Pasadena, California
Valentine's Day
Benjamin Mgomo stepped out of his car with a smile on his face. In a little under an hour, his wife would be getting off of work and meeting up with him for a fancy, romantic dinner. In a pleasant turn of events, Benny's own boss had let his coworkers and him off early, meaning Benny had gained some time before dinner to try and find a little something extra to surprise his beloved Clarissa. With the nearby stores looking crowded due to it being so last-minute, he knew that whatever stuffed bear or hastily arranged flowers he could get his hands on would have to suffice, and although that would be a little clichéd, he knew it would still make Clarissa happy.
After making sure his car door was locked, Benny straightened up and started for the nearest store, but stopped when he noticed some other people along the street looking at something in the sky. Turning to look at where the crowd's eyes and recording devices were pointed, he saw a sight that had become familiar to Pasadena residents in the last two years: local superhero Captain Lightning.
Benny suddenly got even more excited. He was an admitted superhero fanatic (something his teenage daughter Rio often playfully mocked about him), and Captain Lightning had quickly become one of his favorites. To have a real, larger than life, superpowered fighter in his own hometown… and a black one at that… it made Benny giddy like a child at Christmas.
To his great surprise, it seemed like the flying heroine and today's villain-of-the-week were getting closer. The other bystanders seemed to make the same observation, and a handful of them quickly got out of the way as Lightning and her opponent came crashing down into the street, narrowly missing the row of parked cars.
The amiable Captain Lightning groaned as she stood up, then realizing she had an audience, quickly regained her composure and gave her onlookers an awkward smile and a little pose. As Benny watched her in awe, eliciting cheers from the crowd like a modern day gladiator, the man she was fighting also slowly got to his feet. He seemed to be in his forties or fifties, though his working-man tan and sunburnt bald head may have contributed to making him look older than he was. Growling loudly, the crook lunged at Lightning with surprising speed and strength, and nearly knocked her back down.
A little bit frightened, but still confident that Captain Lightning could beat this guy as she always did, Benny realized he was missing a great opportunity to do what his fellow citizens were doing. Fumbling a bit, he reached into his pocket, brought out his phone, and opened up his camera. Stepping left and right, he tried to position himself to get a clear shot not blocked by other people. After several seconds of muttering under his breath, he finally got a dynamic picture of Lightning throwing a hard right hook, her fist surrounded by her signature lightning, and the bad guy getting knocked out cold.
The crowd cheered some more as their city's protector wiped her brow, gave them a triumphant salute, then flew away with her defeated foe in her arms. Benny's smile was now about as big as it could be. He couldn't wait to tell Clarissa about this. He also couldn't wait to tell Rio, even though he knew she would probably act unimpressed. Realizing he should get back to what he was doing, Benny turned back around and headed for the store again. Then, deciding to take another look at his picture before re-pocketing his phone, Benny noticed something odd. He had never seen her that close before, so he had never considered… no, it couldn't be. Could it? The picture was pretty blurry, but, something about Captain Lightning felt… familiar.