A Tale of Two Masks

There was a lot more cleanup this time than usual. The reporters and camera crew had to go over which parts were going to be cut, and various other edits. The situation overall was a bit odd. Summer was against cutting out her saving Shadow Phoenix, and no one was sure what to do about the footage of the villain quitting.

No villain had ever quit before. Now that it had happened, it was kind of odd that none of them had. Constantly being beaten, never finding what they were looking for, and being hated by the general populace had to grate on them. Before this, Summer had never even thought about it.

And that artifact… Were there more of those things hidden in the Old Town? It was a terrifying thought. She had another major concern about all this. Her father had only approved her hero work because she had never been in any real danger. Once this became public he was bound to react.

Summer slowly trudged back to SI to return her hero costume, unable to shake the sinking feeling that this might be the last time she was able to wear it. After stalling for as long as possible, Summer finally began to leave the building. She was surprised to see someone else in the lobby on her way out.

“-on becoming an official employee here at SI. Your official schedule will be posted for you tomorrow. It’s a bit late to arrange things now.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I finished my qualifying task a bit late and had to apologize to my supervisor,” the man who was apparently going to be an official employee replied.

The new employee was a young man, likely in his early twenties, who seemed incredibly ordinary in appearance. Maybe that was just the casual suit, though. If she hadn’t been stalling, Summer would have probably walked passed without even glancing his way.

As the man began to leave, Summer also spurred into motion. She didn’t want to get caught staring, even if she hadn’t been doing it for very long. The last thing she needed right now was for the new employee of SI to hate her when everything else already seemed to be going wrong.

A few days passed, and Summer heard nothing from SI. The footage from her fight was also delayed, but it had just come out that morning, and Summer was already dreading the coming confrontation. The conversation over dinner did not start in the direction she was expecting.

“Congratulations on beating your villain,” her father told her with a wide smile, “Now that your hero career has ended in success, I will let you choose whatever you want as a present. I know you have been wanting a new pair of shoes.”

She had been wanting a new pair of shoes, for hero work. Which was why she couldn’t let the misunderstanding pass. “What do you mean my hero career is over?” she asked.

It was her father’s turn to frown. “I heard you were a special case. Your power isn’t really suited for being a hero,” he told her, “Now that Shadow Phoenix is gone, they don’t need you anymore.”

Those words stung far more than Summer had expected. Especially since she knew he was right.

“We don’t know if he is gone,” she argued, “He may have just lied to put us off his trail. He might change his mind later.”

“You can’t live your life counting on those ifs,” he told her, “I’m sure you are just in shock from that last battle. I’m very relieved it was your last. I might have banned you from going back if it wasn’t.”

There it was. What she had been expecting. “What will you do if he does come back?”

“I am sure some other hero can handle him,” her father replied, “There is no need for you to be out there anymore.”

There was something more, she could tell. “What is it?”

“I didn’t want to tell you this,” he began, hesitant, “Do you remember the day you became a hero? The day before, I gave SI a rather large donation and asked them to consider you as a hero.”

The feeling of dread she had been holding back this whole time hit her head on. She wanted to say something, but she stopped herself. She knew if she pushed any further she would be banned from going to SI entirely.

It was silly, honestly. She was an adult and had every right to her own opinions and dreams, but her father hadn’t even let her move out when she got her first big paycheck, saying there was no reason for her to go out on her own so soon. She had also been a bit hesitant to leave home, but now she was incredibly tempted.

There was just one major problem. Her big paychecks from hero work were probably gone, just as her father had suggested. Summer needed to think of something, anything to stop all the doors leading to her dream from slamming in her face when she was just about to reach them.

“Um, thanks,” she finally said, “I need to head out and I will let you know what I want when I get back.”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“SI. I just need to finish some paperwork and check on some things. If my hero career really is over I need to get my bonus for defeating my villain once and for all.” She managed to hide the disappointment that was swirling in her stomach.

“That’s my girl,” he replied with pride, “Let me know how it goes!”

Summer hurried out of the building and got in her car, taking some deep breaths after the door closed. As always, her car was her safe place where she could really be herself. Her real mission at SI would be to convince them to let her stay on, but she knew her father would be furious if he knew that. He was just worried, but sometimes it was a bit… much.

Unfortunately the negotiations did not go as she had hoped. She wasn’t let go, but she wasn’t given any new positions either. She was put on hold, just in case Shadow Phoenix returned. She did get that bonus for defeating her villain, though. That was something she could tell her father.

But now she was out of excuses. She had no reason to ever return to SI. Summer knew that once she left, she would never be able to come back, and nearly broke down in the hallway. She managed to keep it together, sitting on a waiting bench in the lobby as she tried to sort her complex feelings.

“Are you okay?” a man asked her, genuine concern in his voice. Summer recognized him from the other night. The new employee she had seen on her way out.

“Yes,” she said, “Thanks. I just had a hard… Which department are you in?”

“I work on hero assignments,” he replied.

That was good. She could tell him about her hero problems. Summer looked around before continuing. “You know my secret identity, right?”

He nodded with some hesitation.

Summer continued. “I recently… my villain quit and now I don’t know what to do.”

The man took in a deep breath as he seemed to think about something. “Isn’t that a good thing? Heroes are supposed to keep everyone safe from villains.”

“He quit,” she reminded, “I didn’t capture him or anything. I don’t even know if I should believe him. It’s even worse because I kind of miss his snarky face. Or what I could see of it.”

It probably wasn’t the best idea to be bearing her soul to a stranger in the lobby of SI even if he did have the correct security clearance. Still, it felt nice to be able to talk to someone about these things. Someone who wasn’t going to freak out at the slightest sign of danger.

“I guess that is understandable,” he agreed, “He may have been your enemy, but you spent two years with him.”

It was the first time someone had listened to her thoughts like this, much less agreed with them. Suddenly, a crazy plan formed in her mind. This guy seemed pretty nice, and he worked with hero assignments in SI.

“Hey, do you want to go on a date?” Summer asked, a little bolder than she intended.

As expected, the man was flabbergasted. “A date? Miss, do you even know my name?”

That was a no. Summer bit her lip, unwilling to let this chance go. “Just one date. You can decide when, and I will pay for everything.”

The man was flustered, unsure of what to do. “I really don’t think this is a good idea,” he decided, “If anyone finds out a hero was dating someone in hero assignments, they might misunderstand.”

“Misunderstand what? I won’t be doing anything anytime soon. I was all but fired,” Summer pointed out, “I just wanted to thank you for your words of encouragement.”

He seemed torn. “Fine. Just once, as a thank you and nothing else. And my name is Ashton.”

“Summer,” she replied, a relieved smile blooming on her face, “Thank you so much!”

Ashton already looked like he was having second thoughts. “I need to get back to work,” he told her, but hesitated.

“Just text me when you know what you want. You have my number, right?” she asked, getting up to leave before she lost all of her nerve and made an even bigger scene.

“I can’t just use company information for personal reasons!” Ashton protested.

Summer sighed and grabbed his hand before quickly scribbling her number on the back of it. “See you later?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, staring at the new pen markings on his hand with an odd expression.

She darted out of the lobby before either of them could change their minds, and slammed the door of her car as soon as she was inside. This was insane. What had she been thinking? Now that she was out of the situation, Summer was filled with guilt. This was no better than using the poor guy. She would have to come up with some kind of reason during the thank you date, though. Something that didn’t make her seem like a total jerk.

Maybe she should just tell the truth? But would he still be nice to her if he knew she had bribed her way into being a hero?