The Justice Avengers
Chapter 2: A Day in The Life
I get up roughly at 6:00am on the days that I'm scheduled to work. I tend to work at least five days a week, with two days off somewhere in between. For the past several months, my days off have thankfully been together, namely on Thursdays and Fridays, towards the end of the week. I'm not much of a morning person, but working the morning shift at work helps to get me going. I'm not big on breakfast in the mornings either. Not that I really need to eat anymore given my powers, but old habits die hard!
Since I don't have walk anymore to the van, I fly to work instead. At first, I would just use my speed to zip on down to where the van is and ride the van to keep up appearances so to speak, but that got old real fast. I realized how much time I was wasting pretending to have to rely on the van like I used to before I was blessed with these amazing superpowers.
So now whenever I leave for work, I just fly straight there. My shift doesn't start until 8am. Why get up at six then when I could just wake up a few minutes before, get speed dressed and zip on up the mountain to work? That's a good question actually. I use the time I have before work to patrol instead. I try not to go too far out of my way, especially as it gets closer and closer to the time I have to clock in.
Not riding the van anymore and having no vehicle has raised a few questions at work, but I try to brush them off whenever possible. When I'm done patrolling, I head to work and clock in. I've nearly been late and HAVE been late a few times, but it comes with the job. Once I'm at work, that's pretty much it. I don't do any superhero-ing when I'm at work. Well, not any major superhero-ing at least. I'll do small things here and there when people aren't looking. I'll just leave that to your imagination.
If something happens while I'm at work, I try not to zip off. It's difficult to do so anyways, what with being a waiter and all. I only get two fifteen minute breaks max and I normally only take one because most of the time I end up clocking out early; and whenever I clock out early, that's extra time for me to go out and help anyone who needs it. I make up for my lack of superhero-ing during work when I get off of work. If I need to run any errands, I'll do that first, because there's no telling how late I'll be out doing my thing.
Once any and all errands or done that I haven't already had the chance to take care off, I change into my *ahem* "other" uniform and take to the skies. By this point, I'm able to go anywhere in the world I want to or am needed. I'm never short of things to do or crime to stop. Some days it's just petty crime along with some bank robberies or something like that. Other days it's much different with either higher end crimes or natural disasters. All in all though, it's actually pretty fun; being the hero that is.
Come on, you can't tell me that if you had the powers of Superman that you wouldn't enjoy being a hero to. Speaking of which, that's what the world knows me as if I haven't mentioned it before. I'm this worlds Superman. People call me the real life Superman. When word first got out, people didn't believe it. A lot of people wanted to believe it and even more scoffed at the idea that such a person or being could actually exist.
Eventually I made it on the news without even trying. If I can recall correctly, it was my help during the horrendous California wildfires that did me in. I had been flying around for an hour or so and nothing really caught my attention. It was a slow day, alright? I had debated on whether or not to call it early and head on home to relax when I remembered all the shit that was going down with those fires in California. So I decided to fly there to see if I could help as discreetly as possible.
I decided to try the direct approach so to speak, by fighting the wildfires themselves. I did as much as I could, but I took my time. At that moment, the fires had my complete attention. I guess you could say I blew the shit out of those wildfire flames. Blew em' REAL hard and proper like. I used my freeze breath obviously. It's not like I froze the top layer of a lake, picked it up, carried it to where I needed it and dropped it on a large concentrated area of the fire. Don't be silly!
My freeze breath was just about all I could do to put out the fires. There was no point in starting any backfires in the hopes that they would snuff each other out. The fires were too wild, no pun intended and the wind was a major contributing factor to the continuation of its deadly spread. It still is. I fought and put out as many fires as I could, but even I can't fight a fire that's burning over a collective 1.8 million acres.
I tried putting the fires out with a bunch of dirt, but using my freeze breath was less of a hassle. Not to mention I could sort of keep a birds-eye-view of where I was. I'm not sure how much of the fire I put out, but it was honestly probably more than what had been put out total by everyone else up to this point, as sad as that sounds.
I had made a point of sticking to the more secluded areas of the forest wildfires, away from people and the firefighters fighting the fires that were closer to peoples home. But somehow I managed to fight my way towards the outskirts of the forest I was in and happened upon a local town. Trying to keep a low profile, I did a little reconnaissance between flying and staying on the ground. I mostly listened in on the conversations and comings and goings of the evacuations.
I stuck around for a short while merely observing and was about to take off and try and fight some more of the fire, when one of the houses on the other side of the small town caught fire. While I had been fighting the fire from my end, I had failed to notice that the reason these people seemed in more of a hurry than others to get out and to safety is because the fires had them blocked on three out of four sides. That one way out wasn't very big and was slowing a lot of people down. Hesitant as to whether or not I should help, fate decided otherwise. A huge gust of wind surged through, more so that the regular wind speed had been up to that point, which caused the one house that had caught fire to become more engulfed and at a rather alarming rate.
That decided it for me. I was done keeping a low profile. I took off into the sky, reaching the house on the other side of the town within seconds. Even with my super speed, the town is a small one as I said before. I don't hesitate, flying straight through a closed window, shattering the glass to pieces. The fire is spreading faster than even I thought. Using my x-ray vision, literally every room is filled with flames and so much smoke.
There's an entire family trapped inside, some in different parts than others. The parents are in the room next to me. I bust the door down; both adults crouched on the ground, trying to breath in as much non-smoky air as possible.
"It's okay! I'm here to help!" I reassure them. "I'm going to get you and the rest of your family out of here. The reason they hadn't gotten out is because the fire was blocking there exit and they're two stories up from the ground. Turning to face the direction I came, I use my freeze breath to put out the fire in the immediate area. "Come on, follow me!" I urge the couple as I make my way out of there master bedroom.
I have to fly them down the stairs since they're engulfed in flames, as is the front door. I bust it down, getting them to safety. "Our kids are still in there!" The mother frantically yells as the firefighters hold her back from going back into the house.
"Don't worry ma'am! I'll get them out." With that, I dash back into the house. They're trapped in the basement, which is one of the deadliest places to get trapped during a fire. The house is already beginning to creak and groan, the fire eating away at it. It's not going to stay up for much longer. The children are a little girl and her teenage brother. "I'm going to get you guys out of here, don't worry," I quickly reassure them. The little girl is in tears and the teenage boy is trying to be strong for his little sister, but he's struggling to keep himself composed.
I grab the both of them, one in each arm. The house is beginning to collapse. "Keep your heads down!" I order before going straight up, bursting through the ground floor, through the second floor, then finally out and up the roof in a blur of red and blue. Not a moment too soon either, the house collapsing not a second after I cleared it when I sailed through the roof. I stay in the air there for a second to see if the fire from the house will spread out any further, but the house took care of most of it, aside from a few little pocket fires and burning remains of it.
I can hear the mother screaming bloody murder, thinking I didn't get her kids out in time. To be fair, nobody was probably thinking to look up, so it's not like they would've seen me come up and out through the roof anyways. Seldom people ever think to look up if any at all. I slowly descend with both kids still in my arms, landing gracefully and well away from the smoldering remains of their former home.
"Oh my God, my babies!" The mother shouts with an air of relief that even I can feel. The two kids run into their mothers embrace, the father soon joining, all of them crying tears of joy. I can't help but smile as I walk over.
"Are all of you alright?" I ask, wanting to make sure that none of them need to be flown to the nearest operating hospital.
"We are now, thanks to you," the father says, reaching out to firmly shake my hand. "If you hadn't come along, neither me nor my family would've survived. Thank you," he adds.
"Just doing my job sir," I simply say after shaking his hand, still smiling.
"Mommy, daddy! That Superman guy saved us!" The little girl exclaims, pointing at me with awe and amazement in her eyes.
"Thank you for saving our children!" The wife wraps me in a hug, still crying. I hesitantly put my arms around her, returning the hug.
"You're welcome ma'am. I'm just glad I was able to help," I state.
"You did more than help. You saved all of us," she protests, still holding onto me in a half hug. The horrible reality of what could've been is still evident in her eyes.
"All in a day's work I suppose," I shrug. I'm not used to being thanked for doing this. Not since I started anyways.
"Did you guys see that? That guy saved that family from there burning home!" A firefighter shouted, pointing at me as he walked over.
"I saw it!" Another firefighter exclaimed, backing up his colleague. "He saved that family right before the house collapsed in on itself. It was amazing!"
"I saw it to!" A random person chimed in, a small crowd beginning to gather around me. Meow shit, I think to myself.
"Did he really save that family? How did he do that? He's dressed up like Superman!" Were just a few of the things I heard as the crowd grew larger, a healthy mix of evacuating people and the firefighters sent to combat these horrid wildfires. "Nah man, he's got the Superman logo, but he's not wearing any underwear on the outside of his costume. He's got a full on beard and mustache to. Superman doesn't have that!" I raise an eyebrow at those comments, but say nothing.
The next little while is filled with everyone coming up to shake my hand, thanking me for saving that family from an untimely, fiery death. I decided to humor them all and to allow them to give thanks. Not because I need it, but because they do. Eventually, a news van and crew arrive on site, quickly setting up shop. Oh terrific…
"Excuse me, sir!" The newswoman calls out to be, rushing over as fast as she can in her high heels. Not the best kind of footwear given the environment we're in. But she's dressed properly for her kind of work, so you can't really blame her. "Would you mind if I interviewed you about what's happened here?" She asks, not unkindly. She's polite enough and not at all intrusive or invasive like some field reporters can be.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," I answer and she gives me a huge smile as a result. It really can't hurt. I was eventually going to be discovered anyways. Nobody can hide forever when they do something like this and given what I can do, it's going to be big news. I'd rather give a small interview myself rather than someone snap a picture or video, the find it on the news with a steady flow of assumptions being made at my expense.
"Thank you!" She thanks me enthusiastically, having her crew adjust and get a nice little setup ready. She has someone help her with her makeup while she's on the phone with what is presumably the news studio she works for. Listening in would be rude and the temptation is almost too strong to resist. But I don't give in. "Yeah, one of the houses caught fire and a family was trapped inside," she says over the phone. "Look, I KNOW something like that doesn't sound appealing give the entirety of the wild fires, but I've got the scoop of the year right here!" She protests. "Just let me do a live interview with the man who saved the family and I promise you won't be disappointed. Just give me a few minutes of air time and you won't regret it. Five minutes top. Thanks!" She hangs up, giving me an even bigger smile. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I say, folding my arms and returning the smile, though it's nowhere near as big as hers.
"So tell us, how did you manage to save the family inside their burning home?" The female field reporter asks me after she had done her little intro, holding the microphone towards me so that my answer can be heard and recorded clearly.
"Well it's kind of a long story. See I was out deep in the forest, fighting the wild fire flames out there over in that direction." I point and the cameraman follows before centering back on me and the reporter. "I ended up making my way over here and when I saw the town, I stopped and observed a bit. I was just about to fly off and fight some more of the fire when the house caught fire really quickly. I decided that I couldn't just stand by when I knew I had the power to easily save that family," I answer.
"Very interesting," she responds. "So what exactly did you do?" She clearly wants me to be more specific, so I tell her all about how I rescued the family to the best of my descriptive abilities. "We all can't help but notice your outfit. Is this your first time doing this, saving someone?"
"Uh no, it is not."
"So how long have you been saving people?" She questions me curiously.
"Several months now," I answer without hesitation.
"And you've only just now decided to reveal yourself to the world," she guesses.
I shrug. "More or less ma'am," I say.
"Why now of all times?"
"I'm afraid I don't really have a reason why. I mean to quote Emma Watson, 'If not me? Who? If not now? When?'" Nailed it.
"I see. So do you plan on continuing to do this? Saving people and being a hero?"
"Of course I do!" I say, perking up a bit at having to answer that kind of question. I give her and the camera a little smile, my arms no longer folded.
"Okay, last question. What're we supposed to call you? Who are you?" She finally asks.
"Well I can't exactly give you my secret identity because that's not how things work." The reporter, the cameraman and the crowd of people around us all have a good laugh. I let it die down.
"Seriously though, who are you and what do we call you?" The reporter repeats.
"That's easy. It's like everyone here has been saying. I'm Superman. I've got the costume, the powers and I wear the S on my chest. I'm the real life Superman!"
"You heard it here first folks, LIVE. For the first time in history, we have a real life superhero that exists in our own world." She does her little outro and when the cameraman cuts the feed, she turns towards me again, shaking my hand. "Hey thanks again for doing this interview. I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem." I chuckle. "One of the reasons I agreed to do it is because it was live, which means you couldn't record what I said and cut the parts out you didn't want to make it the way you wanted," I tease. Everyone got to see the raw, unfiltered interview in real time, which is always preferable to pre-taped interviews. Well, most of the time anyways.
"True enough. Say, if you ever need anyone to do something like this again, hit me up. Don't even hesitate. Here's my card," she says, handing me it.
"Right, thanks," I say before slipping the card into an invisible pocket into my suit. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get going. Places to go, people save and all that." With that, I float up into the sky before taking off at super speed. I think I've done enough for now and can probably call it a day.
As I make my way home, I stop a handful of petty crimes here and there, people already beginning to recognize me from the live interview earlier. It's started trending on social media and all over the world. Eventually, I make it home later that night without further incident, quietly sneaking into my apartment, showering and changing into my pajamas.
"Phew, what a day," I say to myself. I turn on my TV and pull up the interview I did earlier, watching it with interest. "Well it's not perfect, but it's a start. Just another day in the life of me."