It had been raining outside for days. Today however it seemed to be angrier than it had the rest of the week, for the rain picked up hard and relentlessly all of a sudden.
Myles and Tomek's story was the typical "hero vs villain" one. Tomek - whose real name was Tommy English, plotted against Myles as frequently as he could in an attempt to destroy his too perfect life. Their constant feuding often led to nonsensical bickering, and quite honestly to bystanders they seemed to be more of reluctant friends than arch nemeses, but neither would admit it and insisted they hated each other.
When Myles wasn't in his costume, he kept his identity a secret. And the two versions of himself couldn't be any more different. As a hero he was confident and brave and outgoing. As Myles though, he was introverted and struggled with self confidence. He stood up for himself when he needed to, but other times it was hard for him to even get out of bed in the morning.
It was a stormy Friday night, and all Myles wanted was a drink. He found himself walking to the local bar and by the time he was inside he was drenched head to toe. As the bell rang above his head a couple people turned their heads to look, but most of them stayed enthralled in their conversations, their excited voices inter tangling throughout the room. Myles took a breath as he scanned the dimly lit room for any trouble before taking a seat at the bar.
As he began to wave over the bartender he heard a man bellow his name "Myles Riordan!"
He turned in his seat to the man who was an inch short of six feet and in his thirties. He wore ragged clothes and had an apparent 5 o'clock shadow.
"I'm sorry...I don't seem to recognize you."
The man took a seat next to him and extended his calloused hand. "No worries man. Name's PJ. We met once or twice downtown at Lucy's Café."
Myles still had no idea who the man was but felt bad and played along. "That's right! How are ya doin man?"
"Got four kids at home, how do you think I'm doing?" He let out a roar of laughter and waved at the bartender. "Let's get two drinks over here Mike."
Mike gave him a nod and bent down to grab two glasses.
"Say," PJ said while guiding Myles to the right with his hand on his shoulder. With his other hand he pointed towards a blonde woman in her twenties. "What do you think of her?"
Myles glanced at her. "Seems nice," He mumbled almost inaudibly.
When he turned back around the drinks were already at the table. He picked it up, gave it a small shake, and took a long swig. He felt PJ staring at him and set the drink down to look over. "So four kids, huh? Must keep you and your wife busy."
PJ continued staring for a minute before giving a delayed response. "Uh, yeah. Real busy alright."
Sensing that for some reason PJ no longer wanted to talk, Myles thanked him for the drink, downed the rest of it, and stood up to leave. The room seemed a little fuzzy all of a sudden, and his head felt light. PJ grabbed onto his wrist.
"Not so fast man, where you going so soon?"
"I have work tomorrow, I need to get to bed." His head was pounding.
PJ got up and pushed his chair in. "I'll walk out to your car with ya."
Suddenly Myles got a sinking feeling in his chest and desperately wanted to be left alone. "Nah man it's alright. It was nice seeing you again."
He turned away from him and stumbled through the crowd of people to the door. Beads of sweat lined his head but thankfully the rain helped cool him off. He walked around to the alley behind the bar to take a breather. He had walked here and was in no condition to leave right away. With his back against the wall and his eyes shut tight Myles tried to focus on his breathing but all his senses seemed to be blurring together. When he opened his eyes back up he jumped at the sight of PJ in front of him once again.
