Heroes wear Capes

Chapter 20 - The calm before the storm

"The Luthors are pretty good actors. Or, well, sociopaths. Either way they know how to fool people."

~ Winn Scott

Xander found that being a superhero didn't exactly come with all of the perks he had hoped for. It wasn't like he all of a sudden became a household name. He didn't have a real super suit or any real idea how to save a city yet, so he hadn't got much press besides the local blogs talking about a possible new hero in Kingdom City. It also probably didn't help that Xander resided in a city that already had three heroes, one of which was so commercialized that he was rumored to be getting his own TV show (White Knight, obviously). A fourth hero in Kingdom City didn't exactly break headlines.

For instance, Xander showed up yesterday to stop a bank robbery. He hadn't really figured out how to acquire one of those cool spandex outfits all the other supers had yet, and he forgot to ask Wild Fire or Silver Streak in the moment, so he was wearing the same old red hoodie, blue jeans, Sonic shoes, and cloth mask costume he'd had since the beginning of the week. Let's just say that the robbers didn't take the new super Momentum very seriously at all. When he showed up, the two crooks just laughed and kept taking money out of the vault. It was really a hurtful blow to Xander's ego.

Xander, in retribution, sped around the guys, captured all of their stolen money, and placed it back in the vault, closing it for good measure. They obviously weren't happy with Xander, so one of the brutes decided to bang Xander on the side of the head with their gun. It, frankly, did not feel good at all. When the brute tried to hit him again, he quickly took the gun away and threw them across the room. Xander then preceded to kick both brutes in the balls, which must've really hurt with the full strength of his super speed going into the blows. When they were heaped up on the floor, rolling around and groaning, the police showed up to take them away.

But, still, even the hostages didn't look like they wanted to take him seriously. They were used to the likes of White Knight saving them, not some kid in baggy jeans and a ratty sweatshirt.

Not to mention his normal life hadn't changed much at all. For some reason he expected these superpowers to make him popular and charming, but so far he hadn't had any luck. When he wasn't trying to save the day, he was just boring old Xander Mendez.

Though, he did find that he could wake up late in the morning and still arrive to school on time due to his speed. It also helped to finish homework in seconds and make his bed right before his mom walked in.

Okay, so it was awesome to have super speed when he was alone, but as soon as he was out in public, he couldn't use it and therefor was just the same stupid kid that he was before.

And since he figured it was wise not to burst his superpower secret to everyone he met, no one treated him any differently. Xander even kept the news from John, surprisingly. It just never felt like a good time to bring it up. Or maybe that's just what Xander was telling himself.

John would be surprised to learn that his best friend had met his longtime crush, Silver Streak and found out she was the school loner, Taylor Hale. In fact, Xander can't remember ever talking to her until she, as Silver Streak, brought him to Wild Fire's hideout. John liked to think Silver Streak was one of the waitresses at their normal coffee shop, and Xander didn't want to break the news that his fan theory was just a tiny bit off.

Xander found he remembered little of the person Taylor was before she and Mera fell apart. High school drama did that to you. You didn't remember who people were before they were ostracized, only who they were afterwards. He vaguely remembered Taylor and Mera in middle school giving a presentation in his history class. Taylor had sounded so much more preppy back then when she was a popular cheerleader. When she had spoken in rebuttal to Mera and Wild Fire on Tuesday her voice and been harsh and unforgiving, far from a bubblehead pom-pom girl.