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He didn’t feel so bad the next morning either, which was a vast difference from how he had felt the night his ability had manifested. There were no bruises or aches or pains that were new and out of the ordinary, so he didn’t have to worry about covering anything up.
Lance woke up that morning with an enthusiasm and energy he knew he shouldn’t feel, but didn’t care. While the previous night hadn’t given him the clear cut answers he had been looking for, it had been a good start.
It was a start to cut out the weed that had been creeping over the city before it had the chance to grow out of control.
While he started to get ready for school, Lance thought that, if he could make a difference there, in that small town, then he might just try his luck in the far larger city that lay just north of his suburban hometown.
He was so excited about his newfound sense of purpose that the thought of having to go to school just seemed boring by comparison.
Knowing what he could do and having to keep it hidden from everyone was torture, but he knew it was necessary. With what Lance was planning to do to a good deal of people, he knew keeping his powers a secret was a must. He didn’t know how long he could keep up his ability, even if he figured out a way to use it at will, and he couldn’t protect those around him if someone decided to try to take Lance out.
He had seen it before. Well, he had seen it in comic books, anyway. Besides, if anyone found out about Lance’s abilities, he had a feeling that the government suits would come running to snatch him up.
That thought stayed with Lance for a long time, which caused him to peer over his shoulder every time he saw a van or person in a black suit pass by.

Lance thought his situation over as he walked into school that morning. The narrow, student-clogged hallways felt even more oppressive as Lance relived the previous night’s events He had felt fee, that he could do anything. Anything within reason, he knew, otherwise he would blow his secret.
It was the same thing, day after day, Lance thought, as he saw Ryan approach, weaving his way through the throngs of students. He knew Keri would be coming soon, too.
This almost seems like a waste, Lance thought. I could be out there, doing something, cleaning up the streets. I guess not really, too much chance of being seen and ID’ed. Plus, I still have to figure out a costume. Besides, do the bad guys even go out during the day? I should’ve asked those guys when this ‘Big C’ likes to operate. As good as last night went, I probably could’ve planned it out better.
“Hey, you in there?” Ryan asked. Lance had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed Ryan had finally made his way through the crowd to him.
“Yeah, no. I mean yes,” Lance replied, snapping to attention. He quickly thought of an excuse to tell Ryan, putting away the thoughts of discontent, which wasn’t far off from the truth. “Sorry, had a long night.”
“Hm? Did you and Keri make up?” Ryan asked, heavily implying that Lance and Keri had made up in a very physical way.
“I wish, but we aren’t even fighting right now,” Lance looking away. He feigned the deep thought stare, as though he weren’t even sure what he had just said had been true. “Are we?”
“I don’t know,” Keri said suddenly from behind Lance. “What day of the week is it?”
“How do you keep doing that?” Ryan exclaimed. He was getting tired of people sneaking up on him, especially Keri, who Lance and Ryan talked about often.
Lance wrapped his arms around Keri and squeezed, and Keri squeezed back in response.
“Maybe she’s the one with the super powers,” Lance offered.
“Hardee, har…hm?” Ryan considered. “You know…”
“Okay boys, that’s enough,” Keri interrupted. “Hun, I just came by to see you quick, then I’ve gotta run. I can’t be late for first period again or Schmielson is gonna give me detention.”
“See, I told you this was going to happen,” Lance said. He released her from his embrace and Keri squeezed Lance’s hand quickly before turning away.
“I know. You don’t have to rub it in,” Keri said. She was already half way down the hall before Lance brought his attention back to what he was doing. He turned to say something to Ryan, but Ryan must have already walked to class, as he was no longer standing next to him.
Lance looked around and realized that there was no one else in the hall now.
It struck at Lance how alone he really felt. For the past three days, new and miraculous things had been happening to him, yet he couldn’t really share it with anyone. Ryan, in his excitement, would probably tell everyone he could within moments of hearing Lance’s secret.
He would probably even pull the “I’ve got a secret, but I can’t tell” scenario where all it would take is a few “come ons” and “tell us” before the “Okay, but you’ve got to promise not to tell anyone else,” followed by the rapid agreement.
The next thing Lance would know there would be a slew of reports followed by a cold, steel slab in a government lab somewhere.
Lance shook off the image of being poked and prodded by medical instruments, the drawing away of precious bodily fluids, and hustled off to class.
Still, the way both Keri and Ryan had left him at once made him think that maybe they already knew. They already knew that Lance had a secret, that he was different, and that was what had made them leave him.
Would it really be that bad to tell them? Lance hadn’t yet decided. He also still felt like he should be doing more, but he put those things aside and tried to be comfortable with the whole situation of having to go to school during the day and going out at night.

It was later in the day when Lance ran into Rain, literally. Again.
“Woah, cowboy, easy there,” She said. “Rough day so far?”
Her blond hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and she played with the end of it as she talked to Lance.
“Night, actually,” Lance replied. “And what does that mean, anyway?”
“Easy there cowboy?” Rain repeated, startled. “It’s just an expression. Maybe it had to do with rapid westward expansion. ‘Ease ‘er on down,’ or something like that. I really don’t know.”
“It’s alright. I was more or less just thinking out loud. Didn’t mean to put you on the spot there.”
The two teens stood in the hallway, sharing an awkwardly silent moment as they tried not to look at each other. It was Rain who finally spoke again.
“Oh, hey! Did you get my message?”
“About Saturday? Yeah, didn’t talk to Ryan or Keri about it yet, though.”
Rain appeared to be upset by something Lance had just said.
“Oh…right,” Rain said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. It was as if Lance’s suspicions about Rain’s feelings for him had suddenly been confirmed. She had to have a thing for him; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so upset by Lance mentioning his girlfriend.
“What’s the matter with Ryan?” Lance asked, hoping Rain would tip her hand. He knew full well Rain had meant Keri, but he wanted to hear the truth from her.
“Nothing, I guess,” Rain replied. She hesitated before saying, “I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t be bringing Keri. She doesn’t seem to like me much.”
“She just doesn’t really know you that well,” Lance explained. “That and she thinks you’re trying to move in on her territory.”
“And who says I’m not?” Rain said, giving Lance a devilish grin and a wink. “But we’ve got to get going to practice.”
Lance looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and agreed. He hadn’t realized what time it was, so he and Rain walked to the locker rooms together.
“Try to get some sleep tonight, Lance. The guys are counting on you to break that record.”
They had reached the girl’s locker room and Rain said goodbye before going inside.

Practice went by without any incidents and without anyone mentioning that Lance almost had his head taken off by a discus at the previous meet.
Lance didn’t work that night, and he had already promised to spend the evening with Keri.
It was almost a shame to him, because he really wanted to keep building on his success, but, it was a Friday, and he didn’t work, so that pretty much meant that he was stuck doing something with his girlfriend. He didn’t really want to think of it that way, as he had gotten over his earlier feelings of discontentment, but he still felt like his time could be put to better use.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t yet figured out an excuse that he could tell anyone so he could pay a visit to ‘Big C’ at the restaurant, but he could’ve spent the time devising a disguise.
His next mission, as he had taken to thinking of it, would require something more than a simple ski-mask, and he sure as hell couldn’t confront this person without covering up his face, especially if Big C was as important as Lance hoped he was.
No, Lance had had enough of walking into these situations where someone could get a look at his face. It had been worth it with the two dealers at the police station, Lance decided, as it had increased his ability to intimidate the thugs more when they were able to recognize him.

He arrived home after practice at about five-thirty and immediately shed his sweat-drenched clothes. Jumping into the shower, Lance felt the water cleanse his body. It was a good feeling, Lance thought, as he let his mind wander back to making up a costume.
Should he make it a costume? A uniform of sorts? Or, should it just be a disguise, Lance wondered. But, again, he didn’t want anyone to spot him and make the connection later. He figured he might get spotted down the line, and the fewer times that happened, the better. Lance also realized that he was getting far ahead of himself. He still had to go to this restaurant and confront ‘Big C’, and violently, if necessary. After that was up in the air really.
It was then that Lance knew that he knew nothing for certain. Here he was, a seventeen year old high school student, who may have some extraordinary ability, but beyond that, Lance knew nothing. He didn’t know what to expect at the restaurant, or if his powers would hold up—or even work—for that matter, if it came down to it. Hell, Lance wasn’t even sure how he was going to get through the rest of the week, and it was already Friday afternoon.
He tried to slow everything down and just focus on one thing at a time as he turned off the water. After drying off, he donned a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
First up, Lance thought, a hopefully pleasant even with Keri. He hadn’t decided yet if how he was going to inform Keri of Rain’s get together, or if he was even going to go, but he decided he would cross that bridge when he came to it.
Since it was Friday, Lance wouldn’t need to worry about having to get up early for school. He also didn’t work until the early afternoon the next day, so he wouldn’t have to worry about waking up for that, and he got off early enough that, if he decided to go to Rain’s, work wouldn’t interfere with that.
If he remembered, Lance would try to lay out some “working” clothes before turning in for the night. But, until then, Lance would just focus on having a good time, and maybe blowing off some steam.
Being under so much stress, Lance definitely needed to do that. He was having these thoughts that the whole world was just wasting away while he sat in school needlessly. He couldn’t help thinking like that, but he knew it wasn’t true. He needed that part of him, the one that could at least pretend to be a normal person.
Lance marveled at how quickly this had all come on him. It had been only a few days since the first time he had manifested his ability, and yet he was already thinking of himself as a an outsider.
Walking down the stairs, there was a nagging feeling that he was forgetting about something. He walked out the door still wondering what it was he wanted to remember.
The door opened again a moment later and Lance stuck his head back into the house.
“Hey, Eva, have fun with Ryan,” Lance called up the stairs.
“Thanks, now get going or she’s gonna get pissed.”
There was a slight pause, then Lance replied.
“And remember…if he touches you, I will kill him.”
He could hear the laughter come from his sister’s room.
“Okay, just go…”
“Dead!”
Their mom wasn’t home. She had called Eva before Lance had gotten home to tell them that she would be working late again.
What does she do? Lance thought as he unlocked his car, opened the door, and then climbed in. For that matter, what does Dad do?
At times, Steven Maxwell seemed to be non-existent to his children. He was always going on cross-country trips for some business meeting or an all-important conference or something like that.
Lance wasn’t quite sure what it was that his father even did for a living, only that it kept him out of the house for a considerable amount of time. Whatever it was, Mr. Maxwell must have been doing it well, or his employer wouldn’t have had him traveling around as much as they did, keeping him away from his family.
When he thought about it, Lance couldn’t even remember the name of the company, though it must have been a big company, otherwise they wouldn’t have been paying his dad so well. Lance made a mental note to ask his dad about his job the next time he came home.
Traffic was surprisingly light for a Friday as Lance made his way to the other side of town, where Keri lived. He passed by the grocery store where he worked, and was very thankful that he didn’t have to be there that night.
The town really was the typical modern American suburb; which included the small police station, which Lance had “visited” the other night; a bowling alley, several bars, a newly built library, to replace the one that had mysteriously burnt down during the debate on whether the city needed a new library, several fast food places, even more bars, and a bizarrely large amount of tanning salons, some of which were inside bars.
There’s plenty for a teen to do here, Lance thought as he drove along. Given that you want to bowl while drinking underage while clogging your arteries and getting skin cancer while doing it all. Yep, always something to do.
There was also the rising drug trade, and the corresponding rise in violence, which Lance had vowed to put a stop to. Everywhere he looked there seemed to be an affirmation of why Lance had decided to go forward with his plan.
Drug deals were happening in broad daylight now, which is something Lance noted as he passed a convenience store when two cars pulled alongside each other, exchanged packages, and then took off in different directions.
“Wow, this place is getting worse than I thought,” Lance mumbled as he cruised through the meager downtown area.
Lance recalled the rumor that drugs were even being dealt through the drive-through window of one of the fast-food places. He thought he might check into the validity of that rumor down the line, but for now he figured he should just stick to his original plan. And that was to keep climbing up the dirty scumbag ladder until he reached those responsible for putting the drugs and thugs on the streets.
As he reached the neighborhood where Keri lived with her parents and younger brother, Jack, Lance noted how much nicer the streets were there than in the center of town, as though the social decay seemed to spread outward in a circular pattern, like the epicenter of an earthquake.
Keri lived in a two-story house with trees in the yard, which Lance couldn’t remember the name of. The gray paint was beginning to peel and Lance recalled he had been volunteered to help repaint it during the summer, assuming Lance and Keri were still dating then.
Lance pulled into the driveway, parked, and then got out of the car. Even though it was still spring, the evenings were getting to be quite warm and it looked like it was going to be another hot summer.
“I can’t ever get tired of those,” Lance said as he walked to the door. He was about to ring the bell when the door opened. Jack stood behind the door, peering up at Lance.
Keri’s brother was twelve, with a medium cut of brown hair.
The goofy things that kids think are cool, Lance sighed to himself, then smiled. “Is your sister ready to go?”
“Ugh,” Jack sighed back, “Hold on.”
The preteen turned his head towards the inside of the house and yelled.
“Hey, Keri! Your lover is here!”
Keri bounded up to the door and smiled broadly at Lance, pushing her little brother out of the doorway.
“Hey hun, you can come in. I just have to go tell my mom I’m leaving.”
Lance stepped inside the house as Keri walked down a hallway to the home office where her mom had been spending a lot of her time.
“What’s happening, Jack-man?” Lance asked, attempting to make conversation while Keri talked to her mother.
“Superheroes.”
“What?”
“Superheroes, man. Don’t you go on the internet, dude? There are videos of them all over the internet.”
“Uh-huh. And you don’t think that these are just special effects by, like, movie-makers?”
“Shit, no. This guy I know says he saw one once, like, doing some cool shit…”
Lance’s pulse quickened. Had someone seen him? He hadn’t thought so, but there was no way he could be positive of that, either. He also noted that a twelve year old had managed to use the same swear twice in one sentence.
“A guy you know?” Lance finally managed. Jack hadn’t seen Lance’s hesitation, heard the fear in his voice, as the preteen was already lost in his own little world.
“Well, okay, some guy online, but he totally saw it.”
Lance felt relieved. It was just another unsubstantiated rumor started on the internet, just like all those other government conspiracy theories.
“And now they’re saying there’s even a guy right here…” Jack began as Keri walked back into the entryway.
“Finally,” Lance chided Keri. If the conversation had gone on much longer, Lance thought he might have had a heart attack.
“My mom wanted to know the usual stuff. Where are we going, with whom, when will I be home, will there be adult supervision, and all that,” Keri blurted out in one long breath.
“Yes, damn that parental concern for your well-being and safety,” Lance mocked as Keri put on a pair of shoes. She glared up at him as she tied the laces.
“Hey, you do that all the time, too,” Keri said playfully. She reached up and slapped Lance on the arm.
“Yes,” Lance replied, “but this isn’t about me.”
“Oh, grr. Let’s just go,” Keri huffed and Lance pulled the door open.
“See ya, Jack-be-nimble. And stop it with all that superhero stuff. You’re sounding just like Ryan.”
Even Jack found that comparison to be insulting.

It was several miles down the road before either of them spoke again.
“So, that’s what you and Jack were talking about?” Keri questioned.
“Huh?”
“Y’know, that superhero thing. He’s really obsessed with it now. He spends hours just watching those videos online.”
“Yeah, he told me about it while you were taking forever talking to your mom,” Lance rubbed in.
“Hey, stop that. And besides, this whole thing is really starting to worry my mom. She’s afraid he’ll do something stupid, like, try to fly or stop and armed robbery, or something.”
“Eh, he’ll be fine. It’s a guy thing. Deep down, we all used to dress up with towels and pretend to fly and stuff. Most won’t admit it now, but it just seems to be something that fascinates adolescent males. He’ll get over it, don’t worry.”
“You never got over it.” Keri’s words were meant to be insulting, but she didn’t know just how right she was. “Still, that’s horrible to think about.”
“What?”
“That Jack is an adolescent.”
Lance let out a laugh, “Well, I’m not really obsessing anymore. Well, his mind had been secretly devising plans and costumes and such, but he hadn’t really thought of himself as a superhero. Yet.
They headed back through town to get to the road that led to the movie theater. Tonight’s date was a movie, and Keri had picked out some trashy looking romance film with the latest teen heartthrob. Lance had reluctantly agreed to go, wishing instead that they were going to a nice action film or comedy.
Lance didn’t even know who the leading star was, to be honest, as Hollywood seemed to go through so many. Still, Keri had promised a lot of making out, so at least he had that to look forward to. Lance took a right turn onto Fairview and passed through the traffic lights. It was the only way to get to the theater really. Lance could have taken a back road, but those twirled and twisted around so much that taking on of those roads was actually much more time consuming.
As Lance approached the theater, he noticed how crowded it looked.
“Well, we’re here,” Lance stated as he turned into the parking lot, “and so is everyone else.”
He grumbled as he looked for a parking space, the endless mass of cars becoming a blur of colored metal as he passed.
“Hun, just go park in the side lot,” Keri suggested. The lot on the right side of the large theater was usually empty, with only the employees parking there. That night, it was about full, but Lance managed to find what seemed to be the only empty space still in the whole parking lot.
“There’s no way all of these people came here to see this crap,” Lance commented. He took Keri’s hand as they walked up to the entrance of the theater. Being as gentlemanly as possible, he even held the door open for her.
“I’m sure they’re not all here for the same movie,” Keri assured her boyfriend.
The two teens didn’t know just how wrong they were.

Nearly two hours later, Lance was stiff from being crammed in to a seat in an over crowded theater. And, to make matters much worse, he hadn’t gotten any of that sweet make out action he was promised.
Lance stalked out of the theater and began ranting angrily, “Well, that’s two hours of my life I can never get back…”
“Oh, come on,” Keri pleaded, attempting to calm him down. She knew that Lance’s anger could easily turn to blame, and that would fall squarely on her for having picked the movie. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“No,” Lance sighed, “I guess not. It was just so wonderfully generic.”
Keri laughed as Lance unlocked the car and they both got in. Lance looked at her as he started the vehicle.
“Besides, it’s all your fault anyway,” Lance stated. And there it was. Keri just sighed, as she knew it had been inevitable.
“You’re just upset that it was too crowded in the theater to fool around,” Keri concluded. She had been right on the money with that one.
“It’s true,” Lance said as he gave Keri the sad puppy dog look. “I was promised there’d be making out, but there was no making out, and now I’m sad because I wanted to make out.”
“Well, you could pull over here and we could take care of that,” Keri purred as Lance grinned from ear to ear. He quickly pulled his car into an empty lot of the local industrial park.

After about thirty minutes of the best making out of Lance’s seventeen year life, he was reminded exactly why he was still dating Keri.
“Oh yeah, hey,” Lance suddenly remembered. “Rain is having this thing over at her place tomorrow night.”
“I know,” Keri said, which surprised Lance. “She asked me to go right before school let out.”
“And?”
“And she clearly said that she wasn’t trying to steal you away from me and that she’d love it if I could make it.”
“And?”
“And I said I already had plans for tomorrow.”
“Oh,” Lance said. “What plans?”
“Well, I figured you’d still want to go, so I’ll just call up some of my friends and we’ll have a girl’s night,” Keri replied. Lance thought she was being way too reasonable about this, but he didn’t want to press the issue of why.
“And you’re okay with that?” Lance asked, referring to him still wanting to hang out with Rain.
“Of course,” she said. “I haven’t had a girl’s night out in a long time. Just comes with dating the hottest guy in school, I suppose.”
“Well, that is true…”
“And besides, I assume Ryan is going, and I know he won’t let you do anything stupid.”
“That’s also true,” Lance confirmed. She’s being way too nice about this.
“Plus, he’ll bring my sister probably.”
“Why would he do that?” Keri’s eyes grew wide with sudden understanding. “When did this happen?”
“Hm, he asked her right before the last track meet, and they are out on their first date right now. Which, of course, means I may have to murder Ryan in his sleep later tonight,” Lance paused for a moment. “You really didn’t know?”
“No, I did. I just forgot,” Keri replied.
“I’m sorry, everything’s just been so crazy with track and work and school and all. It just makes it really hard to focus on Ryan going out with Eva.”
Not to mention breaking into the police station and interrogating a couple of drug dealers after discovering I have super powers.
“That’s still just so weird. And you’re okay with it? I mean, what if it doesn’t work out? You’ll have to take someone’s side.”
Keri echoed Ryan’s words and Lance’s own thoughts. He had spent as much time as he could spend going over the facts as best he could, and he could only come to one logical conclusion.
“I have to let them try. I doubt they’d even list to me if I told them they couldn’t date, anyway,” Lance stated. He didn’t know for sure if either of them would really have been willing to go behind Lance’s back and pull a Romeo and Juliet on him. Plus, he didn’t think they would have even gotten together if Lance hadn’t been there to nudge them along.
“You’re so sweet, hun, putting aside your own feels so that Ryan and Eva can be happy,” Keri said soothingly, then said flatly. “Or, you know, miserable, in case it doesn’t work out.”
“Thanks, hun, and you were doing so well there, too,” Lance joked back. “But, just think, if they’re miserable, then they’re going to make me miserable. And, if I’m miserable, then you’re going to be miserable.”
“Oh joy,” Keri said sarcastically. “Now I have something to look forward to.”
It was then that Lance and Keri heard a sound coming from somewhere outside of the car.
“What was that?” Keri asked as the two teens started frantically looking outside.
The sound had resembled a scream. Lance could only find darkness, not being able to locate the origin of the horrific noise. He panicked. He didn’t know what he should do, didn’t know whether he even needed to do anything. But if someone was in trouble, Lance would be able to help, especially if his powers were to kick in again, which he hoped they would. Lance had made his decision.
“Stay here,” he commanded as he opened the door to the car and got out. “Lock the doors and be ready to call for help.”
Keri agreed to stay put and not fight him on it as Lance closed the door and cautiously jogged off. As he made his way from the car, he heard the familiar click of the car’s locks behind him. He also saw that Keri was already on her cell phone. He didn’t know for certain who she was talking to, but could guess that it was probably the police.
In fact, if Lance had remained within earshot, he would have heard Keri telling an operator that they had heard a scream and that her boyfriend had gone to investigate, but hadn’t come back yet. She told the operator that she heard another scream and was now worried that her boyfriend had gotten hurt.

Lance heard a second cry for help as he crept toward where the voices had been coming from, he noticed a distinct lack of people. There were plenty of houses across from the industrial park, so where was everyone? All of the homes were aglow with lights, indicating that people were home.
“They must’ve heard the screams,” Lance told himself. There should be people out investigating the noise, just as he was, if only to discover what had been disturbing their television viewing.
He pressed himself against a building, which had formed an alley with another building. This alley was where the screams had been coming from. Contact with the building, or perhaps just being that close to it, had activated the proximity lights. The kind that some business uses to deter night time burglaries.
“What was that?” Lance clearly heard. It was a deep, gruff sounding male voice.
“I…I don’t know. Please, just let me go,” said a much more feminine voice.
Uh-oh. Lance thought. He really hoped that he hadn’t just walked into what he thought he had. He didn’t know how he would react if that girl was actually about to be raped.
“Shut up, bitch. And hold still,” the male voice said after a moment. The man was making sure that no one was coming to help his poor victim.
“That sure sounds like a rape to me,” Lance whispered to himself. It didn’t sound as the though the man had started yet as he could hear the sounds of clothing being struggled with. Still, Lance braced himself for what he might see as he stepped into the mouth of the alleyway. There weren’t many trashcans or anything else that he always saw in those dark, dangerous alleyways on television. Lance recalled that through the alley there was the shipping dock where two companies received and shipped out their cargo via trucks, which made for a secluded, wide open, out of the way spot.
As his eyes adjusted to the light levels in the alley, he was relieved to see that the man was still fumbling with his pants. The girl was on the ground in front of the man, and Lance figured she must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the girl didn’t looked like she was dressed to be hanging out in dark alleys with scary rapist men.
“Quit squirmin’, or else I’m gonna really make it hurt,” the man threatened. Lance could see that the man was balding and wearing glasses. The rest was just darker clothing that Lance couldn’t make out from where he stood. The man, unlike the young lady, did look to be dressed for what he was doing, as his clothing just seemed to melt into the shadows created by the surrounding buildings.
The man was still trying to undo his pants as Lance crept up closer. He thought he could see that the woman’s pants were already pulled down and was about to do something when he stepped on what was probably a piece of glass.
The cracking sound was almost deafening in the silence of the darkened alley, and the man twirled around, his hand still holding up his pants.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man belted out as he squinted at Lance.
“See, now you ruined it,” Lance said, feigning confidence. “I was going to say something all heroic, like, ‘unhand her, foul villain.’ But you just had to go and spoil it with the potty mouth.”
“What? What the fuck?” the man repeated.
“See, there you go again.”
The would be rapist started to pull his pants back up as Lance closed in. His adrenaline was pumping, and he started to feel that now familiar feeling. The feeling that indicated that he had an invisible and, to the best of Lance’s knowledge, impenetrable shield now surrounding his body.
Lance caught the glint of metal, a rather wicked looking knife, as the man decided to forego putting his pants back on and lunged at Lance, almost taking him by surprise.
There was still almost six feet between Lance and the former wannabe rapist, now wannabe murderer, so Lance could prepare himself for the attack.
The drunken attacker, whose pants had now fallen around his ankles, continued to advance on Lance, still brandishing the knife.
The man haphazardly swung his knife at Lance. Lance could tell the man was drunk, which, his erratic, alcohol induced state might have actually mad him more dangerous.
The attempted rapist, now attempted murderer, swung again, only to have the knife deflected off of Lance’s protective shielding. The drunkard’s eyes went wide with shock and Lance capitalized on the distraction. With a quick shot to the gut from Lance’s knee, the man collapsed. A quick smash to the back of the head ensured the man would be staying down.
Quickly realizing that his face was exposed, Lance pulled up the collar of his shirt to cover his face up to his nose. He was definitely going to need some sort of disguise, and now he was mentally making a note on how it would have to be something that he could carry with him.
He held one hand over his mouth to keep the shirt from falling down as he walked over to the young woman and offered her his free hand. Since pulling the shirt over his face raised it up to reveal his abdomen, even with the trauma she had just suffered, the would be rape victim was still able to appreciate its definition.
“Wow,” she muttered to herself as she let Lance pull her from the ground. He was strong too, she noted. Lance tried to ignore her amazement at his physique and was glad that the shirt covered his blushing.
“Are you all right?” Lance asked sternly as she managed to stay up on her feet. It was a stupid question to ask, seeing as the young woman, who Lance guessed to be in her mid-twenties, would probably be scarred for life. Lance still asked it though, not knowing if the man now crumpled on the ground had hurt her before Lance arrived.
“Um, all things considered, I guess I’m okay. You showed before that asshole could do anything to me,” she said, now determined to see his face. With a body like his, she bet he was really cute. That and she wanted a face to go with the man who had probably saved her life. She told Lance as much.
“Uh, no. I’d really like to keep my identity secret for now.” Jeez, Lance thought to himself. If ever run into a traumatized girl, all I have to do is take off my shirt and she’ll be cured. Lance jokingly considered that he could save young, attractive, traumatized women millions on psychiatric bills simply by showing off his abs.
Lance stepped away from the girl and grabbed the man by his arms. He then proceeded to prop the middle-aged man against the wall. Lance caught the sound of a police siren in the distance, which hastened his effort.
Uh-oh, time to go, Lance thought.
“Can I ask you a favor?” Lance turned to look at the woman he had saved.
“Sure…anything,” she replied.
“Could you not mention me being here to the cops?” Lance really didn’t want to explain who he was to the police. “Tell them you kicked him hard in the chest and he fell and hit his head against the wall.”
The woman nodded and surprised Lance when she walked up to her attacker and actually kicked him in the chest. Stunned, Lance’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open slightly.
“I didn’t want to have to like to the police,” she explained with half a smile. Lance grinned back from beneath his shirt, but she could still tell that he was smiling. “My name is Sherry.”
The cop cars were getting closer now, Lance could hear. He would have to walk past the shipping dock and double back to his own car without being spotted. And to Keri, who he hoped was still locked in the car.
“I’m…” Lance paused, realizing that he hadn’t thought of what to call his “other” persona. “Well, I haven’t come up with a name yet, but you’ll know it’s me when you hear it.”
Sherry looked puzzled for a moment, not quite comprehending what Lance was telling her. She didn’t know that Lance planned to do much more heroics and that he was going to dress up in a costume and call himself by a codename.
Lance was almost out of the alleyway when he turned back and looked at Sherry, who was still standing over her attacker.
“I’m glad I got here in time,” Lance said, then disappeared behind one of the buildings. He didn’t hear her following him, though he swore he heard a whispered, ‘so am I.’
He moved quickly now, so that he could avoid the police as they arrived. The sirens were at the entrance to the alley now, and the screeching of tires could be heard. Lance pulled down his shirt as he darted between buildings and smiled when he thought about the reaction he received from Sherry about his abs.

Sure enough, Keri was still in the passenger seat when he bot back to the car. She was also scared as hell when Lance bent over and knocked on the window. Hearing the door locks click open, Lance pulled open the door and got into the car.
“Where the hell were you?” Keri asked hysterically. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Lance lied. “I couldn’t find anything, but the police are here now. They’ll be able to handle it.”
Keri looked Lance over real hard. There was something fishy about his explanation. Marks of dirt and dust covered his shirt from where he pressed himself against the buildings to conceal himself and from where Sherry had used Lance to pull herself up. Lance was covered in sweat, and Keri knew that didn’t happen from nothing.
“Don’t they, like, need us to stick around, since we called them here?”
“I don’t know,” Lance said, turning on the car. He also noticed the time. “Oh shit, it’s past your curfew. Your mom is going to be pissed.”
“Yeah, but at least I have a good excuse this time.”
Lance pulled the car into reverse and proceeded to take the long way out of the industrial area. Keri realized this and felt Lance wasn’t really being honest with her.
She wondered what had really happened. Did Lance really not see anything? Then why didn’t he want to get involved with the police? And why were his clothes dirty all of the sudden? Keri didn’t know what to make of it, so she just kept her mouth shut.
“That she will never, ever believe,” Lance said. He navigated through the dark, concrete domain, hoping the cops didn’t notice his car as he made his way out the other side. Luckily, there weren’t too many police officers in their small town and those that responded to the call probably hadn’t known what to expect. Lance also left the headlights off until he was well out of the park, which Keri also noticed and thought it was very strange he had kept them off.
The trees and lights sped past quickly as Lance drove back to Keri’s house. Both hoped that her parents went to bed and weren’t waiting up for her to come home. Those hopes, however, were dashed when Lance made that final turn down the street, where Keri’s house waited, fully lit.
“Well, shit,” Keri said, knowing full well what was going to come. She would be grounded probably, yelled at definitely. It wasn’t that far past her curfew, but that didn’t matter to her parents. Not with how many times Keri had already broken it.
“I guess this is good night,” Lance said after pulling into her drive. He threw the car into park and it lurched when Lance depressed the brake pedal.
“Yeah,” she replied, knowing that her parents were in the house watching. She gave Lance a quick hug and got out of the car. She poked her head back into the car and said a quick, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” It was the way teenagers said it, as if they meant it, but not truly knowing if they really did. The trees swayed slightly in the wind. It was a calm spring breeze, one that brought promise of a warm summer.
Had it been windy earlier? He wondered. I didn’t notice it during the fight. Of course, it hadn’t really been much of a fight, just a short confrontation with a disgusting monster of a drunk.
Maybe the guy’s night had started out innocently enough, Lance thought, playing the scenario back in his mind. Maybe he had gone to the bar with some friends, maybe he had had a few too many. Maybe that made him want a piece of action and maybe she was the girl. He saw Sherry, and again, she had flirted with him, or not, and maybe he followed her on her way back home. Then, when she refused him, he decided that he wasn’t going to be denied. Maybe he didn’t mean for this to happen, lying unconscious on the ground in some dark alley, beaten down by a high school senior with super powers. But maybe doesn’t excuse what he had done, and what he almost did.
Anything that had even remotely resembled sympathy or understanding was firmly driven from Lance’s mind with that last thought as he drove through the night towards home.

Lance pulled out of Keri’s driveway and drove back towards his own home, noting the time. It was only about eleven-thirty, and Keri’s curfew had been eleven. It used to be later, but that had been broken some many times that Keri’s parents had set it to an earlier time. Her parents had been convinced that Lance and Keri were clearly having sex, which they weren’t. They never had, and Lance occasionally feared that they never would.
Oh, Lance had seemed like such a nice young man, Keri’s parents told themselves. He was the captain of the varsity track team, after all, and he was ever so popular with the people in town. But deep down, they were sure, Lance was just another sex crazed deviant, only wanting to rob their precious daughter of her innocence.
It was still, ‘Great race the other night, Lance,” whenever Lance was around, but whenever he wasn’t, that’s when things turned ugly. At least, that’s how Lance thought of Keri’s parents sometimes. Most of the time they were very nice people, it was actually only when Keri broke curfew that they ever got upset.
He passed through the center of town for a third time that day, wondering what kind of evil, nasty things were going on just out of sight. He also hoped that he hadn’t gotten Keri grounded again. She wouldn’t speak to him for a very long time if he had. But, that is how it went, and Lance sometimes couldn’t blame her.
When he thought about it, Lance knew that he never really had the chance to be mad at Keri. Almost never, in fact. She usually was able to turn it around on Lance so quickly that he never knew what hit him.
His mind, still buzzing with excitement from earlier, drifted back to what he dubbed ‘hero’ mode. Everything was becoming slightly more instinctive now. The heroic speech, the concealment of his identity, which he almost blew anyway, all of it. He was getting the feeling, in an odd way, that he was born to do this, to be the hero, that this was what he was meant to do, that this was his destiny.
For a brief moment, Lance considered going to the ‘Full Moon Family Restaurant.’ He had looked up the name, as well as exact directions, of the place online. He felt on top of the world, as he had saved an attractive young woman from a terrible fate, hadn’t been caught while doing it, and hopefully either put away a dangerous man or at least had beaten some sense into him.
Plus, his date with Keri had gone smoothly, aside from the incident in the industrial park…and possibly getting her in trouble with her parents. He really hoped he hadn’t. Lance also remembered that he had worked out the next night’s plans with Keri, though he was less than comfortable with that outcome.
What if Rain made a move on him? She had not wanted Keri around, after all, but then she went and invited Keri herself, so maybe she finally understood that Lance was spoken for. Loudly spoken for. Violently spoken for, even. And what about Keri’s plans, anyway? What if she just said she planned a girl’s night out so Lance wouldn’t get suspicious?
He tried to drive that thought out of his head and refocused on his self-appointed task. He decided against going to confront ‘Big C’ that night, as he was getting tired. Lance also came back to the fact that he still didn’t have a costume. He could work on that before his shift at the grocery store and, depending on when the gather at Rain’s broke up, he could go to the restaurant on Sunday.
Lance thought it was incredibly lame that he was actually scheduling hero work around sleeping. He bet that no comic book hero had ever done that, as those guys seemed to be able to patrol, fight, and carry on normal lives on absolutely no sleep.
As he approached his house, Lance noted that Ryan’s car was in the driveway.
What is he still doing here? It’s eleven-forty-five, Lance thought hypocritically.
Ryan trotted away from the door as Lance exited the car. They met halfway and stopped, letting the silence of the night hang in the air for a moment.
“So, how’d it go?” Lance finally asked. Part of him wanted it to have gone bad. Not terrible, but just badly enough that Eva and Ryan gave up before becoming too emotionally invested. Better that than going out for a while and letting things get so sour that they never want to hear or speak to each other again.
Unfortunately for Lance, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“It went all right, I think,” Ryan admitted. Ryan didn’t want to seem too excited that the date had gone well, since he still didn’t believe Lance was one hundred percent okay with it. He was right.
“That’s good,” Lance replied, not really wanting to stay outside for small talk.
“How was your date with Keri?” Ryan asked, not taking the hint.
“It went all right, mostly.”
“Get her home late again?”
“Yeah.”
“All right!”
“Nothing like that happened.”
“Sure it didn’t. Well, it’s getting late. I should really be going.”
Finally, Lance thought. “Have a good night.”
“Night, man, have a good one,” Ryan responded as he walked over to his car. There was something Lance needed to talk to Ryan about, but he couldn’t quite remember what.
“Oh, hey!” Lance called after Ryan, remember Rain’s plans for the next night. “Rain is having some people over and she wanted me to invite you, too.”
“Yeah, I know. We should be able to make it,” Ryan said. He got into his car and left, leaving Lance alone on the driveway to brood in silence.
Why did Rain tell me to ask everyone if she just went and did it herself, anyway? Lance though. Maybe she didn’t think Lance would do it, or had forgotten she had told Lance to invite Ryan along. Lance didn’t know. Wait…we?
Lance pondered that while he walked to the side of his house. There was a door in the garage that was technically on the side of the house, but the way the home and driveway had been positioned, it was more of a main door than the one at the front of the house. It also allowed Lance to get in more quietly than if he had gone through the front door.

“Hey, look who finally got home,” Eva said. She was at the kitchen table, pretending like she hadn’t just gotten home, also.
“Look who’s talking,” Lance shot back. “Ryan was still on the porch when I got home.”
“Yeah…’bout that…” the silence that followed was one that could only be described as awkward.
“So…” Lance said, “How’d it go?”
Didn’t I just have this conversation?
“It went all right, I think.”
Yep, this certainly is familiar. “That’s good…” Lance said. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.
“How was your date with Keri?”
Now I know I’ve heard this before.
“It went okay…”
“Got her grounded again, huh?”
“Probably,” Lance paused for a moment. “You going with Ryan to Rain’s tomorrow?”
“Probably. You bringing Keri if she isn’t grounded?”
Lance hesitated, as he already knew where the conversation was headed.
“Uh, no. She already made other plans.”
“Involving you?”
“No, actually.”
“But you’re still going to Rain’s?”
“Yes.” This conversation wasn’t going anywhere, and it was getting there very slowly.
“Without Keri?”
“Yes. It seems Keri doesn’t much care for Rain.”
“That’s because she doesn’t like anyone.”
Lance had been waiting for that. He had seen it coming from so far away that Eva may as well have put up flashing neon sign that said, “Here comes a cheap shot at your girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” Lance said in a way that meant he didn’t like what he was hearing one bit. He stood up from the table and said, “It’s late, and I have work tomorrow.”
He headed for the stairs.
“Lance?” Eva said. Lance paused to listen. “Thanks.”
Lance just nodded in response and continued to trudge up the stairs. He made the necessary stop at the bathroom and performed all the necessary actions associated with that before heading for his room.
As he entered his room, Lance immediately stripped off his clothes. He felt exhausted as he pulled his shirt off over his head. The night’s activities had finally taken their toll on his body, and he barely fought off exhaustion long enough to crawl into bed.
Despite his physical exhaustion, Lance’s mind was still racing a mile a minute, though to Lance, it felt like it was going so much slower. Something in his brain wouldn’t let him find the peace he needed to achieve a restful state, so he went over the day’s events in his head.
Went to school? Check. Felt totally alone because of my uncontrollable and totally secret super powers? Check. Went on a date with my girlfriend even though I’m also going to be spending time with another totally hot girl who I think might like me? Check. Stopped a girl from getting raped using said uncontrollable super power? Check and check.
With that final though, Lance’s mind finally succumbed to his physical exhaustion and he fell asleep.