Average Joe (2018)

31

Tori and I crashed into the ground, both of us breathless. I jumped up, my heart pounding.

"What? I mean... you..."

"Shh!" Tori looked around us, worried that someone saw. No one did.

"Tori, what the..."

"Not here!" She warned. Tori pulled on my shirt and led me into an alleyway, trash bins lining either side. It was morning now, everything lit up a midnight blue, cold fog submerging everything and everyone.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Listen, you want answers and I understand that, but I can't do it here." Tori walked forward but I snagged her wrist.

"Tori, we need to talk, and we need to talk now."

"What do you want to know?"

"Oh, you know, about the weather. What do you think?"

"Norman, this is so much more complicated than you know."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

Down the alley I heard footsteps. I paused.

"Did you hear that?" I asked her.

"No."

"Here," I said, leading her behind a dumpster.

"Norman, what are you..."

"Shh!" I warned her.

The figure walked down the alleyway. His form was covered by a large coat, too big for August. Tori and I were perched on our knees, trying to not make a sound. Tori's boot slipped and caused a pebble to skid across the asphalt. The man paused.

We held our breath. Our hearts pounded in unison. There was no other sound. The man slowly rolled forward, perked on his feet, moving toward the end of the alleyway and into the endless gray fog. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who was that?" Tori demanded. I sighed and leaned against the brick wall.

"The man who's been hunting me the past couple of months." Tori's mouth hung open.

"That was the Chronicle?"

"Looks like we have a lot to talk about."

"Okay, you go first, what the hell has been going on?"

"I'm not sure how to begin..."

"Try."

"Um... alright." I sat there and Tori listened patiently. "Remember back at Kimberly Anderson's? When I disappeared then showed up at my Dad's house all beaten up?"

"Yeah."

"Well... me and Bryan were out there when Phil and his friend jumped me. Turns out Bryan paid them. At first, I thought it was because I was close to you, and he didn't like that."

"Bryan wouldn't do that," Tori corrected.

"He would. Phil and his friend were kicking the crap out of me when this happened." I grabbed Tori's hand, letting static electricity tickle her skin. Tori stared at the electricity pulsing from my hand to hers.

"Wow," Tori sighed.

"I beat them. I don't know how but I did. Bryan's brother was murdered by the Chronicle. Him and Cora..."

"Whose Cora?"

"A friend. Mostly. We've been trying to find him."

"The Chronicle? Are you nuts?"

"My parents are Red Flame and Cold Front."

"This isn't funny."

"This isn't a joke! I have electrical powers which are a form of energy, just like my Dad, and I can fly like my Mom."

"Norman..." Tori had this look in her eyes like she wanted to believe me, but she didn't. I gripped Tori's forearm. "Norman..."

I took off, the ground below vibrating with my power. Tori screamed as we soared above the building next to us, and landed on the roof.

"What the...." Tori stammered. "But you...! But you...! Oh my God, your parents are Red Flame and Cold Front!"

"Like I said. Listen, you promised you'd tell me everything."

"I know... I did..."

"Tori... whatever is going on, we can't keep secrets from each other."

"...when I was little... one time I woke up and I was just... floating. I realized whenever I touched something and focused hard enough, time seemed to... slow down."

"Like when we were falling?" Tori nodded.

"Listen, Norman, you can't keep looking for a deranged serial killer. You know that?"

"Because you think I'm not capable?"

"Because I want you alive." I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't stand by while he hurts people."

"Norman, please, I know you. This isn't about keeping people safe, this is about you getting over your fear of him." My heart pounded.

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Yes, you are! And there's nothing wrong with that! But Bryan, from what it sounds like, just wants revenge and you want to hunt the thing that's hunting you."

"Maybe so, but..."

"But what? Serial killers may not be everyday occurrences but they are normal."

"What happened to you loving superheroes?"

"You're not a hero!" I stepped back a little.

"Oh." Tori's eyes widened.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it like that, it's just.... stuff like this, needs to be left up to the police."

"Are you kidding me? Tori, we found out that he's a part of a whole organization of super villains!"

"And do you expect to take them all down?"

"Well... no, but maybe we can find evidence!"

"And do you have any?"

"Well.... no. Just a lot of haunches."

"Norman, you need to stop."

"Tori, I... can't.. When I watched my father get beaten by that man, I felt the most helpless I have ever been! I want... to be helpful."

"If you want to be helpful then take this stuff to the police."

"I can't, we'll be arrested!"

"Better than being dead!"

"Agh! You're impossible!"

"You're...! bleeding."

"What?" I wiped my mouth and saw a crimson color stain my hand. "Tori...."

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to pass out.."

I fell into her arms, the world around me turning black.