Richard Price was having a great day.

He was socially awkward and didn't have many friends, so normally he would spend his days after school doing homework, playing video games, or reading comics. Today was a rare exception. A few of the friends had invited him to watch a movie with them after classes.

"Scarlet King: EarthShaker" was the newest movie about one of the old school heroes and was something he had been looking forward to. He was originally planning to just wait the three or four months it took for it to come on DVD because he had social anxiety and crowds made him nervous.

He was so glad he accepted the invitation to hang out for once and didn't of stay holed indoor playing funny cat videos on Youtube.

Instead, he got to watch an absolutely amazing action film based on one of Scarlet King's adventures! One of the most powerful Heroes in the world!

After the three hours long movie the group had decided to go to the nearby mall.

"Man, that was amazing! Totally worth the high price!" shouted a tall teen with short green hair. A large grin stuck on his face as she stretched his left arm over his head, a small series of pops were heard as he worked out the kinks in his shoulders.

"I know, Broccoli head, did you see those special effects? Absolutely insane man." A bubbly young girl in a yellow sundress replied to her friend's enthusiasm. She raised her arms in a mock boxing stance and sent a few quick jabs out while making whooshing noises, mimicking her favorite hero, Shockwave, and his fighting style. If the name wasn't an obvious enough of what that involved, the man could creature intense blasts of air and shockwaves with his fists. 

A simple but definitely powerful and effective ability to be sure. 

Richard couldn't help the large smile on his face while watching the other's animated discussion of the movie. This was why they were friends despite his poor people skills. They all shared a love for nerd culture, especially Superheros and movies.

The young boy was Devin, his hair was permanently dyed green in a chemistry experiment gone wrong. That had happened a bit over two years ago when they were all freshmen, but even now people still liked to make fun of him for it in good humor. The peppy girl was Sarah, part girly shopaholic, part kung fu wannabe, all supportive badass. They were his two closest friends at school, although not like he had that many if he was being honest to himself, but we've known each other for three years now.

"Actually, they weren't special effects, the director had actually hired Supers!" Richard couldn't help but bounce in his seat just remembering the pure awesome scene of Scarlet King rushing through the alliance of villains' base and shutting down their earthquake machine. All the various powers being thrown around like it was going out of style. Admittedly, the plot could've been a bit better, but there was something just plain awesome about senseless violence in action films.

"Are you guys hungry? I'm going to grab some grub." Devin had gotten up and out of his seat while pointing to the nearby burger joint.

"Oh, oh, get me a tuna salad, please and thank you!" She reached into her purse and handed him some cash. Devin then turned to himself.

"Seriously? You do know that the salads here probably have more calories than their meal set, right?" He punctuated his sentence with a raised eyebrow and skepticism in his eyes, however, Sarah was unmoved and simply blew him a raspberry.

"How about you man?"

"No, thank you. I don't have any money."

Richard only shook his head at the kind offer, he had spent it all on the tickets, but he didn't regret it one bit. Besides, he could just make some cup ramen at home or something. 

"That's fine, I'll cover you. You still like chicken, right? I know they have amazing chicken parm. Brb."

Devin left before he could get a word in and swiftly came back within minutes. Fast food truly lived up to its name after the use of 3-D printing food became more commonplace. Everything was automatic now and there was no room for human error. Efficiency was maximized and it really showed in the taste, as his chicken parm sub was absolutely just divine. 

Well, it could also because I was just really hungry too.

"Thanks, Dev, I'll pay you back next time."

"Nah, don't sweat it. How's your food?"

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"It's nice. You guys?"

"Not bad! Their new chipotle hot sauce is the bomb."

"Eh, tuna salad is tuna salad. I do like these little crunchy bread things thou."

"You mean croutons?" Richard and Devin both said at the same time before looking at each other and laughing.

"Whatever." She said with a huff, earning even more laughter from the duo before suddenly an explosion knocked them all to the ground. Richard groggily got up after a few minutes and could hear muffled screams and sirens in the distance. Everything felt muted in a sense and his balance felt off, he felt as if he was underwater.

The source was the nearby bank.

Devin and Sarah were both out cold a few meters away. They were seated in the direction of the explosion and were tossed far away, while his seat was near a pillar which absorbed a majority of the force. He didn't know if that was a blessing or not, because his ribs felt like a big bruise, and being unconscious sounded simply delightful in the face of the pounding in his head at the moment.

Everyone else seemed to have escaped from the area already.

He went to check on the two and was relieved that they only seem alright, albeit knocked out, but nothing appeared broken or bleeding. He tried to call 911, but the lines were all busy.

Suddenly a crash happened a few tables next to him. He could hear grunts of pain and the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing loudly in spite of all the chaotic noises in the background.

"You. Stupid. Mother. Fucker!" Each word was followed by a stronger impact. As he turned his head he saw a surprising scene. A young woman who looked to be in her early 20s was straddling a man and raining a series of ferocious blows upon his face, wailing away at him like a punching bag. She was was a good 5'9, a relatively tall height for a woman, but the man she was beating was a solid 7 feet packed full of dense and thick muscle. Blood gushed out of the man's clearly broken nose, but the woman didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.

"You ruined my heist, damn it! Stupid blockhead, why couldn't you have rob Central Bank or some shit?" By her side, he now noticed a sack with the edge of a very familiar painting sticking out of it.

Was that the "Birth of Venus"? He idly wondered in shock at the scene in front of him. Eavesdropping on the conversation he mentally connected the dots as he watched the fight. She must've been stealing from the nearby art museum, but the bank robber had gotten the attention of the cops, and somehow they got into an argument which quickly turned physical he thought as he analyzed the situation in front of him.

The hulking man finally got out of his daze and rolled her off him. He then grabbed a nearby table and threw it at her like a missile. The woman couldn't dodge out of the way in time, folded like a lawn chair, and went soaring out of the food court. Afterward, he seemed to finally notice he had an audience and gave Richard, who was standing there dumbly still in shock, a narrow glare.

He stared at the man's face the entire time. It was rude to not look someone in the eyes when they were talking to you he remembered being told by his mom, and when his mind shut down in incomprehension of the situation he found himself he, he went to his default setting. Unfortunately, the man didn't take too kindly to the weird highschooler staring at him as if a freakshow.

"What're you looking at, asshole?"

"Eh? A-ah, no, but, um," Should he just say something? Try to calm him down? What if he pissed the criminal off? He didn't want to escalate the situation. Maybe he should make a run for it? No, wait, what if the man turned his attention to his unconscious friends? 

"What is it? Spit it out!" The sudden shout scared Richard, and all his wits had escaped him long ago, and so he uttered the first dumb thing that came to mind, an innocent observation.

"Your nose is bleeding... Sir?" He didn't know how old he was, but the man looked a lot older than him.

It was apparently the wrong thing to say as his face reddens in anger and a vein could visibly be seen throbbing on his forehead. The large man lifted another table above his head, ready to swing it down upon Rick's head to vent his anger at the reminder of having been beaten by a woman. 

"Yeah? Well, you're about to bleed too, all over the floor in fact!" He roared as he slammed down. Richard didn't know what to do. His knees failed him and he fell on his ass. There was no way in hell he could block or dodge it in time. He wasn't Scarlet King, he didn't have the power or training to deal with an actual supervillain, and simply stared at the incoming table when a blue blast of fire launched the man away like a rag doll. His body was steaming and he was clearly unconscious from the impact with the wall.

The woman had some scuff marks on her suit but looked none worse for wear besides the look of mild irritation on her face. Now that she was closer he could better make out her features. Long bright blue hair cascaded down her back, steel-grey eyes set in a stern gaze and a form-fitting black catsuit with silver clasps and belts. She was the definition of a femme fatale.

His heart was racing when looking at her, but this time it was clear the cause wasn't fear.

"You alright, kid?"

He tried his best to reply, but he couldn't seem to remember how to talk. He tried desperately to say something, anything, so that it wouldn't get awkward. To have her attention on him just for another moment, but how could a mere mortal such as him even hold a conversation with such a Goddess? A wire must've crossed in his brain, thoughts and words and phrases jumbled into a mess. Because the words that came out of his mouth were decidedly the worst thing he could've said. Surely his guardian angel was off somewhere drunk and had left him out to hang, otherwise, why would he think of Josh and his stupid jokes? Hey, man, I'd fuck a chicken parm if it had nice enough tits.

He stared at her straight in the eye and said only one thing.

"You have nice tit"

A scowl instantly grew on her beautiful face.

The bottom of her boot was the last thing he saw, but he engraved the memory into the deepest part of his mind. He had woken up in the hospital hours later with a mild concussion and a black eye that took two weeks to heal. Yet he had a stupid grin on his face the entire time it was there wearing it proudly as if medal of honor, whenever he touched it a sharp sting the sharp sting of pain reminded him of the encounter and he couldn't help but smile all the wider for it. Everyone thought he was a weirdo for it, but he didn't mind.

Maybe he was a weirdo, but he was a weird who knew without a shred of doubt that he was in love.