Elliot Woodsworth wandered aimlessly for hours. He was furious with himself for what happened at the bank, there’s no way they’d believe he was the hero now. As he was waiting for the police to discuss their findings with each other he had been pulled through the window. Pronto dragged him three blocks before he could open his mouth in warning to the officers. He struggled to get free, but Pronto continually changed his grip while moving them at what Elliot thought must have been over 100 miles an hour. The two wrestled in the air for a couple of minutes, but as they approached the coastline Pronto hurled Brute Force out to sea.
He swam over a mile back to shore and ran several more miles back to the bank to find it deserted. He was sure Pronto had shown up and told the police some outlandish lie and they of course believed him because he would ‘help’ look for Elliot after he disappeared. He sulked as he wandered, and to his surprise he found the he had wandered to the house of his cousin. Wendy was the only one he had left of his family. It was nearly 7 a.m. now and he knew she would be up.
He stood on the sidewalk for several minutes not wanting to approach the house. He was ashamed. She was the only one who knew about his powers and his attempt at becoming a superhero. She also told him that he should register before he tried anything. He was too afraid of becoming a failure though and didn’t want anyone else to know if he did. Now with this awful mess he created he knew she, of course, had been right.
Finally, knowing he had to talk to someone about it even though it was embarrassing, he walked to the door and knocked. After a brief moment the door opened. “Elliot, you look horrible,” she said as she stepped aside to let him in.
“Thank you,” said Elliot with a big smile, which quickly faded and his whole body slumped as he walked through the door.
“Would you like anything to drink?”
“Water would be nice, thank you.” She went to the kitchen and met him in the living room. They sat on opposing leather sofas with a glass coffee table between them. The room had a vaulted ceiling, a large fireplace to one side and a window overlooking the pool in the back yard on the other. Elliot was staring blankly into his glass of water now resting on the table.
“So, what happened last night?” Wendy finally asked.
“Huh? Oh, Well… I think the police might think I’m on the wrong side of the law.” Unable to find words she stared at him until he finally continued. “I was out for the first time last night patrolling and I saw something unusual by a bank downtown.”
He told her of following Pronto into the bank, tripping the alarm, and the ensuing problems with the authorities.
“Sounds like you would have saved yourself a lot of trouble if…” began Wendy.
“I know, I know, I should have gone to them first.” Elliot said as he stood and began to pace. “If I had registered with them, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened, but it did. I don’t need a lecture right now, what I need is to know how to fix this mess.”
“I’m sure throwing a tantrum will help you figure out a solution to your problem.” She leaned back in the sofa and crossed her legs giving him her frequent ‘stop whining’ face.
“Sorry, Wendy,” he began as he sat back down on the sofa. “It’s just that I know I messed up big, and I’m really worried about how to get it fixed. Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, the way I see it, you can either turn yourself in and explain everything, hoping they are convinced sooner rather than later, or you catch this Pronto guy yourself, find proof of your innocence and his guilt and turn everything over to the cops.”
Elliot made a sad attempt at smiling. “You make it sound so easy.”
“No one said messes were easy to clean up.”
“No, I guess not.”
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