HERO COMPLEX

i. city roots

[COLLIN ]

I groaned internally as the idiot in tights tried to push over the Empire state building. It was supposed to be a slow night in my corner of New York, but life never seemed to work out the way I planned. Sighing as jets of water streamed from my feet, I took my time floating over to the attacker.

"Are you done embarrassing yourself? Because that building is not going to budge."

Rouge Terror, a ridiculous name for a ridiculous villain, turned to glare at me distastefully. "I don't remember asking for your opinion, Riptide." He spat my name like it was poison in his mouth. In his defense it probably was; he took this whole rivalry thing extremely seriously. Personally, I didn't really see him as much of a threat.

He was a scrawny guy who looked about my age underneath all the getup, but on the outside he just looked like a child playing dress up. Rocket shoes that resembled gogo boots held him up in the air as he pretended not to struggle for balance. He wore a spandex red leotard with hideous yellow tights underneath it. A small mask wrapped around the front of his face, covering his eyes and causing his gelled hair to stick up in the back. It was hard not to laugh when looking at him.

"I don't remember asking you to ruin my peaceful night. I was enjoying the sunset."

"That's a lovely sentiment; feel free to return to watching it." He exhaled and gave another push to the building.

"Come on Rouge, don't make me to this. I'm trying to be the good guy here." I said with a sigh.

"Well, I'm trying to be the bad guy. And my name is Rouge Terror. We're not friends; you don't get to nickname me."

"Rouge Terror," I said thoughtfully, "It's kind of a mouthful, but I have to say I like it better than your last name. The Fiery Fantasy was too much alliteration."

He stopped pushing the building to glare at me. "I told you never to call me that again! My mom suggested that one; I had to."

I put a hand to my chin in mock thought. "What other names were there? Blaze of Glory? Eternal Heat?" I shook my head. "I wish I had your creativity."

"A super villain is allowed a few name changes in their life. Now please stop distracting me." Rouge Terror resumed his assault on the concrete.

Sighing, I gave him an exasperated look.  "You're not going to stop, are you?"

"Nope. You'll have to pry me off this wall."

"One step ahead of you." I said, sending a jet of water his way and freezing him inside. He attempted to raise his middle finger from where it was frozen, which earned a laugh from me.

I then grabbed the frosted villain and flew back down to solid ground, leaving him in an alleyway.

"Until next time, Rouge," I said with a wink, before taking off to enjoy the sunset from high above the city.

__:)__

When my shift was over I changed hastily out of my suit behind a dumpster. My outfit slipped off of my body to reveal regular clothes, and I grumbled as I struggled to get it off, annoyed at the creators of the tight piece of clothing. How could anyone expect me to save the world when it took me a solid twenty minutes to get the suit off and on?

I grabbed my skateboard from where I hid it and took off, gliding over the sidewalk. Dodging people through the streets, I almost took out a boy around my age.

"Watch it asshole!" He yelled after me, and I took no note of his face, only the fact that he was soaking wet. He looked like he had a rough night.