Being a Hero

Chapter 8

The song of the day is "Common Ground" by Our Last Night

"Sometimes, the reason why you won't move on from something that's making you sad is because it was the only thing making you happy." –@LivPsy on Twitter

Everett's POV

"West Haven shoppers got more than they bargained for as downtown turned into a battlefield this afternoon. Dullahan assassinated the villain known as Chance, who coroners have now identified as accountant Anthony Thompson of Nevada. The local heroes came out in force, attempting to apprehend the nation's most wanted criminal, but they were no match for the assassin who's eluded law enforcement for years." The picture on the screen switched from photos of Dullahan and Chance to video footage taken by a civilian on their cell phone. The person who shot the shaky footage looked to have hidden inside a bakery while the heroes and villain fought on the street outside.

There was no audio; instead the reporter continued to talk while Slingshot, Iron Goose, and a large Bengal tiger fought the green cloaked assassin. (Aftershock was somewhere out of frame, but we could see hunks of stone being thrown Dullahan's way.) "Witnesses report Slingshot, Aftershock, Guardian, Iron Goose, and Whisper were involved; they were joined by Tempest and Stretch shortly after the fighting ceased." The video showed Dullahan using her apparently inexhaustible supply of throwing knives to drive Slingshot back while simultaneously slashing at Guardian with a longer hunting knife and dodging Iron Goose.

The way she moved was practiced, second nature. Whatever training she'd received, it was good. She had more grace than I had expected from the others' descriptions of the fight. She's ambidextrous, I noted as another knife flew from nimble fingers. I was more impressed the longer I watched. Damn, why do the hot ones have to be evil? I glanced sideways at Connie. She stood with the rest of us, watching the news on the tv in the cafeteria. She looked anything but dangerous with her petite frame and strawberry blonde hair anxiously wound around one finger, but I knew otherwise from experience. Heaven forbid you ever say her way wasn't the best way or try to address a problem she didn't want to acknowledge. Yep, hot but evil.

I returned my attention to the tv screen in time to see Dullahan throw a knife wide, sailing over John's head. I frowned, confused for a moment, until I saw a sign swing from above the bakery window to hit him in the shoulder and side of the head. She'd cut one of the sign's ties. My eyebrows rose as John fell out of the air, stunned. The camera left the fight as a few of the civilians hiding in the bakery—impromptu cameraman included—rushed to pull him inside the shop and out of Dullahan's line of sight. He appeared disoriented and offered no resistance as he was dragged. The camera returned to the fight in time to see a stray (or maybe not so stray) knife fly through the front window of the bakery. The video cut out as the civilian jerked away to shield themselves from falling glass.

"Counting the three state troopers who gave chase when Dullahan fled—all of whom have since been found murdered—four people were killed and fifteen injured, making this the second most deadly superpower incident in the city's history. As the dust settles and things return to normal one can't help but wonder how long until the next?"

As the news moved to more mundane topics, I broke my silence, "Wow, you guys really took a beating, huh?"

"No thanks to you," John grumbled, shifting the ice pack he held to the side of his head. He'd missed getting a concussion, but he'd have a lovely goose egg for a few days. I was kinda curious why he had gold sparkles all over his face and shoulders though. Was that glitter?

"Hey!" I countered. "It's not my fault this city has nonexistent reception in the industrial sector. If you guys would just take my suggestion of a Guinness signal..."