Hardhat Chronicles Part 2

Warning: Contains strong language

“So you’re telling me you could’ve called yourself whatever you wanted?” Kat asked.

“Pretty much anything, yeah,” Ben responded.

“And you decided to go with Hardhat?” she questioned.

“Well yeah, I wanted something that related to my powers,” Ben said, “I told you that when I first signed up.”

“I know that, but I didn’t know you could call yourself anything,” she said, “I thought it had to sound stupid.”

“No, there really wasn’t a limitation …” He said, not really hearing her for a moment. “Hey, Hardhat is not a stupid name!”

They had been arguing Ben’s choice in alias since his encounter with ‘Guy with a Gun.’ Kat had never approved of Hardhat, but assumed he didn’t have many options. She was annoyed when she found out there were no restrictions, and had been pestering Ben ever since.

“Yes it is Ben, and you know it,” Kat insisted.

“Well, what would you have gone with?” Ben asked defensively.

“I don’t know, how about something cool like Skullcap?” Kat said.

“That’d make me sound like a villain!” Ben insisted.

“I would also make you sound like a badass,” Kat replied

“No one would read about a hero with a villain’s name,” Ben explained, “I had to make my name heroic.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Ben. No in is going to be reading about you,” Kat sighed. Ben struggled to come up with a comeback, but accepted silence after a few minutes of failure.

“Where’d you say this break-in was?”Ben asked, breaking the silence.

“A liquor store on Elm Avenue,” Kat answered, “And I’m taking that subject change as a victory for me.”

Ben shook his head, “Fine, take your victory. But I only see one liquor store here, and it doesn’t look like there’s anyone inside.”

“Well, the EECOSH site says a PIR system was tripped in Bubba’s Booze, Elm Avenue,” Kat said.

“Well I’m standing right in front of Bubba’s Booze, Elm Avenue and I’m telling you there’s no one inside,” Ben argued.

He shivered in the cold air. The streetlamps were frosted over, dimming the lights. Fall had arrived a few days ago, and winter wasn’t far behind. It wasn’t a good night to be wandering the city, but he didn’t have much of a choice. The bills didn’t stop just because it got cold, if anything they got worse.