OBLIVION|REWRITING

0.1

edited 1-19-20

~0.1~

The harsh October winds blew through Maddelena Knight's thin sweatshirt, making her shiver. She knew it was going to be cold, but not this cold. Her heavy bag- which was full of the books she needed for school: psychology, pre-calc, and a few others- hung from her shoulder. There was a cello case on her back like a backpack, the hard shell bouncing against her every few steps.

There was a late rehearsal for a concert coming up, and Leo, her older brother, was at work doing crowd control (or whatever the police did, since the superheroes took care of most of the actual, well, crime), so she was stuck walking.

Superheroes have been around for a long time- and a lot of them lived in Jacobston, Colorado. Famous ones like Riptide, the Boulder, and Dark Lightning graced the faces of their magazines, fanfictions, and newspapers, while super villains like Atlas are imprinted on televisions and wanted posters.

It was dark out, and she jumped when a crow flew overhead, cawing loudly.

Two others followed it.

Wielding a pocket knife, a man stepped out of the alley next to her. "Drop your bag and the guitar," he ordered through his balaclava, gesturing with his pocket knife.

"It's a cello, dumbass."

The man took a step closer, and she groaned quietly, letting go of her book bag and gently setting the cello case on the ground. She put her hands in the air, watching him as he dug through the bag.

Seemingly randomly, she lunged forwards, wrapping her arms around the robber's neck and putting him into a headlock. Reaching for the pressure point on his neck, she held it until he sagged against her, unconscious.

A flash of blue rushed towards Maddelena, pushing the man off and pushing her behind them. Slowly, the blur focused, and it became Riptide, one of Jacobston's most famous supers, dressed in his infamous blue spandex.

"He's knocked out," she said quietly, fidgeting as the super retrieved the various things that were strewn about.

Riptide glanced up at her, before giving back her wallet. "You're Riptide, aren't you?" she asked.

"What gave it away? The fact that I'm wearing tights in 40 degree weather, or the fact that I was on the roof?"

Maddelena blinked at him owlishly, before grabbing her tote and cello and walking away.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait up! Where are you going?" he asked, speeding up to walk next to her.

"Walking home."

"Why?"

Staring at him blankly, she sighed again. "Because I need to get home...?"

"I can fly you there."

"No thanks. Don't like heights."

"Aw, c'mon. It's cold out, you must be freezing."

"Says the guy wearing spandex."

"You're sarcastic today," he muttered.

"I'm sarcastic all days, especially when it's 10:30 at night and my pre-calc teacher gave me a ten page packet of review work."

"I'm not gonna leave some girl to walk through the streets alone."

"Don't you have better things to do?"

"You're right, I do. Hold on tight." Riptide then picked her up, flying into the air.

"Put me down!" she screamed, grabbing onto his shoulder to steady herself.