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It was rather embarrassing to be standing in front of everyone I knew when I was dressed like this.

The only bright side to this fiasco was the fact that they didn't know who I was. To them, I was just some random kid in spandex who decided he could beat up a dragon. Not for the first time, I thanked my sister's foresight in including a mask as part of my costume. I mean, if the kids from school could see my face...?

Well. I'd never live it down.

"Let me get this straight," Mark Adams said into the stunned silence. "You're telling us that you can take on a dragon. All by yourself."

"Well... yes." I was glad that my years of stage training had allowed me to alter how I spoke. I had played the part of cocky, confident hero many times, but in this -- my biggest act -- even my practice left me faltering.

"And save the town." Mark, like everyone else, looked about as skeptical as I did.

"Yes. That too." Goddamn 'With great power comes great responsibility,' I thought bitterly. Sometimes I wished I wasn't a decent person, so I could save my skin and use my newfound powers to get the hell out of here, instead of taking on a twenty-story monster single-handedly.

"Sorry, but I'm not sure I'm ready to place all my hopes and dreams in the hands of a kid wearing spandex," Mark sneered. "Are you sure you're not here to do some ballet?"

Not one of his better insults, but hey, the guy's life was in danger. "Well, my thoughts are this: Is anything else you think you can do that will stop it?"

The crowd exchanged looks. Mrs. Mackham, a weedy-looking widow who lived on my street, called out, "The National Guard --"

"Yeah, right," I cut her off. "Like they'll hurry to help a crummy little town like this." Everyone looked insulted -- the mayor most of all -- but I felt a strange urge to smirk. It's not every day you get to abuse your own home and get away with it. "Look -- You can try to do what you like, but I'm going to go out there and try to save y'all, whether you like it or not."

Whoops - time to make my grand exit. Everyone was too astonished to notice right now, but I had let my real accent slip out at the end of that last sentence. I saw Mark open his mouth again, so before he could spew out any more of his ill-conceived garbage, I shut my eyes and sped up through the hole in the roof like a rocket.

I have to admit, sometimes the wicked cool powers almost make up for this ridiculous outfit.

Almost.

Description
It was rather embarrassing to be standing in front of everyone I knew when I was dressed like this.

The only bright side to this fiasco was the fact that they didn't know who I was. To them, I was just some random kid in spandex who decided he could beat up a dragon. Not for the first time, I thanked my sister's foresight in including a mask as part of my costume. I mean, if the kids from school could see my face...?

Well. I'd never live it down.

"Let me get this straight," Mark Adams said into the stunned silence. "You're telling us that you can take on a dragon. All by yourself."

"Well... yes." I was glad that my years of stage training had allowed me to alter how I spoke. I had played the part of cocky, confident hero many times, but in this -- my biggest act -- even my practice left me faltering.

"And save the town." Mark, like everyone else, looked about as skeptical as I did.

"Yes. That too." Goddamn 'With great power comes great responsibility,' I thought bitterly. Sometimes I wished I wasn't a decent person, so I could save my skin and use my newfound powers to get the hell out of here, instead of taking on a twenty-story monster single-handedly.

"Sorry, but I'm not sure I'm ready to place all my hopes and dreams in the hands of a kid wearing spandex," Mark sneered. "Are you sure you're not here to do some ballet?"

Not one of his better insults, but hey, the guy's life was in danger. "Well, my thoughts are this: Is anything else you think you can do that will stop it?"

The crowd exchanged looks. Mrs. Mackham, a weedy-looking widow who lived on my street, called out, "The National Guard --"

"Yeah, right," I cut her off. "Like they'll hurry to help a crummy little town like this." Everyone looked insulted -- the mayor most of all -- but I felt a strange urge to smirk. It's not every day you get to abuse your own home and get away with it. "Look -- You can try to do what you like, but I'm going to go out there and try to save y'all, whether you like it or not."

Whoops - time to make my grand exit. Everyone was too astonished to notice right now, but I had let my real accent slip out at the end of that last sentence. I saw Mark open his mouth again, so before he could spew out any more of his ill-conceived garbage, I shut my eyes and sped up through the hole in the roof like a rocket.

I have to admit, sometimes the wicked cool powers almost make up for this ridiculous outfit.

Almost.