Chapter 10

45 SECONDS. They could be the difference between life and death. 45 seconds that Exalibar knew he would be out. But he had hope for the first time in those 45 seconds he knew everything would be alright. The last thing he saw was Ronin. The former world's strongest hero was now on the scene and now all he had to do was wait. And wait he did. Ronin was renowned for his ice powers and how quickly he dealt with criminals. Although he swore off the life of a hero in order to take care of his wife there was 1 thing he could not ignore. He received a call a few minutes before Exalibar and Aisha had made it to the bank. The military had detected their stolen hardware and knew that if they sent anyone else they would most probably not make it out alive. At first he refused to aid in any way but as he turned on his TV to see the news he saw Exalibar, there fighting Gauntlets putting his own life on the line. As an adult, as a parent he felt compelled to help. Grabbing a mask he rushed out his house and flew to the location of the bank. As he arrived he was met with the severed head of the man in the stolen suit. But his hero's intuition told him there were others there that were also robbing the bank. He dashed to the bank and to his utter surprise he saw the rest of the robbers tied up and Aisha who was repairing the damage done to the bank. "Had Exalibar dispatched the initial robbers before dealing with the man in the suit? No, he wouldn't have enough time or an opening.... Could it be?" He wondered. His daughter had expressed 0 interest in becoming a hero and this was something she made illicitly clear to both him and her mother, and yet here she was. Why now and why with Exalibar the boy single handedly responsible for forcing him and his wife into an early retirement. It was all to perplexing to him so much so he had spaced out in the middle of the the bank and only came too when he felt a hand shaking him.

Aisha: Dad? Dad?

Ronin: Oh Aisha...

Aisha: You kind of spaced out there dad, is everything alright?

Ronin: Mammy yeah just taking in all the heroic work you've done here. This was you right?

Aisha: Oh yeah definitely. You know I never wanted this hero stuff but today wow just WOW. You want to know how I stopped them. Let me tell you either way. (Aisha was very excited to tell her father of her accomplishment) When Exalibar launched himself out with the other guy I quickly made 4 walls to protect the people just in case anything happened. And then I ran into the vault and this guy shot at me, can you imagine? Anyways his aim was shit so he missed. I hit him with a pillar straight out from the ground and knocked him to the roof and then removed all the oxygen from the room knocking the rest of them out. If you are wondering why I took such a risky move dad I made a mask so that I could breathe. I'm thinking of joining this hero stuff now actually although I think it would be best if I stayed at the sidelines. I mean can you imagine what would have happened if I came here alone. I probably would have been seriously injured if not dead. 

Ronin listened to his daughter ramble on and on about heroism for the next 5 minutes. This was a side of his daughter only he knew. She never wanted to admit it to her mother but Aisha always looked up to her and hoped to replace her but she knew the risks, hence never admitted to wanting to even join on a simple mission. As Ronin pondered on how he was to tell Valery a beaten Exalibar made his way into the bank. Looking around he saw how the situation had been handled. 

Exalibar: Did you guys know that they had news helicopters recording my fight with Gauntlets? Ah Ronin how are you Sir? How is Mrs. Valery's recovery coming along?

Ronin: Her recovery is coming along quite well. The doctors say that in a few weeks she will be able to do menial tasks on her own but they don't expect her ever to do heroing.

Exalibar: I'm so sorry to hear that Sir.

Ronin: Its quite alright young man. She was looking for away to retire anyways (chuckles) Oh and by the way yes they recorded your fight. That's how I knew where and rushed here as soon as I could.

Aisha: Oh no, this is bad very very bad. If people saw how much power Exalibar has he will be expelled from school. Such power houses aren't allowed to learn at our institution. 

Ronin: I'll put in a good word it will be alright.

"I hope so because I am not looking for another school for you," said James as he got out of his car. " Are you okay? Did he hurt or break anything?" James was frantically inspecting Exalibar for injuries. After 5 minutes of a thorough inspection and 10 other minutes of full body scans he concluded that both of them where alright. Aisha had no injuries and Exalibar was healing up a few cuts and scrapes. For today they had won but tomorrow they faced an even bigger battle. The school board of directors.