#disapeared

Brandon still had no clue what had happened to them while they were gone, or why they were suddenly appeared five years later committing crimes all over the country. The world had gone crazy while after they disappeared, and now with the reappearance of heroes it had been plunged into even worse chaos.

Maybe he could be reasoned with?

“Look, Power Man, I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you aren’t the guy who holds school kids hostage! I mean, we had our fights and all, but you were the guy who lectured one of my minions on the health risks of sugar and caffeine.” He shrugged. “You were the ‘color in the lines’ kind of guy and that really worked for our dynamic in fights. So could you snap out of it? I feel really REALLY uncomfortable being the good guy.”

 “…” The glow in Power Man’s eyes seemed to dim a little for a moment, he shook his head slightly and tried to focus his gaze on Brandon. “Red… Bandit….” The words were mumbled, whispered under the former hero’s breath but they filled Brandon with hope. 

“That’s right! I was the Red Handed Bandit! The coolest of all the supervillains!” He glanced over at the children and teacher who were all making awkward faces and shaking their heads. “Okay, okay! I was pretty cool…” He trailed off once more as they continued to disagree. “Fine, I was bottom tier, but I worked hard, dangit!”

A young girl gave him a thumbs-up of approval at this description, and Brandon had to fight hard not to cry.

“So snap out of it, hero!” 

As soon he said this, however, he saw Power Man’s eyes glow bright red for just an instant, so quickly there and gone that he might have imagined it. The moment of relief Brandon had felt turned to panic as the dullness returned to Power Man’s gaze, and his hand slowly raised, the fingers glowing as his power gathered to strike once more. Brandon prepared to dodge, but then nearly screamed with frustration as the hand turned towards the other end of the room, preparing to fire into the crowd of children. 

“CRAP! NO!” He pressed a button on his belt, grabbing a tiny breathing filter and clapping it over his nose and mouth while rushing forward to tackle the attacker. A sleep gas escaped from hidden pockets all over his red suit, leaking out with a hiss. The hero swayed on his feet, the glow disappearing from his hand, and fell to the ground, incapacitated.

The gas dissipated rapidly, and Brandon removed his mask, leaning over to inject a vial of sedative into the hero’s tricep, praying the dosage would keep him down long enough to get him to the hideout.  The children took this as a sign of safety, and rushed around him.

“Hey! Thanks for helping out!” One boy punched the air. “I was going to pulverize him, but I thought you needed the practice. “

“I thought you were a villain?” A young girl pushed the first child out of the way, asking him with wide eyes. “Why did you save us?”

“I’m not a villain anymore!” Brandon pulled a business card out of his pocket, handing it to her. “I’m a real estate agent.”

“…” She stared at it. “I’m nine. I don’t need to buy a house.”

“I know, but maybe your parents…”

“You’re not very good at being a real estate agent, are you?” She patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. “Maybe you should stick to what your strong points are.”

“Which are…?” “You did just save us.” She smiled. “Maybe you should be a hero?”

You’ll never be a hero.

Brandon jerked as he heard those words again in his mind, trying to force a smile even as he broke out in a cold sweat. 

“Thanks, but I’m sure the real heroes will be back and helping out soon, so you won’t need me!”

And in the awkward silence that followed, he tied up Power Man’s unconscious body, loaded him up in a small red wagon he found in the kindergarten classroom, and wheeled the hero out.

___

“Brandon!”

A voice called out, catching his attention, he smiled as Sam ran up to him, forgetting that he had been trying to hide the gap in his mouth from where he lost some baby teeth. Sam came to a stop nearby, disconcerting him slightly as he had to look up at her. She had hit her growth spurt six months ago, shortly after they both had turned eight, and ever since she had been the taller one. Brandon tried to sleep early at night and even ate the vegetables they served at the orphanage, hoping he would hit a growth spurt soon, but so far he hadn’t grown at all.

“What’s up?” He asked, putting down the small gadget he had been working on.

“There’s a new kid in our class coming today!” Sam was bouncing up and down with excitement. “I heard he has powers!”

“Powers?” Brandon grimaced a little. “Like a super hero? Shouldn’t he be going to the hero school then?” 

“Apparently his parents want him to hang out with ‘normal’ kids? WHO CARES? Isn’t this so cool!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Brandon picked his gadget up again, trying to tighten one of the small screws.

“What are you doing?”

“Just finishing up my confetti trap.”

“COME ON! Work on that later!” Grabbing his hand, she pulled him along. The motion knocked his invention out of his hands, causing it to hit the floor with a loud clatter behind them. Brandon winced, not wanting to look back, worried that it was broken.

“What’s his name anyways?”

“Whose?”

Brandon rolled his eyes. “The new kid? The one you’re so excited about?”

“Oh yeah! It’s Stephen.” 

___

Suddenly, he was in the alley again.

“Stop…” Brandon’s voice came out broken, shaking. Tears and blood mixed on his face, sticking to his clothes as it dripped off his chin. “Please…”

A large fist struck his face, causing him to see stars. A snarling voice whispered in his ear.

“You could never be a hero.”

 Brandon crouched down, trying to protect his face, terrified.

 “Brandon!”

He shook his head, wanting to escape, but knowing that he was outmatched.

“BRANDON!”

After all who would believe him, even if he told anyone? 

He was better off running away.

Becoming something out of HIS reach.

“BRANDON!”

A super villain.

“BRANDON WAKE UP!”

Brandon’s eyes snapped open as a familiar voice pulled him from his nightmare of the past.

Sam was shaking his shoulder, her face concerned.  He smiled wanly at her, rubbing his eyes, hoping he didn’t look as terrible as he felt. 

“Hey Sam, what’s up?”

 Sam glared at him. “You fell asleep on the floor. You’re working too hard! I know I told you we needed help with this, but you’ve barely slept or ate ALL WEEK!” 

Brandon shrugged. “There’s a lot of heroes popping up all over the place. We have no idea if how long each one will stick around for, or if they’ll disappear again. We have to take the chance and get them now.”

“Yeah, and you’ve done great, you’ve caught over fifteen super heroes.” She patted his shoulder. “But you’re going to run yourself ragged at this rate. Trust me, I know.” She smiled sadly. “Stephen used to do the same thing. He always wanted to be the best.”

He felt himself flinch at the name, but kept his face neutral. “Are you worried?”

“Worried?”

“Worried that he’ll show up robbing a bank or something?”

Sam sighed, sitting down next to him on the floor where he had collapsed and fallen asleep earlier. “I don’t know. I mean, he has the power to shift within quantum realities, so I always hoped that he was… out there… somewhere. That he escaped, you know?” 

She leaned back, closing her eyes. “But now, it’s been five years. I feel bad hoping that he’ll show up ‘robbing a bank or something’, but at least then I know he didn’t just run off.”

“He…” Brandon hesitated. “He wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t run off. Being a hero was too important… I mean... YOU were too important.”

She snorted derisively. “No, you got it right the first time. Being a hero meant everything to him. Everything else… including me…. took a backseat to that.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be, nothing like five years in a world gone mad to really give a girl clarity and perspective on relationships.”

They both sighed in unison. 

Brandon didn’t want to break the silence, but eventually spoke up. “So… this isn’t going to work. “ 

“ I know. There’s too many super heroes, and all of them are under some sort of mind control.” Sam buried her face in her hands. “We’ve had to keep all the ones we’ve captured sedated. So there’s no one to help you.”

“Actually… there might be someone.” 

“Who?”

Brandon grinned. “I’ve got a bit of a crazy plan.”

___

“NO.” Captain Doombringer glared at the two of them, crossing his arms across his chest.  “I am the leader of the villain’s coalition, not the freaking cub scouts! Why on earth would I help someone STOP crime?” 

“Come on!” Brandon spread his hands helplessly. “It’s the former heroes committing the crimes, so at least you’d be fighting on the opposite side still!” 

“No.”

Sam broke in. “So, I hate to ask this, but did any of you guys have something to do with the disappearance of the super heroes?”

The Captain glared at Brandon. “Why’d you bring Quantum Blade’s reporter girlfriend here?”

“She insisted on coming… and she’s kind of a childhood friend.” Brandon shrugged. “She’s cool.”

He sighed. “No. None of us villains did it. Believe me, we all WISH we were the ones who pulled this off.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “So whoever did this, isn’t part of the coalition?”

“Freaking renegades.” He grumbled. “Trying to avoid paying dues.”

“Isn’t this a good way to get them back? By spoiling their plan?”

Brandon saw that Captain Doombringer was hesitating. “Plus, you know the crew is getting bored committing crimes with no one to even try to stop them.” He added on the pressure with a smile. “This, however, will be fun!”

“You have no idea what the word ‘fun’ means do you?” The Captain stared up at the ceiling, as if searching for help there. “…fine, I’ll bring it up at tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Hooray!”

“You rock!”

“… I hate you both.”

__

Two days later, Brandon and Sam high fived, looking over a crowd of slightly excited looking super villains.  Several spontaneous fights broke out, with laser beams bouncing off the ceiling and shooting in several directions. 

“Well, I got them here.” Captain Doombringer looked resigned, and tired. “Now what?” 

Brandon looked over at his fellow super villains, grinning. “Now? Now us super villains are going to do the one thing we’ve never done before:”

He pulled on his red cape.