I’m out in the open, Goon Brick locks eyes with me. “An innocent bystander! Blam!” The moment he sees me, he tosses a brick pile my way.

“Caffeine Cruise!” Just when I was about to run, a black flash carries me to the other end of the street in a split-second before the bricks could crush me. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and beside me is Sprite Cola: my ex-girlfriend and best-friend-in-training Cara Mella. “Brad, you good? Need a barf bag, or did you get whiplash?” she asked me, sounding unusually worried. We didn’t have the best relationship when we dated, so it’s weird seeing her be nice to me. She’s the reason why I’m with the Sprites. When Cara broke up with me, I followed her because I was worried for her, but I ended up discovering the Sugar Sprites’ secret magic hideout. Best mistake ever.

“All good here, Cara.” I assured her.

“You’re the traitor I heard about! I’ll take pleasure in destroying you!” Goon Brick sounded especially angry at Cara.

“Get somewhere safe, Brad. Things are about to pop off.” Cara told me.

After I climb a fire escape to gain some vantage, the Sugar Sprites line up across the Goon. “Sugar Sparklers!” The Sugar Sprites raise their wands, coating them in fizzing bubbles. Ready for a lightshow, I raise my camera.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Goon Brick shouts.

I take my eye off my camera when the building started to quake. I watch the apartment building across me slide towards the girls like a temple trap in an adventure movie, and so does the building I’m on! After I leap off the fire escape, the buildings slam into the Sugar Sprites, burying them in a massive brick mound.

“Ghahaha!” Goon Brick cackled at his seeming victory. “Now I’ll help myself to another demo job!” I watch from behind a crane truck as he goose-steps towards the Fashion Complex, but I wasn’t gonna let him win because the Sprites are outta the picture.

“C’mon, think of something…” I rap my fingers on the heavy-duty tire beside me, and I look up to see a concrete bucket suspended from the crane. “Bingo!” I snap my fingers and climb into the controls. Thanks to my speedy reading skills, I got the basic gist from the manual included, so it’s time for that human ingenuity I mentioned. “So that lever moves it… and that one releases…”

Before the Goon knew it, I open the bucket’s bottom and bury him under tons of dense liquid concrete. “What?! Where’d this…” he grumbles and growls before concrete cakes his fanged mouth.

Feeling cocky, I take a selfie with the Goon. “Be careful in a construction site, pal. Never know what’s gonna fall on ya.” I taunted him before running off as he tries and fails to grab me with his blocky fingers.

“L-L-Lemon Fist!” With a burst of yellow sparks, Limona punches apart the brick pile from inside, flinging brick shards everywhere. I was lucky enough that none of the bricks hit me when I fled behind them.

“Are we too late? Did he get away?!” Sprite Cola panicked before the Sugar Sprites gaze at my handiwork.

“He’s stuck! How’d that happen?” Sprite Cherry scratched her pink hair.

“Who cares? He’s stuck, an’ we ain’t!” Sprite Apple shrugged, completely disregarding my effort. It’s not like I saved their lives, or anything.

“From the top, girls.” Corvina told her friends before they again charge their wands with sparkling magic bubbles.

“Sugar Sprites Super Sparkling Spell! Mocktail Mega Mash!” Casting a rainbow of swirling soda streams, they push a wave of sugary foam that washes over Goon Brick, and I was there to capture the moment his body started to spark and crackle.

When the rainbow wave fizzle away, all that was left was Goon Brick and his crumbling body. “By my chinny-chin-chin, you huffed and puffed me in!” Goon Brick screamed as his red face falls flat on the pavement before exploding.

“Sparkle-tacular!” The Sugar Sprites courageously declares as they turn away from the explosion with their magic wands raised, sparkling like firework sticks in celebration. The explosion’s flames illuminate the shimmering glitter on their dresses and cast a light show through their lacy wings.

Wasting no time at all, I take a knee and snap this perfectly picturesque pose. Another instant Limetto classic in the bag!

“Another quest well done, Sprites. Goon Brick wasn’t the rock beside the hard place he thought he was.” Corvina curtsies.

“Hey, we shouldn’t get all of the credit. We had some help, too.” Thank you, Cara. I’ll give her this: she always gives credit when credit’s due.

The Sprites all turn to me as I stand up and dust myself off. “Brad, were you the one who trapped the Goon in concrete?” Sprite Cherry asked me.

“I made promises I’d pull my weight around and keep your secret, and I intend to keep them. I won’t just sit around and take pictures of your pretty faces.” I told them before Mirtilla gives me one of her famous noogies, messing up my lime-green hair.

“I betcha did, Brad.” She chuckled.

“I’m feeling awfully tired after that bout. Although it means missing out on fresh stock, I should postpone that Drake Kazama shopping trip to tomorrow.” Sprite Cream sighed.

“Whew!” Sprite Apple wipes her brow in relief when Sprite Cream says that.

“But you’re still coming with as promised, Pom-Pom.” Sprite Cream added.

“Aw, dagnabbit.” Sprite Apple kicks the ground.

“C’mon, let’s head to Pops’! Last one there pays!” With legs that won us countless track and fields, Mirtilla rockets down the street and leaves us in the dust.

“Tilly, wait for us!” Limona chases after her as everyone rushes past me.

I stood there, watching them run into the sunset like they always do after a victory. I know, I mostly stood back and took pictures of the Sprites, but I’m glad to know that the little stunt with the concrete helped save the day, and even got recognition for it. But the Sugar Sprites are the heroes of this story, I’m the sidekick out of the limelight, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Brad,” Cara called to me with a smile. Weird. She never smiled when we dated, at least not like that. “You coming or what?”

“Yeah, I’m coming!” I clutch my camera and take her hand, following everyone for a round of Pops-style floats like we always do.

THE END