Heroes wear Capes

Chapter 16 - Heroes don't have to get along

"Never give away your secret identity, unless you're an idiot."

~ Connor Collins (The Marvel)

Xander was nervous as he stood at the top of a building in downtown. Silver Streak had told him to meet her up there the next day. She said he couldn't go last night when he first me her because it was too late, but now it was just the beginning of the dark. Xander could meet her 'friends' and then she'd still have time to go save some defenseless citizens.

Xander was humbled in the presence of a hero as driven as Silver Streak was, not to mention her beauty. Just because most of her features and hair were hidden, it wasn't hard to tell that she was striking without her disguise.

He wondered if she was his age.

And then he shook the thought immediately from his mind. Even if Silver Streak was a high schooler like him, there was no way she'd want to be with a noob like him. Besides, that would be like breaking the brotherly bond of trust since John had had a crush on the vigilante since forever. And Xander had kind of an undying unrelenting love for Mera Deauxma, the most beautiful girl to ever walk the earth. Even a badass vigilante with silver hair couldn't change that.

"Looks like the marvelous Momentum came."

Xander pretty much jumped sky high. How did she enter without him hearing? He wanted to learn how to do that too.

Maybe it was a part of the superhero initiation training.

"So, you heard?" Xander asked, feeling smug. He was so excited that the public had named him as a superhero, and even just after one appearance! It felt so cool to have a new superhero to talk about at school, especially one that was actually him. He would never stop smiling.

She scoffed. "Of course I heard. The news craves super powers like they crave celebrity gossip. Believe me, I bet Hermes Enterprises is already trying to make you a super suit."

Xander couldn't help but to grin wider at that. A real super suit? He almost couldn't believe it!

"That so cool!"

Silver Streak looked like she was having none of it.

"Look, Mr. Optimism, my friends don't want to meet you because they think you're awesome. In fact, they're only interested in you because someone thinks you did something bad. You might want to tone down the overexcited attitude before you get burned."

Xander's smile faded.

"Something bad?"

He started to pale as he thought of the way he got his powers, at the expense of putting Paul Rossi in the hospital, where he died. If it hadn't been for the way he got his powers, Paul Rossi would still be alive.

But how would she know about that?

"Don't worry too much about it, Speedy." She offered. "Besides, the people you're about to meet would burn me as fast as they would burn you."

Xander was really starting to wonder if these 'friends' of hers were really just bitter enemies of hers. They didn't sound like they got along.

She smiled despite Xander's confusion. "In fact, they're working right below us. I should really encourage them to buy some security cameras to watch out for intruders like us, but it makes good for unannounced entrances like this."

Okay, these people were definitely not friends of the Silver Streak, and wouldn't that make them villains?

Silver Streak opened the door to the staircase that led inside the abandoned warehouse they were on top of. Well, if she was going down, he might as well too. He was fast enough if he needed to get out due to any endangerment of his life. Besides, the legendary Silver Streak wasn't going to bring him somewhere where he'd get hurt, right?