Passive Aggressive

Cordayl has his hoodie on tight as he and Esquimo stand in the middle of an ocean of people cheering and shouting at a fan meeting.

Esquimo is cheering just as loud as the teens and children as he pushes to try to see the superhero who has everyone in attendance.

The hero floats over everyone, landing in the middle, not far from Cordayl and Esquimo. Esquimo revs up, seeing how close they are, and urges Cordayl to push him through so he can get an autograph.

"Esquimo, why are you going so crazy for a guy in spandex? He doesn't even look cool! He looks like a bag of candy with a receipt stapled to it."

"Lad, stop hating. He's the strongest hero on land. I've been a fan of his for years. I once saw him cancel a tornado with a clap! A clap! It's rumored that he once sneezed and created a hurricane. Then he saved everyone on the coast before the storm happened!" Esquimo fans out.

Cordayl yawns. "Impressive. Well, I'm leaving. I'll be at the theatre if you need me." Cordayl says, trying to push through the thick crowd of fans.

The hero, who is still signing merchandise and other things, notices someone trying to leave the gathering. Feeling bad that a fan is discouraged that they won't get to meet their hero, the superhero floats through the air and gracefully lands behind Cordayl.

Cordayl notices that the fans have separated and formed a circle around him. Turning around, Cordayl quickly hides his face again and quietly starts panicking.

"Young man. Or lady. I can't really tell with the hoodie on. Don't leave just yet. Not without a signed figurine." The hero says, pulling out an action figure.

"A limited edition!" Esquimo shouts.

Cordayl, unwilling to accept the gift because he would have to turn around, humbly denies the offer, still trying to escape.

The crowd gasp at his denial, then they start to boo him. The hero calms everyone down, stating, "It's clear this person is not a materialistic individual. That's perfectly fine." the hero says, tossing the figurine into the crowd. "How about a picture?"

"No, thank you," Cordayl repeats, resuming his push to leave the crowd.

This stuns the hero, and now he refuses to take no for an answer, chasing the stranger through the crowd. "Wait! I'm curious who would deny a picture with the one and only. At least turn around so that you can meet me!"

Cordayl ignores him as he tries to escape the crowd of fans, who turn chaotic as the hero gets closer and closer to them and Cordayl.

The crowd is now pushing against Cordayl, pissing him off as he refrains from using brute strength to just run through them all. A vein pops upon his head as he continues to get pushed and bumped, but he can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The hero is going through the same struggle. He says, "Excuse me," repeatedly as he avoids fan after fan. So many people are grabbing him and screaming in his ear that even he gets annoyed.

All he wants right now is to know who this mystery person is. He doesn't understand why he is so drawn to this person, but he has come too far to give up.

He can see the crowd slowing down the person in the hoodie, assisting in his chase, and now he is finally within reach.

Cordayl is finally free from the ocean of people. Taking a deep breath, he smiles.

Then his hoodie is snatched off before he can take that liberating first step.

As his dreadlocks swing loose, a wave of silence washes over the wazoo of people in the area.

"The Diablo." Cordayl can hear one person whisper as he feels the atmosphere change from excitement to fear.

Cordayl tries to pull his hood back up, but the superhero refuses to let go.

Cordayl's face falls flat as the grip on his hood tightens. He sighs. "I guess this is the part where I tell you you have two options."

"I think you know I only have one, Diablo." The superhero replies.

"Suit yourself," Cordayl says. Then, he tries to stomp on the hero's foot. The hero instantly evades the hit, but he drops his eyes. When the hero picks his head up, he sees that he is only holding the hoodie.

Cordayl sprints through the streets, trying to put as much distance between himself and the event as possible. "Aughhhhh! Why are you always running?"

"Shut up. There were way too many people there. I don't need anyone getting hurt because he feels obligated to fight me. Even if it's his fault, they'll blame me." Cordayl responds.

"Who cares? You're already the bad guy. Worse, you're 'the Diablo.' Everyone already blames you for everything. I'm sure you got blamed for that volcano that erupted two weeks ago." The voice laughs.

"Shut up," Cordayl shouts continuing to distance himself from the meet and greet.

Suddenly, there is a line of flame right next to him. Cordayl doesn't stop running, but he turns to see how close the superhero is. Flying low through the streets, Cordayl sees the superhero gaining on him quickly.

Cordayl takes a turn and starts jumping through obstacles in a cool parkour fashion, to avoid the superhero, who is low-key impressed at the speed of Diablo.

Getting angry, the superhero flies into the sky, and after predicting Cordayl's course, he decides to put a wall of flames in front of him to corner him.

Smiling, the superhero blows out the flame on his lighter, and swoops down to intercept the Diablo

Cordayl casually jumps through the fire and continues running. Realizing that this hero isn't going to be shaken off easily and seeing the damage he's starting to do to the city, Cordayl sighs, knowing he has no choice but to face him head-on.

Cordayl focuses the gravity around himself and leaps into the air to see if there is a good place to take this battle. Soaring through the air, he spots a forest and thinks this is the safest place to do so.

As Cordayl descends, the superhero socks him clean in the face and sends him flying into a construction site.

The superhero gracefully lands at the site, waiting for Cordayl to appear. "There are a lot of blind spots here. If I were him, the most logical place to strike would be behind me, but this is The Diablo. He could strike from anywhere," the hero analyzes.

Cordayl silently drops from the sky and lands a few yards from the hero. "That was a good hit," Cordayl says in unison with the voice. "Let's see you land another one." He challenges the hero.

The hero smiles. "That's Fine with me. I still have an obligation to greet the fans for another 20 minutes, so I don't have time to enjoy this," the hero says, getting ready to end this battle with one strike.

Cordayl watches him with unblinking focus as he watches the hero gather his power.

"This must be that light-speed punch Esquimo was telling me about." Cordayl thinks.

"Hmm, which would be more demoralizing, dodging it or taking the hit and still standing?" the voice asks.

"Why not both?" Cordayl says, eyes narrowing as he decides on his course of action.