Big City Hero UNOFFICIAL BOOK TWO

Chapter Twenty: My Hands Are Tied.

I didn't get to talk to Benjamin until early that evening. I had to go through the whole day stressing out and getting into long one-sided rants about why it's a bad idea for Ben to retire. So by the time he walked through my office doors at HQ, I was more than prepared to change his mind.

"Why do you want to resign?" I asked. I crossed my arms, frowned and leaned back into my desk chair, looking as severe and intimidating as I could be.

Ben sat heavily across from me and ran his hands through his blondish hair. "I don't know. I just... Have you ever just wanted to live a normal life, and not deal with worrying about other people's problems?"

Every. Single. Second. But I'm a superhero, we're supposed to worry about other people's problems.

"We're superheroes, Anti Gravity, we save people, we make sure everyone else has the chance to live a normal life, that's our job. What did you tell me a few months ago? 'Superheroes don't run away because they get defeated, or kidnapped. They're people who care for others and what happens to them. They're there when someone needs them the most.'"

Ben raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You remembered all that?"

"Of course." There was a beat of a pause. Ben didn't meet my eye and all the arguments I had prepared fell apart. I sighed softly and leaned forward. "Why do you want to quit, Ben? Are you tired? Discouraged?"

He looked down and picked at his fingernails. "It's not that... I just want to see what it's like to be normal. I know it doesn't seem in character, but this has been on my mind since the whole City Sweeper thing."

"Oh. This is what it looks like." I winced when I realized I said my thought out loud.

Benjamin looked up at me with a bewildered face. He opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head. I jumped to my feet and walked over to the old file cabinet, where a few files of inactive supers were still being held. I pulled out Rise's old yellowed, coffee-stained folder. Ever since I came across this guy, it's been driving me crazy.

Rise was the popular superhero back in the 90's, no villain stood a chance against him. But then he got married and wanted to live a normal life to raise his kids. Rise was at the top of his game at that time, First-In-Command and everything a superhero was supposed to be, but then he got what is described as the Normal Syndrome. Honestly, I thought it was just a lame excuse to let him off the hook until I heard what Ben just said.

The Normal Syndrome is exactly what it sounds like. You apparently just lose the desire to be a superhero. It's not like an actual disease or sickness that can be treated, more of a mental thing that I don't really know how to explain properly.

"You have the Normal Syndrome." I turned around and threw him the folder. "Apparently, other supers have gotten it before. Anyway, I have a proposition for you, Anti Gravity."

Ben looked up from the file with a frown. "What?"

"Take a break for as long as you need, but come back to the superhero work. Anti Gravity is the public face of the Board, you're used to all the attention, and if you leave, I'll be the next one in the public eye and you know how I get when everyone's attention is on me."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you have a mental breakdown."

"And we don't want that to happen. A guy can only have so many breakdowns in his lifetime." I stood next to him and punched his shoulder lightly. "So, what do you say?"

He drummed his fingers on the paper for a moment before jumping to his feet and handing me the folder. "I'll take a break for a month, but don't expect me to stay on. See you later, brother."