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Diary of a Superhero

I like being the hero. All the parades, medals and fun events that happen in my honor, they're all great.

This part wasn't so great, though.

"Just stand still and let me hit you!"

A new speedster had come into the powered scene lately, destined for villainy. I hate having to handle issues like this, but the situation warranted it.

"I don't have time for this, fastball!"

He was a kid, barely out of his teens - not very inclined to getting punched, either, as indicated by the dodging. But I was on a tight schedule, and playing tag wasn't on it.

---

"Is it good?"

The steak was good. Nice restaurant, laid back, smooth atmosphere. Sue noticed the red speckle on my neck but didn't say anything, which meant I just needed to get better at cleaning up afterwards. Nobody else saw though, and the news wouldn't update for another few hours at least. We could eat well for the night.

"Mhm," I replied, "very chewy though. I could've gone for something more tender."

"They just opened last weekend," she laughed, "it's probably a bunch of high schoolers back there - give them a break!"

I laughed too, for her sake.

---

"In other news, the recent disappearance of the Speed Demon has sparked discussion throughout the city."

His real name was Jared Brooker, but they'll never know that. His family will miss him, but even if they did make the connection, they wouldn't be able to prove one. Their son is gone, and whether or not he ran from heroes in his spare time is irrelevant.

"Though disappearances aren't unusual, the last few months have seen a spike in superpowered individuals going missing in the Graham County area; the official number was listed at seven yesterday, but this loss has since raised the count to eight."

Eight was undershooting: they likely didn't count the ones outside of county limits, because if they had, this would be more than a sidebar topic on the evening news.

"The Graham County Police Department is currently investigating these events, and any information you may have on the case could help save future victims."

Two weeks later, another one. This time a marksman: gifted superhuman perception and using it to con people out of thousands. Another news segment, another cold case. She tried to expand into bank robbery during my key to the city ceremony - couldn't really exact justice at the time, but it wasn't hard to track that stolen money and hide her pieces in an abandoned apartment. Naomi Price, age 27.

Donald Reed, age 43.

Irene Hanson, age 19.

Geoffrey Adams, age 60.

---

Why can't people just do what they're told? It's not difficult to follow rules. If they were half as honest and hardworking as me, none of them would be dead right now. Maybe we'd even be friends.

But no. They wanted more, and wanted it their own way, and didn't want anyone getting between them and their desires. So now they're dead, gone and worthless as their corpses decompose in whatever hole I tossed them in. Not that anyone would look, anyhow.

Maybe I should get drive-thru tonight. Sue would've liked that, and I'm feeling nostalgic. Too bad she couldn't be here to enjoy it with me. Susan North, age 26.

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