Superheroes Suck

Chapter 26: The Bat Cave

He carried me, as I hung in his arms shaking, to a little hideout on the edge of a mountain. If I were in a normal state of mind, I might have made a joke about how all superhero groups end up with a base on the side of a mountain. It's practically the perfect setup up for the joke, but I was too shaken to even consider joking.

"You're quiet." Spitfire tried to say it jokingly, though it fell flat.

"I saw a girl get run over." I breathed out, staring ahead blankly.

"I'm sorry Nova." His chest grew ragged behind me. "I am so sorry."

His flight faltered momentarily, evident that he wasn't immune to the horrific scene we had witnessed. Seeing villains injure people is different from watching regular people do it. Villains are usually bad people so such violence is expected from them. No one expects to see a teacher, who is tasked with protecting students, come near to killing one to save his own life. He didn't even look back when he run her over, even when he had to have felt it.

The entrance to the the hideout was a small opening near the top, only visible when you were hovering right over it. That was intentional, I'd imagine. Partly because you wouldn't want random people wandering into your secret hide you and partly because the first place people look for a secret hideout is a mountain because it's roomy and good for hiding big things.

"Welcome to...we haven't actually decided on a name yet." Spitfire sighed, obviously annoyed the group had yet to settle on a name. "I personally thought we should go simple and call it "The Hideout," but everyone thought it was too simple."

"I'm really not in the mood to joke around about all this." He landed on the stone floor with a thud, though I remained in his arms. "Can you put me down please?"

"Oh," Spitfire dropped me on the ground, "Yeah, right. I meant to do that earlier."

I just nodded and took in my surroundings. We were inside a mountain and you could certainly tell, which I wasn't expecting. There had to be at least one multi millionaire/billionaire in this bunch and still they couldn't manage to make a hideout that didn't look like an unfinished basement someone's dad turned into a mancave, sparsely furnished and drafty.

Speaking of a draft, I couldn't help a shiver that tore through me.

Spitfire looked over, "Are you cold?"

I shook my head, "I'm fine," and turned to look for other people. The couches remained empty, although a crash swung my attention around into a little makeshift kitchen. There stood The Rain Maker, looking completely terrified to see me. I don't think I've ever said that about anyone in my life, I'm not exactly imposing.

"Nova, what are you...Did you seriously bring her here?" Her attention turned to Spitfire. "Why didn't you bring her home."

He came to stand behind me, "Like that wouldn't be the first place they looked for her, after school of course."

Realization dawned on her, "How bad was it at the school?"

"I saw a girl run over." I breathed out. "It was...I saw a girl get run over. I think I'm so startled because it was someone I knew, a teacher in fact, who ran over a student. The very thing he's supposed to protect just to save his own ass, he didn't even stop. He didn't even look back. I expect that dealing with villains but it's so shocking when it's a real person."

"I'm so sorry Nova." The Rain Maker took a step forward and for a moment, I thought she was going to hug me.

Thankfully, she instead shot me a comforting look and patted my shoulder.

"So they were seriously looking for me?" The two shared a grave look as Spitfire gave a curt nod. "That...chaos, was looking for me? I was seriously just standing there like an idiot, why cause all that when I was in the wide open."