A not so typical day

A new day shines upon the city. In its own glamor, radiating with light everywhere. A sunny day, inside the college Rony is waiting for Axel outside the class in the hallway. He looks towards his right and waves his hands. From the other side, Sabrina, who is walking towards him, waves back. Axel comes out of the class and looks at Rony, squeezing his eyes.

"What are you looking- "Hey Axel" Sabrina says.

"Hi, Sabrina, what brings you here?" Axel gives an awkward smile.

"Are you guys free for lunch?"

"Yeah, nice idea. Let's eat together," Rony says in his ever-excited tone.

Axel glances in his direction and then continues to look at Sabrina.

"Why the sudden interest in eating with us?"

"Well, my best friend called in sick, and I don't have anyone else to sit with. Plus, I also need your help on one of my projects. "

"Oh, okay, I guess."

"Finally, Sabrina, nice move." Rony high fives.

Axel glares at Rony, and he suddenly turns quiet, looking in the other direction.

They walk down the hallway quietly.

"What kind of help do you need for your project?" Axel breaks the ice

"Actually, I need a coder to help me make my website better"

"Axel's a good coder."

"Really?"

"No, I am average, per say."

"You can help me though, right?"

"Yeah, I can try."

"Okay then, after college is good for you?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, you are a lifesaver."

"Well, what are friends for?" Axel gives a gentle smile.

"Mind if I ask something"

"Go ahead."

"How did you guys become friends? You seem to get on each other's nerves all the time."

"Axel and I have been friends since childhood. We have always been like that." Rony says.

"Despite his rude behavior, I can always count on Axel to have my back. He has always been there for me"

"Seems like you guys are pretty close."

"That we are," Rony says.

They all arrive in the open garden of the college. Rony moves forward only to bump into someone and get pushed back.

"Are you blind, motherfucker?" the guy pushing Rony says.

"Hey, easy," Axel shouts.

Axel looks at Rony, who is picking himself up from the ground.

"If it isn't the nerds of the class." The guy says with his chest slightly outwards.

He looks a little taller than Axel and has a buffed-up body. His clothing is a bit funky and the way this guy handles himself gives off a different aura. He stares down at Axel, who is unfazed by his overwhelming presence. He thinks of Axel like a lion would think of a deer.

"Stay out of the way, Tyler," Axel says.

Axel and Tyler's eye contact intensifies. They close in on each other.

"Guys, calm down." Sabrina moves in between them.

"Sabrina, what are you doing with these losers? You should join us." Tyler turns his gaze towards Sabrina.

"Sorry, not interested" Sabrina replies

"Rony, should I remind you what we did two weeks ago? I am sure, Axel here would like to know all about it." Tyler says in a sly and teasing tone.

"Tyler, I am sorry. Keep my friends out of this. Okay." Rony says.

"Huh, you didn't tell him, did you?" Tyler smirks.

"What, tell me what?" Axel looks at Rony.

"It's nothing." Rony's eyes reflect a lot, as if they turned into glass.

"Rony here, tried to act all smart in front of me, so I destroyed his bike."

Axel's eyebrows squeeze, and he starts thinking in his own mind.

"Rony doesn't have a bike." Axel says in a very low, almost inaudible voice.

Rony gives the look of a sad puppy, and Axel instantly understands what he is trying to convey.

"That bike was mine." Axel stares at Tyler as his eyes turn slightly red, clearly agitated after knowing the truth.

Tyler keeps looking at Axel. He clenches his fist and lands his left fist on Tyler's cheek, sending him flying almost a foot away from him. Tyler looks up from his position and wipes the blood from his lips.

"Get that, son of a bitch!" Tyler shouts and points his finger at Axel.

7-8 guys approach Axel, leaving whatever they were doing before. Axel looks at each and every one of them and gets into a fighting stance.

"Axel, are you crazy? They will beat the crap out of you." Rony says.

"Axel, Rony's right, let's run." Sabrina says

"Zeus, 10% power, maximum sense" Axel murmurs

"As you wish, Axel." Zeus says in Axel's mind

Axel smirks and holds his position. A tall broad guy comes running towards Axel. He swings his right hand, Axel evades it with ease. He turns fast and hits him with a punch to the side of his lower abdomen. Other guys start moving in on Axel, and he flips forward and swings a round kick at a guy. He goes flying straight into a table. He turns to others and uses his newly gained agility to his maximum potential. Swiftly moving and dodging their attacks while giving powerful blows. Axel knocks out each and every guy who comes to fight him. Tyler gets up, picks up a baseball bat, and runs towards him while holding it high. He swings the bat. Axel blocks the attack with both of his forearms. Tyler's eyes widen as the pieces of the bat fly away from the impact.

"Wrong move." Axel says.

Axel gives another decisive blow to Tyler, sending him straight into a table and rendering him unconscious. Axel reverts back to normal and looks around. He looks gloomy and realizes something. He walks away from the scene immediately.

He rushes inside a washroom; it's empty. He looks at himself in the mirror. Eyes staring into nothingness, heavy breathing, he stands slouching on the sink. A half smile appears on his face. Axel jumps up from his position, lifting his fist high into the sky.

"Woohoo, I did it, Zeus, that was amazing."

"As you ordered, Axel."

Axel lifts his left hand to look at Zeus.

"That was perfect, 10% percent power. I didn't break their bones, did I?" Axel asks with a very questionable look on his face.

"No Axel, I assume by the amount of power, they probably have swollen muscles."

"Okay, good. I would be in trouble if I broke bones."

"Yes, Axel."

Axel looks at the mirror again. He gently taps his hands on his cheeks.

"Let's take a deep breath and walk out of here."

As he comes out of the washroom, to his surprise, Sabrina is waiting for him there.

"Why did you take off like that?" Sabrina asks.

"Uh, I didn't want you to see that. I didn't know how to react." Axel says, rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

"You were cool out there." She looks down at the ground, trying to hide her blushing face.

"Thanks for saving my ass, man, and sorry for the bike." Rony comes running, out of breath.

"Forget it, he got what he deserved." Patting on Rony's shoulder

"By the way, when did you learn to fight like that?" Rony says, still catching his breath.

"Uh… I have been taking lessons. Forget it, man. Move on." Axel says reassuring Rony.

"Yeah, let's go eat. I'm hungry. " Sabrina says

All three of them head out to have lunch.

After the college, Sabrina waits for Axel outside the gate. She is typing on her phone while students are walking by. A hand taps on her shoulder and Sabrina looks up from her phone.

"Oh, let's go."

"Sure."

They both start walking down the street. Steadily, matching each other's pace, they stroll around.

"I have some work in the bank across the street. Will you wait for me here? I will be back as soon as I can." Sabrina says after coming a few blocks from the college.

"Sure. Go ahead. I'll wait."

"Thank you so much. I'll be back soon. I won't keep you waiting for long."

Sabrina crosses the street and Axel takes out his phone to pass the time. Sabrina enters the bank. She looks around for a counter. There is a queue in front of the counter that she intends to visit. She waits in line.

A black SUV stops in front of the bank and several masked men get out of the SUV. They are carrying automatic guns with them. Axel looks across the street and notices them.

"Shoot! Zeus, are you watching this?"

"Yes, they are carrying automated weapons."

"Sabrina is in the bank. It's time to suit up. "

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

Axel runs into the alleyway to find a spot where nobody can see him. He takes out his bag and pulls out a small package.

Inside the bank, the armed gunmen fire in the hall and take everyone inside the bank hostage. Sabrina is among them. She looks at the guns in their hands and closes her eyes tight, holding her hands together.

"Co-operate and you will live to see another day." A guy with a skull mask says

"Go! Find the vault and bring the cash." A guy wearing a clown mask with a spade on it says.

Three men run to find and secure the vault. Everyone in the hall is in panic and holding on to each other, hoping to stay alive. The three men looking for the vault arrive at the vault's location.

"Hey, this is it. Let's drill." One of them says and takes out a drill from his duffel bag.

"We will be rich now."

"Concentrate on the task at hand."

"Hey, did you listen to that?" One guy says taking a few steps back from the vault

"We are drilling. I don't want to trigger an alarm, so let us concentrate."

"No, seriously. I can hear something in the vault."

"Once we are done with this job. You and I are going to have a chat."

"Yes, you should have a chat in jail." an ominous voice calls

Everyone looks around for the voice. They pick up their guns and start looking around. The guy standing away from the vault looks at the vault in a shocking pose. His hands shake and so does the gun.

"What... is that?"

All three of them look in the same direction and freeze in their position.

"What? You guys have never seen a guy pop his head out of a vault. I bet you didn't."

They start firing at the mysterious guy, unloading the entire mag and riddling the vault door with bullets.

"You missed a lot of shots there. Not your fault."

They all drop their guns and run towards the stairs.

"Well, that was unexpected."

All three goons run up the stairs and reach the ground floor, where the same mysterious guy is standing waiting for them.

"Okay. Enough games, time to put you guys to sleep."

He fights all three guys head on and punches one across the corridor. Another one lands down the staircase, and the third struggles to get up when the mysterious guy knocks him out cold.

"That was easy."

In the main hall of the bank,

"Why is it taking so long?" Skull guy asks

"Go, check in on them. I'll keep an eye on the hostages." Spade clown guy says

Outside the bank, police have arrived at the scene and have surrounded the building. A swat van pulls up near them and a swat team comes out to take their position for infiltration.

"What's the situation, officer?"

"Five armed men. Over a dozen hostages inside."

"We will move in from the back entrance."

"Okay, be careful. They have automated rifles."

"Roger that. Swat, let's move."

Inside the bank,

The skull guy comes flying in and lands right next to the spade clown guy. He looks in the direction where the skull guy came from. The mysterious guy comes walking from the shadows.

"You did this to him."

"Well, I can't let you rob a bank."

The Spade clown guy fires at him. He stands still and stretches his arms and legs.

"What are you?"

He looks up, tilting his head, and then looks at the spade clown guy, shrugging his shoulders. The clown guy starts firing at him and he just keeps walking towards him. A clicking sound comes from the gun. The Spade clown guy looks at the gun and looks at him again, only to see him standing up close.

"Hello there, ran out of bullets?"

The Spade clown guy punches him and his hand goes through his face to the other side. He looks at his fist with horror. The mysterious guy glances at his fist and bam! He punches him straight in the gut, sending him up and down on the floor. The Spade clown guy lies down, holding his stomach. The mysterious guy takes off into the sky through the ceiling of the bank.

The Swat team reaches inside the bank only to find all the robbers unconscious and all the hostages safe.

"All clear, move in." A Swat member says, putting his index finger on his right ear. He looks around and removes his helmet, his eyebrows tilted upwards and a confused look on his face.

The cops move in with paramedics to take control of the scene. Sabrina walks out of the bank as a few cops surround her and take her to the side for questioning. Axel comes from the other side of the road to meet Sabrina.

He pulls down his hood and stands behind her. Turning his attention to the cops, he stands, putting his hands in the pocket.

"That will be all." the cop says.

"Ok, Officer," Sabrina replies and turns back, only to be startled by Axel and bumps her head into Axel. He backs down and holds her by her shoulders.

"I'm Sorry."

"I'm Sorry. I stood too close."

"Okay now, clear the scene." Cop says from behind with a smirk.

Both Axel and Sabrina stand there looking the other direction and Axel lets go of her immediately. Sabrina looks down, smiling gently, Axel whistles while looking at the road.

They both walk away from the scene and arrive at a seemingly quiet road. Axel still has his hands in the pockets while Sabrina is latching on to her bag.

"It has been a hell of a day."

"Yeah."

"You know, I was scared, but then this guy came out of nowhere."

"Who?"

"He was just standing there and bullets were passing through him. Like he was a-"

"Ghost" Axel says.

Sabrina opens her mouth wide and looks away for a bit.

"Yeah, like a ghost. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I know what I saw."

"I believe you." Axel says, turning to her.

She looks at him suspiciously.

"I heard another witness say that."

She takes a long pause. "Okay."

"I wonder why he saved us."

"I don't think he did this for the sake of it. Maybe he's some kind of superhero."

"Hmm. By the way, it's late. I'll come by your place tomorrow if it's ok."

"Sure."

"I can walk from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then See you tomorrow." Axel raises his hand to way

"See you tomorrow, good night."

"Good night."

They both separate and walk towards their home. Axel pulls up his hood and looks at Zeus.

"Can you connect to the internet and pull info while listening to the police radio?"

"Yes, Axel. Already on it"

Axel's smile widens. "Ghost, huh."

"It's not exactly a nice name for a hero, Axel."

"I know, but it sounds about right."

"Maybe"