A NORMAL LIFE

Zack was back to his normal life.

After a week-long break from work after calling in "sick," it was time to get back to it all.

The stories weren't going to write themselves. He finished taking his shower and got dressed, and in less than five minutes, he was ready to go. He looked for Paulina but couldn't find her anywhere.

Zack moved in with Paulina not so long ago. It was a small, one-bedroom apartment with a small bathroom and kitchen. Not really hard to look for someone here.

Soon he felt the typical squeak of that old apartment door, and once he got there, he saw her in a pink, straight dress and her usual ponytail. She was holding a white bag with the Megamart logo.

"Oh, hey, Paulina." Zack told her, relieved she had just left to buy groceries.

"Yeah, I just wanted to, uh... make you something. I can see you're already for work." She said, observing him from top to bottom.

He wore a white suit with a green polka-dot tie and black trousers. It was the most official he had ever looked.

"Oh yeah... I'm about to head out. Why?"

Paulina looked away for a moment.

"I... I wanted to make you something." She said, looking at her groceries.

"Oh? Oh! My sweet little gem! Sorry. I really appreciate this, but I still gotta go. It took a lot to convince Mr. Print to give me the week off. And I couldn't even mention the incident. My break week is over now, so... yeah."

"It's okay. I understand." Paulina said, finally making eye contact and smiling.

Zack gave her a tight hug and ran through the door, nearly slipping once he reached the stairs to the first floor.

Paulina watched him go, her smile fading by the second. It had been a week since the incident, but he still felt the same.

Accelerating heart rate.

Faking his smiles.

Slight shaking, even he doesn't notice.

He's still depressed over the incident.

She had noticed it for a while now. He almost always put off conversations. He was always brooding by the window and kept staring at his picture of Captain Rocket in their room.

Paulina's suspicions were confirmed when he sold most of his comics.

His decision to give up heroism was the final nail in the coffin.

Paulina needed her happy-go-lucky Zack back. This Zack felt off. Unsure of himself. Disappointed in himself. Willing to fake emotions just so no one would question his mental state.

He had become her.

She tapped the side of her ear, activating her inbuilt communication module. She dialed a number. One she had never used. One she would never think to use.

But she needed to. She missed her Zack. Despite all she thought about not having emotions, he was the only one who made her feel them to an extent.

He was the only one to make her feel them at all.

Meanwhile, Zack was stuck in traffic.

It had been a while since this happened. He hadn't used Paulina's car in quite some time when they lived separately, but since they were together now, he might as well use it.

He'd always just put on his mask and swing around the city. It was much faster.

And much, much more fun.

But the normal option was all he had now. He had no right to use his powers again.

Not after what happened.

Not after what his incompetence cost Jake.

He put on the radio. Surely there was something to drown out all the honking horns and shouting drivers.

"Breaking news! A series of demonoid attacks across Bellium and Andium City. Citizens in panic as the Super Society…"

"Not now." Zack said as he changed the station.

"Kobra Klan successfully pull bank robbery! 3-star super Sno seriously in…"

"Not this again."

He switched the radio off entirely. He wanted to drown out the noise, not fill his head with more of it.

He heard his phone vibrating and decided to pick it up. Anything was a good distraction at this point.

Just then, he felt a large shadow hover above him. He looked up, and his jaw dropped.

"Is that a dragon?!"

It was a 50-foot-long green snake-like creature with short, stubby legs and a head similar to a catfish.

He had only seen them in Dragonian folklore. Something he would've never seen if he hadn't gone there with Rocket a few years ago.

Judging by its size alone, it would need multiple 4-star supers to take down. Yet the supers chasing it were entirely new to him.

Odd.

He had an extensive knowledge of every single super due to his immense collection of comic books.

He shuddered when he remembered what he did to his beloveds. That didn't matter now. He needed to move on from that life.

The first was a man in a gray metallic suit with a large 'W' on his chest, flying with what appeared to be rocket boots. A pretty boring design, but none that Zack had seen before.

The second was a slim woman wearing a green spandex suit with what could only be identified as scales poking out of her arms and head.

She jumped from building to building with a sort of slimy grace about her. She was mesmerizing, yet eerie to look at as well. Still another unfamiliar face, though.

The third was the strangest of all. He was leaping from building to building with a fiery red streak behind him. There was no grace in his actions, only a sort of wild rage. He also wore red and black armor similar to Jake's during the incident.

Weird.

The Super Society would never send newbies for something as dangerous as this, so why? Are they vigilantes? Or maybe they're in cahoots with the Dragon?

Should he...?

His phone suddenly stopped ringing.

The absence of music brought his mind back to reality. He quickly picked up the call, seeing the name "Mr. Print" written above "missed call."

"Uh... hello, sir?"

"Zack, my boy! Where are you! I need you here!"

"Sorry, sir. I'm, uh... stuck in traffic."

"Well, hurry up, 'cause it's Stella. She's a mess. She's crying like a baby, and no one can get through to her. Maybe you can. She has a story to present, and I can't have her sobbing and screaming like a child. Got it?"

"Y... yes, sir."

Mr. Print hung up immediately after that. There was a certain level of nervousness in his voice. Mr. Print was never nervous about anything. At least, that's what Zack thought.

Something had to be wrong here.

Did Stella find out about Jake?

Suddenly the noise of all the horns started to subside. Just in time, too. Zack sped up as fast as he could. It was time to face her. She needed to know.

She needed to know how Jake died...

To be continued...