TNG: Iblis, the First Hero

Chapter 6: A Suit and A Mask

A Suit and a Mask

Here I am, in the dead of night, dressed as the very criminals I'm out to stop, and leaping off of buildings to beat up armed criminals with my bare hands. Therefore, I'm clearly on some kind of personal mission to fulfill every superhero cliché in the book. Oh well... Someone once said that "with great power comes great responsibility", or something like that. ...So here we go...

He was just finishing his inner monologue as he landed on the back of his target. "Another mugging foiled," Cid declared as he looked up at the bewildered man he had just rescued. Emulating his favorite superheroes, he smiled through his stolen ski mask and vaulted himself back to the rooftops.

This was his nightly routine. He would sleep for three hours a night and wake up at 2am, completely refreshed, to sneak out into the night. His spree of vigilante justice had him crossing paths with various forms of scum and villainy. The would-be criminals found themselves sleeping in front of the police station or eating pavement for their midnight snack.

At the end of the day (or night, rather) he would sneak back into the penthouse and change into his school clothes to meet the upcoming day as another "average" teen.

Ω

The late night physical activity had significantly improved his mood, and his friends quickly took notice.

"Dude, why are you so happy nowadays?" Ronnie asked him when they arrived at school.

Celine quickly joined them at the school entrance and when she did, she immediately caught on to the glow displayed on Cid's face. "Hey you! You seem awfully happy today," she stated as they entered the school.

"I think he got laid. Did you get laid?" Ronnie asked as the approached the door.

"What? No!" Cid stated, obviously flustered.

"It's got to be something," Celine stated, though she was obviously relieved that it wasn't what Ronnie had suggested.

As they walked down the hallway, Cid finally made an attempt to explain his newfound joy. "Have you guys ever felt like there was something that you were just meant to do? Well... I think found my something!" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air in excitement and acquiring a few annoyed glares from his schoolmates.

"And what is that something?" Celine asked as they approached Mr. Gordon's classroom.

Cid felt his face flush. Surprisingly, he hadn't assumed that his friends would actually ask him what his "something" was. For the second time in as many weeks, he would have to lie to his friends.

"Parkour..." he declared with a toothy grin. "I love to do parkour," he continued.

Celine's face changed to one of confusion. Ronnie's face exploded with delight.

"No way! You like parkour?!" he screamed with elation.

"What is parkour?" Celine asked, completely lost in the conversation.

Ronnie's grin only grew upon hearing this question. "Parkour is only the greatest thing ever invented!" he screamed.

Celine's eyes narrowed. "And he tells me absolutely nothing," she muttered.

"Parkour is a method of transportation. It involves getting from one point to another as quick as humanly possible," Cid explained. And in my case, quicker than humanly possible! He told himself.