Superhero

Chapter 73

The door bursts open again and this time it wasn't the Superhero nor was it Fiolina like the last time.
They were two strange men with bandanas covering their faces up to their eyes. They barged in and pointed a switchblade at Addison, who instantly raised her hands in surrender.
"Open the cash register and hand everything over," one of them bellowed.
"Fork 'em over," the other one said, holding his hand out.
Addison gulped and obeyed, her hands trembling as she opened the register to take the money out. But all of a sudden, someone cleared his throat.
All eyes fell on the Superhero as he stood in front of them, hands crossed against his chest. No one had noticed him as he was peacefully drinking his energy drink at the back of the shop.
Addison tried to see what he looked like since his mask was still lifted, but it heavily shadowed his face. The only thing she could see was a deep frown of disgust, even that was only for a second since the Superhero pulled his mask back into place.
"What are you, the guy from Friday the 13th?" One of the robbers guffawed. "Oh, you're pathetic."
The same silent chuckle came as the Superhero cracked his knuckles. He then charged forward and the next thing the bad guys knew, the Superhero's fist connected to one of their jaws. The criminal was thrown back.
Superhero grabbed the second one's arm and pinned it behind him, causing the thug to cry in pain.
"Let me go, please!" The man cried.
Superhero yanked his arm forward, grabbed the second thug with his other hand, and disappeared into his light, taking them with him. Addison stared in shock, unable to even blink.
"Oh my gosh..." Addison said in surprise.
She couldn't help but feel amused at the fact that the bad guys actually picked the worst time to come in, barging in when the Superhero decided to take a breather in the shop. Addison thought it was over and sat down again, still trying to process the whole thing. She decided to continue documenting whatever she saw on her phone.
Addison almost fell off her chair when the Superhero appeared again to retrieve his can of energy drink.
"That was awesome!" Addison squealed. "This is actually the first time I'm seeing you in action. Real action."
The Superhero shook his head and grabbed a few Mexican buns before making his way to the counter to pay. He rummaged in his pockets for money but Addison shook her head.
"You know what, it's on me," Addison said. "You've saved my butt countless times, consider this as a token of gratitude."
The Superhero looked at her in visible surprise but took her offer anyway, nodding thanks.
"It's fine, this is nothing compared to what you did for me," Addison smiled hesitantly. "So I guess you're leaving now?"
The Superhero nodded, stuffing whatever he took under his coat. He downed the last of his energy drink and tossed the can into the dust bin before turning to leave.
Superhero almost jumped out of his skin when the door burst open yet again, revealing a certain dark-auburn-haired girl.
Fiolina gasped when she spotted the masked man before her, unable to do anything other than stare. Superhero was the first to recover, turning around and running straight into his light, disappearing from their view.
"What the... HECK just happened?!" Fiolina exclaimed. "Was that the Superhero?!"
Addison nodded. "Yep... that was him. Also, you won't believe what just happened."
"Hold up, let me get changed first... I'm already ten minutes late for my shift," Fiolina said, making her way to the back room.
"Oh yeah..." Addison only just realised, seeing the time on her phone. "You're late."
"You didn't notice, huh?" Fiolina snorted as she made her way to the back room.

"Tell me everything," Fiolina said as she watched Addison leave the back room in her regular clothes. "How did the Superhero get here?"
Addison told her everything, from A to Z. Fiolina started laughing when she came to the part where the thugs entered the chat, their robbery failing miserably.
"I actually saw his face, but only up to here," Addison held a hand just above her lip. "Even that was darkened and I couldn't see what he looked like since he quickly pulled his mask down."
Fiolina sighed. "If only we knew who he was under that mask of his... the one day I come late and this happens. It was during my shift too..."
Addison chuckled. "For some reason, I kinda think it's Jordan but I'm not sure..."
"At this point, I can believe anything," Fiolina shrugged. "He hasn't texted me at all today, not even replying when I did. Did you see him today?"
Addison shook her head. "Nope. Didn't see him today. I left a little earlier today too so yeah..."
Fiolina nodded with a frown. "Where's your blond friend?"
"Not here yet," Addison frowned at her phone. "He said he's coming, though."
Addison grabbed a few pies for dinner and decided to take out the trash since she didn't want anyone digging in it for Superhero's samples. Now, it was just trash, sitting at the bottom of a trash can. Even the garbage man wouldn't wanna know where it came from.
Jake soon came in and picked her up.
"Sorry, I'm a little late today," Jake apologised as soon as she got into the car.
"Nah, it's fine," Addison smiled. "It's a good thing you came in late too. The Superhero was here. Lots of mayhem too."
"The Superhero? What happened?"
Addison told him on the way home. Jake listened carefully, and at last, said something surprising.
"Addie, will you believe me if I told you the Superhero might be Jordan all along?"
Addison looked at him in surprise. "Why... what makes you say that?"
Jake shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road. "It all points to it. Remember I told you he was like this once when we were in high school? We were sixteen at the time."
"Okay?"
"I realised that something changed within Jordan after that," Jake went on. "He was acting like usual, yes, but... he was different. He became more... reserved. He used to be really active in sports and clubs but after that, he just stopped trying. Not that there was something wrong with him physically, but he just stopped. He was still top-notch in PE though, so I know it wasn't anything to do with his health. "Maybe that's when his powers... came to him?"
Addison frowned, processing this new theory. "You... you might be right."
"And I wanna know what's bugging my best friend," Jake frowned. "I know it has something to do with the increased crime rates of Spring Valley for the past two weeks because of the economic inflation. Superhero has been working overtime because of that too."
Addison agreed. "But what did Superhero do till he was so drained? He practically fell into the shop."
Jake shrugged. "Haven't watched the news yet to know."