Hero by Day

Chapter 23 - Heroes get the girl after all?

"In the end, my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. But, hey, it's high school."

~ Will Stronghold

We called the police after finding Andromeda gone. Missing persons were normally the job of the police force, and Elise was technically kidnapped, even if by a super. Said super was now gone, so The Marvel and I were done.

The Marvel and I were perched across the street on a rooftop as the police vehicles finally pulled up. Elise was waiting outside for them, us having left only seconds earlier. The first officer on the scene quickly checked Elise for injury before turning her over to her parents, who had rode to the scene with the officers.

The way they embraced each other, it made me ache inside for a family like that. Even her overactive little brother was there, hugging her just as tightly. I always wanted siblings like that. My mom and I never got time for family outings (not to mention the money) and we never got too much time to bond. Those families like Elise's, who were so tightknit, they made me envious. I never had that, and I'll probably never have it t0o. My dad was long gone and my mother, until recently, never opened her heart out to more love.

Soon, Elise was sitting in the back of the ambulance, getting her red wrists wrapped up, while extra officers were searching the premises. Perhaps they thought they'd find Andromeda, or give clues to where she was.

"Well, this had been fun, White Lightning, but I have a city to get back to." The Marvel said, bringing my attention away from Elise.

"Yeah, thanks for coming, though. Without you, Andromeda probably would've succeeded. And she won't be the last one either. The Obstructer won't stop sending supers after me."

The Marvel raised his eyebrows. "The Obstructer?"

I shrugged, "Oh, yeah. I basically have a faceless villain out to kill me. He was the one who got Captain Impossible killed, and now he wants me dead too."

The Marvel whistled. "Man, been there, done that. Nemesis's main goal was to capture Arabella more than anything, but if we got killed along the way, it would've been an extra bonus for him."

Nemesis was the old mayor of Empire City who was Arabella Jones's father. Apparently he was also responsible for her powers that made her the super, Sonic. He even broke The Manipulator out of prison in his attempt at turning the public against supers. If he hadn't been defeated, I would be out of the job right now.

"How are things between you two anyways?" I asked tentatively. "What happened?"

The Marvel shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't there for her enough. If maybe I had told her about who I was after she lost her memory of that weak when she found out. If maybe I had made her stay in Empire City after senior year. If maybe I would've admitted how I felt before all the chaos. If maybe I had made the right choice when that super villain made me choose between her and that civilian . . . it doesn't matter now. She made her choice. She was the one who threw away the ring."

I didn't understand most of that, but I got the last part.

"You two were engaged?"

He looked down and back out at the scene below us, where Elise was cuddling up next to her little brother. His eyes were longing, maybe the same I felt – for a family of his own. "We were. It only lasted a couple weeks before . . . before the incident." He looked back up at me, determination in his eyes. "Don't do what I did, White Lightning. Don't wait until it's too late."