Villains Wear Masks
Chapter 5: Skipping class is kinda fun

“People are responsible for their own actions. To say otherwise is just a way to make yourself feel better.”

~ Julian Albert (Dr. Alchemy)

Xander sighed. He hated chemistry.

It was a pointless class. Xander could guarantee that most of the kids at Oakland High were not going to become chemists unless you counted drug dealers who wanted to be like the guys from Breaking Bad.

John and he were sitting in the back of the class, ignoring the lesson and talking about Silver Streak, still Xander’s best friend’s favorite subject.

“You know, she saved a group of girls from a robber last night.”

Xander furrowed his eyebrows, “Where did you get this information?” because Xander was a superhero and even he didn’t know this much about Silver Streak’s saves.

John shrugged. “The SNN has a lot of stories on her now that she’s been taking down the Black Tiger gang. She’s the only hero willing to go deep into Oakland to get rid of bad people like them. Not even Momentum has really done anything to stop them.”

Okay, so Momentum never really tried to stop the Black Tiger gang in Oakland because Silver Streak thought she was the only person for the job and wouldn’t invite him in on her saves. Momentum would love stop a gang like that if Silver Streak decided to let him help her instead of blocking his every attempt to help her.

If you couldn’t tell, Momentum was a little salty about Silver Streak’s choice.

“Maybe Momentum wants to help, but can’t,” Xander offered, trying to act nonchalant.

“Maybe Momentum is a coward.”

Xander tried not to flinch.

“Why are you being so mean to Momentum?” he whined.

John narrowed his eyes, “Why are you being so defensive of him?”

Thankfully, Xander was saved from some unwanted questioning by an unwarranted interruption to their conversation.

“Xander! How are you doing?” Taylor Hale pulled out the empty chair to their table, all smiles. She suddenly looked like that hyperactive cheerleader she had been before her falling out with Mera Deauxma.

“Um . . .” Xander didn’t know how to react.

John aimed his narrowed eyes at her instead of Xander, “What are you doing?”

Taylor furrowed her brows, an innocent expression on her face. “I’m just talking to my friend, Xander. About that, can I borrow him for a minute?”

The expression on her face reminded Xander of his girlfriend. No wonder the two had been close, they had the same ‘I’m innocent but if you don’t do what I say I’ll murder you’ look. John thankfully caught on and sighed loudly and obnoxiously.

“Can I go to the bathroom?”

The teacher stopped in the middle of his spiel about compounds versus mixtures. He turned to John, “I don’t know, can you?”

Another annoyed sigh.

“May I go to the bathroom?”

The teacher smiled. “Yes you may.”

John got up from his seat and made for the door, taking the pass on his way from the whiteboard. He gave one last look at Xander before he left, maybe to say good luck.

Taylor turned to Xander, her expression now more real and less valley girl. “I got an alert on my phone. A silent alarm may have been tripped at the First National Bank on Mina Street. Do you want to go help me?”

Xander had not been expecting this.

Taylor Hale was, as Xander found out three months ago, Silver Streak. And, Silver Streak was famously known for working alone. She had avoided even looking Xander’s way for months and refused to help him when he cornered her while she was out as Silver Streak. Xander had accepted the fact that Taylor had made herself a lone wolf.

So, why was she asking him for help?

“What game are you playing?” Xander asked.

“I’m sorry?”

Xander shook his head in disbelief. “I’ve been trying to help you out with saves for months. Why are you asking me to help you now? I was pretty sure you hated me.”

Taylor frowned. “I don’t hate you. I just finally decided that I may need you on this one. Besides, the alert I got warned me that this perpetrator may be a bit harder for a normal person like me to fight off.”

Xander smiled. “You mean you needed a super?”

She sighed. “Yes, okay? Will you do it?”

Xander thought about it for a second and then tilted his head, confused. “Wait, don’t we have class right now? We can’t skip class.”

Taylor gave him a deadpan look. “Xander, is one high school chemistry class worth the potential of losing lives?”

Xander paled and shook his head.

“Exactly. Let’s go.”

“But how do we leave class? John took the pass.”

Taylor smiled slyly. When John arrived back from the bathroom, she gestured to Xander.

“May I go to the bathroom?”

The teacher stopped his teaching again, annoyed at the amount of people who had interrupted his teaching. “Yes, be quick.”

Xander got up and took the pass from John. He gave Xander a curious look, but Xander couldn’t really give an explanation to why he was talking to Taylor without releveling who he was in his spare time.

Xander waited outside for less than a minute before Taylor walked out into the hallway. Since Xander had the pass, he seriously wondered how Taylor was able to get out of the class without one.

Taylor noticed his confused look and grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Male teachers really freak out when you tell them you’re having ‘lady problems.’”

He blanched. That wasn’t really a topic guys liked to hear about.

“Anyways, let’s go. You know the way to the bank?”

“Yeah,” he answered, “but how are you getting there? I have speed, you don’t.”

“You’re going to carry me.”

They stared off for a few seconds before Xander turned around and let Taylor jump on his back. In seconds they were in the alley way next to the National Bank, which was already blocked off due to the police perimeter around the bank. Taylor jumped off of his back and swung around her backpack, which must’ve had her outfit and her wig. Xander sped in a circle, Superman style, and put on his Momentum outfit before facing away from Taylor to give her some privacy. In under a minute she was dressed. After a long while of being a superhero, she had probably gotten used to changing into spandex really fast,

“Alright, Speedy, let’s use the side door and stop this criminal.”

Xander agreed and they walked to the end of the alley way. He had stopped a robbery here back around when he first started and Wild Fire told him something useful, there was a side door to most of the banks in the city. Most robbers forgot about them, and they were a great way for a hero to get into the bank without being spotted by the robber.

Inside the bank was polished and spotless, like usual. The only difference were the people cowering on the ground and the few bullet holes in the wall. Xander couldn’t spot the security guard and he hoped that didn’t mean the robber got rid of him.

“I want all of the money in the bag, lady. I don’t have to tell you what will happen if you don’t.”

Xander and Taylor skirted around the perimeter of the bank until they could see a guy dressed in all black pointing a gun at a bank teller’s face. He seemed to be armed to the teeth with all sorts of guns and weapons. No wonder Taylor said she wouldn’t be able to take him alone.

“Please, I have a family,” the teller pleaded.

The masked man in all black only chuckled deeply. “Yep, I bet you do. Now, money.”

Xander made the mistake of stepping on a piece of broken glass. The masked man stilled and turned their way.

“Silver Streak and Momentum, what a surprise to be graced with your presences.”

Taylor stood her ground, looking fierce even though she was actually quite tiny. He knew from experience that she was way stronger than she appeared to be.

“You want to put that weapon down before we make you?” she asked.

The guy laughed. “Oh, I don’t think you guys will be able to make me do anything.”

Xander smirked and sped at the perpetrator. Before he could register it, he was thrown across the room and into a marble wall.

“You got to be quicker than that, Momentum.” The guy taunted, a shield in his hands. It was like it had appeared out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, it flashed and disappeared back down into what looked like a watch.

Okay, this guy was armed with a lot more than just guns. He was either rich or bought all of that high tech with stolen money.

“What do you want?” Taylor asked, distracting the villain.

He shrugged. “Can’t a guy want to make a living off of other people’s cash?”

“That’s illegal.” Xander pushed back, getting to his feet.

“Do I look like I care about what’s legal or illegal?”

Nope. He did not look like he cared.

“What’s your name?” Taylor brought the conversation back to her again.

“Mischief.”

Xander barely had time to react when the bullets started. Taylor was dodging bullets left and right, flipping and maneuvering her body and diving behind counters. Xander sped in front of her and tried to catch all of the bullets so that they wouldn’t hit the civilian hostages who were still stuck in the bank and now screaming for fear of their lives.

Xander dove behind the desk Taylor was currently hiding under as the bullets rained dust on them. “What’s the plan?”

She took a quick look around the edge of the desk before hiding again as more bullets threatened to harm her. “We have to get the hostages out no matter what. First priority. You get on that while I try and stop this guy? Got it?”

Xander nodded. On the count of three he sped through the bank and grabbed one person at a time, flashing them to the street outside. By the time he’d gotten the last person (a very heavy one might he add) Taylor was fist fighting with the guy who called himself Mischief.

Xander just stood and watch for a moment as the two fought. They were both trained in the art, so it looked more like a sophisticated dance than your run of the mill schoolyard fight.

“Momentum, you care to join the fight?” Taylor asked as Mischief held his arm around her throat. She pulled him down and flipped him over her shoulder, but he cough a hold of her ankle and pulled her down with him.

Xander ran over and pushed the villain into the same marble wall he had hit only minutes before. He helped Taylor to her feet and she wiped a small trickle of blood from her mouth. She couldn’t heal fast like he could.

When Mischief got to his feet, Xander took a phone wire from one of the desk phones and tied the villain’s hands together in front of him, so he couldn’t reach a gun.

The police came storming in at that moment. After making sure all of the hostages were alright outside, they would of course be coming to arrest the man who tried to rob this bank.

Mischief only laughed again, only this time it sounded hysterical. He reached his hand around and pressed a button on his sleeve that Xander hadn’t seen and a knife popped out. While Xander was too distracted with the police finally entering the scene, the villain cut the phone wire and reached for his gun.

When the first shot rang out, Xander turned and caught the bullets before they could reach their targets. The police heard the shots and took out their own guns, only adding to the chaos.

When the shooting stopped and the smoke from the broken marble cleared, Mischief was gone.

Well, there went Momentum’s spotless record.

The police checked each other for wounds and Xander went to check up on Taylor. She was clutching her side, but it was unclear whether she had been clipped or if it was just a bruise from all the gymnastics she had been doing.

“Are you alright?”

Taylor nodded. “Yeah, I’ll live. We need to get out of here before the police start asking us questions. It’s pointless to stay when they’ll have security camera footage.”

That was one thing he noticed about Silver Streak. She liked to stay in the shadows most of the time, and she hated conversing with the police when she stopped a crime. Maybe it was from years living in Oakland. Xander knew he wouldn’t trust a cop sniffing around in his neighborhood.

Xander took Taylor and sped out into that same alley way they were in before. It took Taylor significantly longer this time to change because she was hurt, but she wouldn’t let Xander see if it was serious or not. They got back to school and Xander realized it had only been around ten minutes based on his watch.

Wow, that seemed more like an hour than ten minutes.

Xander walked in and took his seat back where John was. Two minutes later Taylor walked back in. She gave Xander a sly grin before sitting in her old seat and facing the board.

“What was that about? Isn’t Taylor like the sworn enemy of your girlfriend?”

He didn’t know what to say. Yeah, Mera hated the fact that Taylor was risking her life to save people even without superpowers, but that didn’t mean Xander had to stop talking to her. Besides, shouldn’t the fact that he was helping her be a good thing? He was trying not to let her get hurt (even though she got hurt anyways).

“It’s complicated.”

John let out a whistle. “You better be damn sure about whatever it is you’re doing. I would not want to be on the bad side of Mera Deauxma.”