Spectacular World

A Day In Gladiolus

Gladiolus was a normal city.

There really wasn't anything special about it for the most part. It had plenty of normal buildings and simple streets and looked very similar to Oleander or Lillian. In fact, it was rather plain in every definition of the word. Some would even go so far as to call it boring, as unlike Oleander and Lillian, it wasn't connected to any of the other cities and was just by itself.

And because it was such a boring and simple city, the crime that happened in it was often boring and simple.

A van quietly drove down the street. Behind the wheel, a young man drove in silence. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked.

Next to him, in the passenger seat of the van, a young girl rested, staring out the window with a blank look. She had blonde hair that had been cut rather short and simple blue eyes that were filled with boredom. She was about seventeen and looking for a good high. Her finger tapped on the window, and she gave a sly grin. "You don't trust me?"

"You're a Super. Of course, I don't trust you." The man snorted. "Crime in Gladiolus isn't a normal thing, you know. It's because of the hero Max Lightning. He's able to see it before it happens and puts a stop to it before the villains can even do anything. Because of that, bad guys have basically given up ever doing anything in this place."

The girl gave a simple shrug. "It's possible. You just have to do the crime whenever he isn't in Gladiolus. See, Maxy is a very special hero. He feels a lot, and that emotion he feels is often sorrow. He likes to go out of Gladiolus every now and then and indulge a fetish he has."

"A fetish? You seem to know a lot about that man. What fetish does he have again?" The man asked as he parked the van.

The girl shrugged and chuckled. "Believe it or not, he likes to pretend that he's a nobody. It makes him happy pretending like he isn't anyone important who doesn't have powers that can shape the world at a whim. So every now and then, whenever his sorrow reaches its peak, he'll leave this city and go somewhere he can pretend to be a total nobody, and while he's busy doing that, it'll be possible to commit a crime."

"And you're saying he's out of the city right now?" The man asked as he and the girl stepped out of the van.

"That's what I said, isn't it? I'd have no reason to lie since I'd be in danger as well."

The man hummed and rubbed his chin. Something about the girl was rubbing him the wrong way, but he was already in way too deep to stop now. It was nighttime, and the streets of Gladiolus were empty except for them. They walked down a riding path, passing by dozens of different stores and family-owned businesses before they finally stopped at an old pawn shop.

"Just so you know, if you're wrong about this, I'm going to put a bullet in your skull." The man stated, reaching into his pocket. The girl just grinned back at him and also reached into her pocket. "Ready?"

"Ready." She nodded.

In an instant, they put on black ski masks, pulled out guns, and kicked the door to the pawn shop down. "Get on the fucking ground!" The man screamed out. "Now!"

There was only a single person in the shop, some sweet-looking old man who let out a weak cry and tumbled backward. The man growled out and pointed his gun at the old man and marched forward. He pistol-whipped the guy, causing the pawn shop owner to fall to the floor and cry out.

The girl's eyes went wide when she saw that. "You didn't need to do that-"

"Shut up." The man hissed back at her and smashed his pistol down into a glass case, shattering it. "Get the bag. We're going to take everything this guy has." The man stopped when he noticed she hadn't budged an inch. He turned to her and growled. "I said get the hell over here!"