Top It Off

The night was deathly still as Terry Torres tiptoed across the semi-vacant parking lot to his hunk of junk car affectionately known as “The Lemon”, both for its terrible color and for its lemon-like state. He thought arrogantly that he planned his escape so well not even Omniscient Oscar would know he was gone until morning, when he would be far enough from this hellhole to ever be forced to return.

One would think the power to give people infinite soda and beer would be enough to make friends, but when you live at a superhero academy, refill powers put you somewhere very far underneath the bottom of the totem pole. But never mind that now; Terry was on his way to a new life. With a never ending supply of gas and a head in the clouds, he knew he could find somewhere to fulfill his destiny and be a hero.

After a few days of open road, stopping only for bathrooms and to find food, as he had yet to learn how or if he could refill solid objects, Terry decided to pull over at a small campsite and set up a place to rest for the night. He could easily refill his energy and eliminate the need to sleep, but every so often he enjoyed the sensation of being unconscious for a few hours.  It gave him less time to regret leaving his entire 17 year old life behind.

Terry’s tired eyes shot open in the growing darkness in response to a whisper that might not have existed. For the first time, he regretted leaving his only friend, Sonic Simon, at school. He had the best hearing of any superhero before him, and he would have clearly heard the shout from the distance, that may not have been. Just as Terry closed his eyes again, he heard it clearly:

HELP!

Before his mind caught up with him, Terry was already a football field away from his shabby campsite running toward the noise. With the aid of the shrill female voice that sounded out every thirty seconds, Terry was able to find the pretty girl huddled over something that he couldn’t see. Only then did he realize he had run without grabbing pants and stood in front of the girl in his boxers and a shabby t-shirt. He considered turning back to find something better to wear, but the girl turned and saw him and sighed in relief, so he couldn’t leave.

The girl, who didn’t seem to notice Terry’s boxers, had tears in her eyes as she looked at him and hoarsely whispered “thank goodness you’re here.”

Terry smiled awkwardly and didn’t know what to do or say. He was never any good at this hero thing.

“What… uh… what’s going on?” he painfully stuttered out.

“It’s my boyfriend. He got hurt and he was bleeding and he lost a lot of blood and I don’t know what to do.” She collapsed into tears as Terry bent down to look over the injured boy. Knowing immediately what he should do, he ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around the wound as best he could, and then he put his hand on top of the makeshift bandage, focused his mind, and used his power to refill the boy with the blood he had lost. He dialed for an ambulance and gave clumsy directions to wherever they were, then he put his arm around the still-sobbing girl.

“Do you… have any water? You should probably drink some.”

“No, we’re all out.” The girl muttered somberly.

“Oh, I can fix that” Terry said, grabbing her water bottle that was instantly filled. He handed it to her with a smile, but she eyed it suspiciously.

“It’s just water.” He said, self-consciously lowering the bottle that she refused to take.

“But how did you…”

“… refill it? That’s my power. I’m a superhero… of a sort… like Spider-Man, you know? Except for, well, I just refill things… I guess.”

                She sat staring at Terry, with nothing to say. Not that he could blame her; he couldn't remember ever uttering such a lame sentence, and he was no orator on the best of days. Finally she said “so… like, you never run out of money, that sort of thing?”

                “Well…” Terry brushed through his hair with the hand that wasn’t still holding the water bottle. “No, not really. I mean, it only works on liquid… water, blood, gas…”

                “Blood? Is that what you did to Mike? Is he going to be okay then?”

                “I think so… you should really take this water.” Terry’s arm felt sweet relief as the girl finally took the bottle, and drank from it deeply.

                When she finished drinking and finally swallowed, she said, “what’s your name, Superman?”

                “Terry. Yours?”

                “Sarah. Terry, huh? That’s not a very superhero-y name.”

                “Well, sorry, but it’s all I got. Well, I have my school name- Top Off Terry- but heroes don’t get good names until they actually become… uh… heroes.”

Sarah just laughed, and then turned to look at her boyfriend, still lying lifeless on the ground. The sky still wasn’t completely dark, but it wouldn’t be long before the stars would be the only light. Terry hoped that help would arrive quickly, and just as he did, he heard voices approaching from the trees.

“Hey, uh, Top Off? You should probably go…” Sarah muttered. “Not that I want you to leave, it’s just… you really do have your top off. And your pants for that matter.”

Drat, she had noticed. “Uh, yeah.” Terry muttered.

“But… well… thanks a million!” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re my hero.”

Terry smiled, then ran away from the approaching men. He stayed long enough to make sure they were people who could help, then he disappeared into the night… a hero, even if in the smallest sense.