Haresa

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to take you seriously." My hand covered my mouth as I finished the remaining bites of the sandwich. "You used to be a drier, no filler type of villain. Seeing you flaunt it with all the theatrics really surprised me."

Sheldon was trying his hardest to eat the sandwich in his get-up, breaking bits of the sub and stuffing it down his collar.

I let myself relax in the chair as I was freed from the restraints.

"Cut me some slack." He seemed upset. "This is my first sponsorship. I need to do well."

"Didn't you have sponsorships before?"

"Those were different." He had said it so quickly I almost didn't catch what he said.

"Alright... Well, I think you're doing a good job at least."

"Good?" He gave me a deadpan stare.

"Bad! I mean... Ugh, you're doing okay." I winced at what I said. "Anyways, when do we get to use the powers? I can easily break out of that thing you know."

"You can break out when it looks like I'm about to get away and use your powers." He shoved the last sandwich bite down his collar. "I, on the other hand, won't be using mine at all."

"What? That's dangerous!" I looked outside of the pharmacy and caught of glimpse of Craig who seemed to be changing out the battery to his camera. "You could get seriously hurt. You would have to rely on the tech. Are you sure you can trust it?"

"I made it with my own two hands, of course, I can fucking trust it." His words came out harsher than I expected. Did I strike a nerve? "If anyone saw my powers and name, they would find out I used to be Shelly."

A wave of realization hit me. "You don't want to be outed."

"No, I," he sighed. "Whatever let's go with that excuse. I was hoping some other hero would face off with me today too but I'll work with this."

"Why? Is there another reason?" I asked but I got no response. "You should lay off of the tortoise theme if you don't want people knowing you used to be Shelly."

"They're not tortoises, they're turtles. Tortoises can't swim and turtles can. These bad boys are water-resistant and I can swim now."

I did a double-take. "You didn't know how to swim before?"

"Shut up, thirty minutes is up. Get back to your place and I'll the camera prick in." He was about to walk away but stopped himself. "Don't ruin this for me. Please."

I sighed and picked up the chains from the ground and began tying them around my legs. All in day's work for local teen hero Haresa it seems.

Sheldon had already let Craig back and Craig was eyeing the villain with suspicion. He probably recognized Sheldon but didn't want to throw out any accusations just in case. He did act pretty different at school.

"Could you help me with this last part?" I asked the moment Sheldon got close enough. I couldn't bind my arms myself.

"Sure."

He came over to me and tied up the chains around me.

"Ugh," he said. "It doesn't look the same as before. Do you think people will notice?"

"I'll pretend I loosened it and you have to do it again. No big deal."

He tightened the knot on me and glanced at me. I could just barely make out his eyes behind the tinted glass and they were filled to the brim with suspicion. "Why are being so... helpful?"

"Hey, if this gets you off the streets, I'm fine with it." I looked away, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "Also, I find the reason you're robbing the place as very noble. I almost want to let you get away with it."

"Don't." Another knot tightened around my wrists. "If you don't make this convincing, I might not get as much money. I don't think anyone will actually give me the ransom either."

I stayed quiet and he got back to his position. We both looked to Craig and I gave him a nod. He held up his fingers and began to count down with his fingers. The moment he reached zero, he became invisible and I could see the blinking red light of the camera.

"You think you could escape me, hare?" Sheldon's voice boomed throughout the empty store. "Don't think I'm some C-rate villain with no plans or smarts."

"Hey, just because you got glasses, it doesn't mean you're smart," I shot at him with full arrogance. "I defeated adults with more experience than you."

"Experience? Experience in what?" He scoffed. "You? Don't think you're the main character of some little story where you'll always be victorious. I'm very sure you got your ass kicked by a child too."

"We were both children!"

My performance seemed to please Sheldon as he let out a low cackle. As I watched him, I realized he was pretty good with showcasing his villainy even though he hasn't done this in literal years.

"It's no matter. It's time for the real spectacle." He turned to face his robots. "Assemble."

The turtles slowly began to pile up on each other with boxes attached to them still. It reminded me of that robot cartoon where the robots turned into cars but in this situation, the robots were turning into a larger robot. The robot was in the shape of a turtle unsurprisingly and was the size of a car. The boxes rattled around inside the shell part of it and I had to appreciate the craftmanship for a moment.

"I would stick around, but I feel like you'll slow me down." Sheldon hopped onto the large robot and he didn't seem to have an issue riding it. "Don't bother with trying to catch up with me."

The robot lurched forward and began to make its exit through the sliding doors.

This seemed like a good time to break out.

I began to rub my legs together and the chains began to loosen before snapping off completely. I stood from the chair and began to run. I chewed through the chains on my wrists easily and they flew off of me without fail. At this point, I'm betting the people outside will be getting the action on film instead of Craig.

Right as I was about to catch up to Sheldon the turtle's head spun around. A laser fired at my foot and I let out a yelp. I had stopped running and inspected my feet, making sure that nothing was singed.

"What the heck?!" I yelled.

"Oh, that's just a defence system I installed," Sheldon snickered. "Looks like you got a lucky rabbit's foot on you to avoid that laser. It should've hit you without fail."

"Well, it failed! You should get your math checked."

I leaped into the air and landed on the turtle, giving it a decent-sized dent. Sheldon cursed under his breath and pulled out something from his bag.

"It looks like I'll have to use this sooner than I thought." There was a click then a crackle.

He swung the electrical baton and I leaned back, narrowly avoiding it. I noticed a few drones were hovering nearby. This better be a good angle.

I kicked at his hand and the baton flew off the turtle. I lunged at him and pinned him to the ground. He tried to throw me off but he wasn't strong enough to push me over. Or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough. He laid there and his chest rose with each heave.

"What's going on?" I hissed into his ear. "Didn't you say you wanted me to take this seriously?"

"I forgot to physically prepare my body," he wheezed.

"When was the last time you exercised?"

"Uh..."

"Fine, I'll go easy on you."

"What? Ho—"

I pulled him onto me to make it look like he had the upper hand. His face was only an inch away from mine and his eyes were wide. I felt myself begin to blush as I realize how long we've been wrestling each other. Sheldon seemed too disoriented to comprehend what was happening.

"Any last words, Haresa?" His arm reached into his bag, ready to retrieve another gadget.

I looked at the position of my legs and an idea sprung into my mind. I hesitated for a moment and Sheldon noticed.

"Whatever you're thinking, just do it," he hissed.

My eyes went wide. "It isn't safe."

"Just do it anyways. I've got this."

I winced and did as he said. I tucked my knees to my chest before launching Sheldon into the air. He flailed in the air for a few moments before hitting someone on his wrist. He began to hover above me and his bag had transformed into a high-powered jet pack. With a sigh of relief, I took the opportunity to crawl to the turtle's head and smash it. The robot collapsed beneath me, becoming a giant heap of metal and I heard Sheldon let out a frustrated scream.

"Next time I will get you!" He shouted and shook his fist.

I didn't have time to let out a sigh of relief since the cameras were still rolling. I pointed my finger at him and gave a triumphant smile. "I'll stop you as many times as it takes, villain!"

"It's Sheldon!"

He flew away dramatically and some claps erupted from the onlookers.

I had nearly forgotten that there was a crowd outside. Some reporters began to shove people out of the way so they could have the first word after the battle and I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

I wonder if Sheldon was doing alright after that?