Superhero 2
Chapter 2
"Are you a superhero?" little Tristan asks.
The long drive home is awkward until this moment. No one talks. Tristan hasn't taken his eyes off me but when he finally asks the question it splits the silence and defined the entire night. He's beyond cute. His big eyes look up at me. He looks at me the way that any big brother would want his little brother to look at him. He looks at me like he's proud.
For a moment, I think that everything that just happened was real. I was something special. The long jump would change my life and all these possibilities would be opened up to me.
I don't know how to answer Tristan. I don't even know what defines a Super hero.
"No, he's not," my father responds, "And he never will be."
My father's tone is strong and final. More thrilling than the videos of the superhero Mayor Morals from back in the day that could break bullets with his broad chest. My father's tone humbled me and brought me back to reality. Whatever reality I had thought I'd seen before was gone. This was a new world and I was not that person.
We pull up to the house and my father waits in the car. We all know what that means. Mary silently takes Tristan out of the car and heads for the house. She doesn't give me a stare or even a nod of understanding. Maybe it's payback from earlier when I abandoned her. I sit in the car.
It's moments like this where I know my father is going to go off on me for losing the race. I want to explain to him who Aaron Kanzari Jr. really is. White Frost wasn't exactly some superhuman runner but maybe my father would find an excuse for my failure because Kanzari was a metahuman after all. This is different through. Through the silence, I don't think my father is going to punish me for losing the race. He's not going to make me run another lap. He's not going to make me do squats until my legs fell off. This was different.
"Whatever happened today...a lot of people saw," he explains to me, "Don't do it again."
That's all he says.
It's cold and empty and I don't know how to interpret it besides threatening.
I whimper back as though I'm still a teenager looking at my father desperately for his attention, "Yes sir."
He doesn't ask me to run extra laps. He doesn't ask me to train until the morning like he usually would. He just nods. I know that means that I'm excused. It always has meant that. With that, I get out of the car and see my father's eyes watching me the entire time as I go into the house. It's almost as though he doesn't recognize me anymore and that's a scary thought.
~
The next morning I wake up wanting to forget everything and luckily it seems as though the day is starting off like that. Tristan doesn't ask me any weird questions that I can't answer. He doesn't keep looking at me like I'm one of those caped heroes in the comics his friends show him at school. Mary makes some small talk about the annual Metropolis fair that everyone is attending at the end of the week. Then there's my father who is staring deep down at a paper with his morning coffee and his construction uniform on.
My father worked hard. Sometimes I can see the strain on his face. Of course, he was in perfect physical shape, but sometimes I worried he took on too much at his job. Today was one of those days. His forehead is all wrinkled up and his coarse hands look almost like rocks. He does what he has to do. Mary doesn't work so it's all on him. I wasn't able to go to school on campus like a lot of other college students. I had to stay home. Track paid for my tuition but dad made sure all my books were paid for. He never let me down when it came to that.
Like normal he isn't much for a conversation but when he's done he plays with Tristan's head and looks over at me, "Need a ride?"
"Nah, Dez is picking me up."
"Cool."
Dez arrives extra late today. He looks sexy as usual. I have to admit it. He's always been sexy but Dez's family is really religious. So even when I get in the car and he stares me up and down like I'm something he wants to taste I know I can't take him seriously. He thinks our little sexual encounters are just that: sex. He's sure sooner or later he'll break out of it and be straight like his parents want.
It isn't until I get into the car that I realize today is not going to be a normal day.
"Everyone's talking," Dez states.
"About what?"
I know what he's talking about but I want to play dumb. My family was pretending like everything was normal so I was hoping maybe I could as well. This would just be another day on campus.
"You know. The long jump," Dez states, "Everyone is talking about the fact that we have a fuckin' metahuman on campus. A lot of them get scared at the thought of metahumans. They still hear horror stories about...you know the boogie man..."
"Vicious Vigor?"
Most people in town called him the Boogieman. It sounded funny when I first heard it until I heard stories about him burning children alive or murdering entire buildings of people for sport. All of a sudden when you hear the stories about who Vicious Vigor was and what a supervillain really was capable of the term `Boogie Man' isn't funny. It's serious. Dead serious. Serious like the look on Dez's face right now.
"Don't say that name," Dez warns me.
"Relax. There is no such thing as a Super Villain. Not anymore. The Hosts made sure of that. And I'm not some super homicidal maniac."
Dez sighs in relief, "Thank god. I swear I told Deonte that. Everyone's nervous though. There aren't a lot of you guys anymore."
"I'm not a goddam metahuman."
"Sure, you're not, baby."
"Baby?"
I look at Dez like he has two heads. I think my mind is playing tricks on me when he leans over and grabs my hand. He puts his hand in my hand I think this guy has to have lost it. That's the only thing I can think of.
We pull up to the school and his hand is still in my hand. I notice a couple of people surrounding his 2012 Mustang. No one cares about the Mustang, of course. They are looking at me. All of a sudden Dez holding my hand seems very purposeful.
"Uh, Dez...what are you doing?" I ask.
"I mean we been keeping this thing between us on the down low for a while," Dez explains, "I was thinking, you know...we bring it out into the open."
"Bring what into the open?"
"Us."
"Dez. There is no us. We suck each other's dicks when we are bored. Look up the definition of friends with benefits and you see a picture of us right there highlighted. In BOLD. Keyword on benefits. I mean you got a big dick, I'll be honest..."
"Thank you."
"But, half the time I don't even bust a nut. Let's stop pretending like this is some romantic Moonlight storyline."
Dez sighs, "It could be though."
"Have a nice day Dez."
I get out of the car and start walking. This was a nightmare. This thing with Dez was easy. With my dad being as hard as he was on me I didn't have time to date. So Dez was helped relieve a lot of the tension on my day to day. If he was going to start tripping on me I'd need to cut him off. As sexy as he was, he definitely wasn't the person I was going to end up with. He was a fucking clown and him trying to hold my hand after he found out I was metahuman proved it.
I wish Dez was the only one acting weird that day. That isn't the case. Walking around campus between classes was literally as though I had taken the body of some Kardashian. People were literally stopping their cars to stare. Students were following me into classes that I knew they didn't have. They'd stare at the doorway until the professor asked them to leave.
The disturbance was ridiculous.
It wasn't until my Bio class that the professor looks over at me, "Cam, I just got an email asking you to head over to the Office of the Dean."
Great.
There it goes for hoping things went normally my first day back after my long jump.
~
Dean Crawford was an old man who was balding and looked like he beat off to animal porn. The guy is breathing heavy which makes sense because the damn room is stuffy as all hell. He won't open a window though. The lighting in the room is dreadful and makes me feel like this is the beginning of a horror movie. I look over at him clicking his fingers like he's changing a television remote on his wood nervously.
"There have been many reports from last night's track meet," he tells me, "People are saying you did very well in your long jump."
His voice is annoying. I don't want to be here.
"Thanks," I state.
I force a smile. A smile that I don't want to force but it comes through anyway.
"They say you did a little too well. Now, of course, I wasn't there but I did see a video of this jump. I'd love to know more about what happened last night."
"I have nothing to really share Dean. I think it was just luck."
He pauses.
"Camron, can I call you Cam?"
"Can I call you Craw?"
"No."
"Well, then I guess you can't call me Cam."
"I am sensing some hostility from you," the Dean states, "I want you to know this is a safe space. You can talk to me. Tell me about you. What are you...some sort of Jumpman or Cricketman?"
Cricketman? Really.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"If you don't cooperate I'm going to have to notify the Mandate Ministry. They have a reputation for being very strict when it comes to metahumans like yourself. Between me and you...,I'm a HUGE fan of superheroes. We can keep this between us. Just let me know what you are. What can you do? What's your superpower?"
He is getting excited. He's getting a little excited. He looks like he's beating off under his goddam desk or something. His eyes are bulging out. It's clear he's one of those guys who pays thousands of dollars to go to those Superhuman conventions in Sharkboy costumes hoping that he'll see a sighting of a member of the Host of Heroes.
"Sir. With all due respect. I don't know what happened yesterday. If I do have some sort of ability. I have no idea what it is. You have to believe me, sir. Sir. Sir?"
He hasn't blinked in the last few seconds.
He is just standing there. His eyes just glaring out almost like his soul has left his body or something. He seems completely frozen in time. I get up. Two seconds ago his eyes were glued on me and now things had just changed. I move to the right, he doesn't follow. I move to the left, he keeps staring straight. I put my fingers inches away from his face and snap.
Nothing. Nothing at all.
"He doesn't hear you."
The door opens and in the office walks Sunbeam. My mouth drops. THE Sunbeam was here. This was the first time in two days that I had seen him. He isn't alone either. When he walks in I see an older man with him and a woman dressed all in a fur coat with a huge hammer.
"Holy shit," I state recognizing the woman, "You're Brynhildr, the Brave."
Brynhildr, the brave stood at 6'5" she literally can barely get through the door. I recognize her because she came out during halftime at the Superbowl last year. The whole country watched this huge woman roll right onto the field in her flying chariot pulled by two winged horses with a sword in hand. She's a husky woman with a broad chest and broad arms. There is nothing feminine or soft about her, not even her hard bosom that is outlined in a chest plane. The woman looks like a goddam Amazon. She stands over me casting a shadow that intimidates the fuck out of me.
"Kid. Small. Time. Waste," Brynhildr grunts with an accent so thick her words sound like a rolling of thunder.
Sunbeam looks over me with a smile, "Brynhildr isn't exactly our most welcoming. To be honest, I have my concerns as well but there are many in the host that believe you are very special. Sort of like us."
"Did you guys do that to the Dean?" I ask.
Sunbeam nods, "This here is Peter Palsy. He has the ability to paralyze an individual for a time period."
Peter Palsy looks at me and smiles, "I paralyzed Vicious Vigor for 2 seconds once..."
"We don't say the name," Sunbeam warns him.
Palsy laughs, "No need to be afraid of the Boogieman. He's dead. This is our age now. The age of heroes. I'm Peter Palsy. I'm a hero. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Peter Palsy is tall but nowhere near as tall as Brynhildr. He is muscular like Sunbeam beside him. He has on a black mask with grey tights that define his muscular build. I can't tell his true identity but I do see his eyes are piercing grey color. Unlike Brynhildr he isn't intimidating. He looks like underneath all this costume he could be a normal, everyday guy...maybe in his late 30s. Maybe he could even work here at the school. But next to Sunbeam he was something else. Next, to Sunbeam he was something great.
I reach over. I shake his hand. I feel the sturdiness of his grip. He was all man, just like Sunbeam. Just like White Frost.
"Camron."
"No. Not that name. What's your real name?" Sunbeam asks.
"I don't know who you guys think I am, but I'm not that person."
"We saw you do a long jump 30 feet."
I pause.
"I don't know what that was."
Sunbeam looks over at me, "Would you like to come with us and find out?"
I look over at the Dean. His eyelash was twitching a little bit. Whatever paralysis was done to him to him by Peter Palsy was wearing off.
I knew at this moment I had two options. I could stay here, hoping the hype of the long jump would wear off sooner or later when I didn't show any other strange abilities. Sooner or later it would wear off and I could go back to my life where track was everything. I could go back to being mediocre. Or I could go with these strange people.
There is no real choice.
~
"I think I'm going to be sick!"
Before I know it I'm flying on a chariot next to Brynhildr. She drives the chariot like a wild woman through the skies. Peter Palsy smiles at me the whole time entertained even when we look down and see that there are skyscrapers below us.
"You'll get used to it," he tells me, "I can't fly so trust me, it's the fastest way to travel. Don't want to know how embarrassing it is showing up to save the day during a bank robbery in an Uber."
We fly downtown. The familiar buildings of Metropolis are all around us and dead in the center I can see where we are going. I can see the tall tower. The structure has to be over 800 feet tall, decorated on each side with lightning rods that mount the top of the entire skyline. The circular golden structure seems to sit on pillars in the sky holding up. It reminds me of a giant balloon tethered to the ground. It's a great observation station above the city. You can see the entire the city from here. It is a watchtower with a shining beacon of light at the hilt. The only thing I've ever seen similar to this would be the Seattle Space Needle, but this was grander. It was more iconic.
We land on a runway and as we land, I notice we aren't the only ones. The circular form has a strip of land around it on all sides. First, there was the landing strip and then there seems to be some sort of training grounds. The people in this structure dome so far above the rest of the people in the city. It's almost like Mount Olympus. There are other caped superheroes flying down, landing. Some have wings, some fly without the need of wings, some land in helicopters and others just seem to appear on the runway out of thin air. My mouth drops as I see all of them.
"Welcome to the Hall..." Sunbeam states.
I hardly even recognize him when he flies behind us in a blast for fiery glory. He lands with flames all around him. His feet stationed together like a propelled rocket. His red costume tightly smoking up as he lands.
"It's...beautiful," I respond.
"My son is going to show you around, get you comfortable," he tells me, "Take everything in. Get the feel for it. Understand what this is a symbol of. Afterward, come see me. We'll be waiting."
Sunbeam, Brynhildr and Peter Palsy walk away while White Frost walks towards me. I also cum on myself seeing him again. Aaron as White Frost is something straight out of a dream. He walks over to me and the bulkiness of his form seem to make him like a god. And this is perfect because all around us there are all these people.
"Hey again," White Frost states.
His white suit is frosted over with patches of ice. His tan skin contrasts perfectly in the white suit. His suit is so tight that I think it is painted on. I can see every vein, every muscle, every perfect part of his body. I find my eyes getting lower moving towards his crotch area wondering if I'm able to see parts of that as well from this close. I can see the beginning of something. The perfect V section starting to form but right when my eyes get lower and lower I see his dick has been frosted over. A perfect shield forms over his dick concealing barely enough to keep his form a secret.
"Aaron. I hardly recognized you in your disguise."
He laughs, "Actually no, Aaron is the disguise. This is who I am. Who I really am. Call me White Frost...or Frost for short."
Frost is perfect and I don't think he has any idea. I feel like I'm the one who is the odd man out as I walk through here wearing jeans and a t-shirt. When Frost turns around and starts leading me to huge tall pillars of the hall I follow his ass cheeks and I'm so mesmerized that I literally walk into one of the pillars. Frost looks over at me and laughs a little bit. I think he notices just how clumsy I'm being. Or maybe he's used to his ass causing people to walk into pillars.
"I'm glad you came," Frost tells me looking over at me, "2nd generation metahumans are rare."
"2nd generation?"
"The first generation received the gift by looking up into the sky. We got the gift through our genetics," he explains, "Outside are the training grounds. That's where a lot of the heroes spar. Training is important to us. We spent a lot of the day learning to fight."
"How many heroes are there?"
"A lot. Dozens. This building is the headquarters for all the superheroes around the country so they come and go as they please. My father, Sunbeam is the head of this place of course. He's also the leader of the Metropolis league of heroes. The team I'm on."
"It's like a United Nations of Superheroes."
He laughs, "Sort of. Come on. Let's show you inside."
We walk inside the building. The place feels like it has an ancient feel to it. There are huge columns on marble floors as we walk into it. It's spacious and minimalistic. And just when I feel like I'm stepping into Ancient Rome or Ancient Egypt a robot comes up to me.
"Anything to drink sir?" the robot asks.
I shake my head. I'm nervous, especially around White Frost.
"All the robots here are connected to Big Brother."
"Big Brother?"
"It's our central unit," White Frost offers, "Big Brother is half human, half computer. Big Brother hacks into surveillance cameras. He let's us know where all the crime is. Notifies the closest superhero. Right through there is Big Brother's area."
White Frost points down a hallway that is pretty empty compared to the others.
"Sounds like spying."
White Frost puts his hand under his chin, "I suppose you're right. But it's in a good way. We aren't perverts or anything like that. We stop crime as soon as it's happening. That's why there hasn't been a supervillain in the past decade."
"No supervillains?" I ask.
"None."
"The host wiped them all out, didn't you?" a voice states.
I turn at that moment and see two boys walking up. My mouth literally drops. I thought White Frost was the epitome of superhero sexiness but these two boys aren't too far behind. One of them has on all black on. He is a black with big beautiful lips, dark eyes that seem like they just melt into blackness and long black hair that is tied into a single braid that sweeps down to the middle of his back. He is just as muscular as White Frost but shorter, maybe standing about about 5'9. That's not to take away from any of his muscles though. His body looks like a work of fucking art.
The other guy is a redhead. He is as tall as White Frost but a bit leaner. He has huge red fists.on his costume. He looks pretty. In the kind of way that he may be a little perfect with perfect white teeth and a perfect smile. He looks almost fake in a way.
"You going to introduce us Frost?"
"We were kind of busy," White Frost argues, "You guys develop the power to smell red meat a mile away or something?"
"We had to come check out the newest recruit," the redhead states smiling at me intensely, "We want to approve whose going to be the new Hall of Heroes."
"New Hall of heroes?" I ask.
"Don't you know?" the redhead, "Oh shit. I guess I'm jumping ahead. Let's rewind. I'm Power Up, I have superhuman strength, superhuman agility. Superhuman...dick."
He's definitely cocky but looking at the guy he had every right to be. I hadn't seen him before. I was surprised. Everyone went crazy over White Frost because he was the youngest hero. These two guys I had never seen before but they just as young as White Frost, if not younger.
"The guy circling you like a vulture is Ultrasound."
Ultrasound was circling me. His eyes look at my body. I'm glad I'm a track star and I'm in shape at this moment because I'm wondering if he can see right through my clothes by how he's looking at me.
"Do you mind?"
"Sorry seeing if you're worth the bother," Ultrasound states.
"Ultrasound here can channel his voice to create powerful sound attacks."
"Like this..."
Ultrasound opens his mouth and this shriek comes out. Almost immediately the other two know to cover their ears but I'm left looking stupid. His voice literally entangles me causing me to hit the ground in gut-wrenching pain. I've never felt anything like it.
It's White Frost who helps pick me up, before turning to Ultrasound, "We didn't need a fuckin' demonstration Ultra."
Ultrasound shrugs, "Sorry can't help showing off sometimes. What can you do?"
They both turn to me.
I look at them and they look at me. My heart races. I had no idea how to answer that question and right now it seems that's exactly what they wanted: An answer. I had jumped. Was I some sort of super jumper? It didn't feel like it. I think at this moment if I should try another jump, but I'm nervous. I'm not ready. What if I can't do what I did before? What if I'm not even superhuman? What if that was just some freak accident?
Luckily Frost changes the subject, "We don't have time for this guys."
I could swear at that moment Ultrasound says something like "cockblock" before walking away. I think I'm imagining it. I can't help but watch the two boys walk away. They looked like trouble. Muscular, powerful, superhuman trouble.
And I was loving every moment of it.
"Did he just call you a cockblock?"
"They were flirting for sure," Frost states nonchalantly smiling over my way, "Those two compete over everything...including a handsome new guy. I'm surprised they didn't start pummeling each other to show off for your attention. I'm sure you're used to it by now though."
I don't know what he means by it. I don't get a chance to ask because Frost is leading me down this strange hallway. The walls here are marble as well. The ceiling is so high that I can't see the top. It's almost clear that no human could have designed something like this. No normal human anyway. My eyes squint struggling to find the highest point on the walls. But I have no luck with that.
"This place is truly amazing..."
Frost is watching my expression, "I'm glad you like it. Maybe you'll like it enough one day to call it your headquarters."
He watches my expression. I don't know why at first. I think he's looking for my reaction. I want to smile but at this moment I'm so nervous that my mouth contorts in this weird ass way and I just stand there looking stupid.
"What are you getting at Frost?"
"My father and the other heroes of Metropolis are getting older. I don't know if you know this but at the end of the year, my father and his team are going to announce their retirement. For the past few years, he's been training me to follow in his footsteps and be the leader of my own team. A team of young superheroes who didn't receive the original gift but mutated with the gift over time. I already got most of my members. Ultrasound and Power Up are two of my members. I'm missing one though. One last spot. And you just dropped into my lap at the track meet. Later, my father is going to ask you to be a member of this new team."
I can't believe it. My mouth drops. I think he's talking to someone else. Me? Camron? A recruit for the next generation of the Host of Heroes.
"I..."
My mouth gets dry. I want to tell him I'm not ready. I want to tell him I don't even know what my superpower is. I want to tell him that I'm not tall like Power Up or extremely muscular like Ultrasound. I wasn't even built like these guys. These guys all looked like young, perfect bodybuilders. I was a slim, toned track star. I didn't even fit in.
Instead of saying all that I just smile.
"I'd be honored."
Frost smiles, "Great. Man I'm so excited. Can't wait to introduce you to the rest of my team. I've been under so much pressure from my dad to get this team right."
"Trust me I know how pressure from your dad can be."
Frost smiles, "We got a lot in common that way huh?"
"Maybe."
There is an awkwardness between us. Not the bad kind. This is the good kind. The feeling that maybe if we sat around and had a discussion we'd really we'd have so much in common. The kind of feeling where you want to just get to know someone. I had butterflies in my stomach talking to Frost and those butterflies felt damn amazing.
Frost touches me on my arm. I imagine him pulling me close to him, kissing me deeply, throwing me to the marble ground, ripping my clothes off, pinning me down with those extra muscular arms and shoving his long hard dick into my ass until I screamed like Ultrasound.
None of that happens though.
He just pats me.
"I got to show you one last thing before my dad gives you his offer," He states, "This is the Room of Memories."
We walk into a room. From wall to wall of this room are carvings. They are the most beautiful carvings I'd ever seen. They don't seem like they are done by normal hands. Whoever did this had a real craft. They had a real gift. Maybe even a metahuman gift.
"This is so realistic. They look so real."
I run my hands over the faces of all the heroes of the past. Some art in action. Fem Fatale kicking Lady Liberty. Red Viper fighting off Mother Monster's 8 headed monster that was the size of a tower. All the great superhero moments were captured in these walls, carved out like Egyptian reliefs. Like real Egyptian hieroglyphs.
"In order to know where we are going, we have to know where we came from," he explains, "He's afraid one day the darkness will come back."
"You mean...the supervillains?"
He nods quietly, "Vicious Vigor killed thousands. There is always a fear that one day one of them will come back and we won't be able to stop him."
"What do you think?"
"I think we're safe. For now. But we should be prepared. There is a reason there we are in the Era of Peace. No Super Villain has come along in a while. Metropolis is finally safe. We learn from the past. That was the last real threat to Metropolis. You know who the last real threat to Metropolis was?"
"Vicious Vigor."
"Yeah, he was before our time but the name still causes fear in a lot of children. Hell, I know adults who still are afraid to say his name. A modern day boogie man. Look at this etch. This shows Materias, the hero who killed Vicious Vigor."
"He's handsome."
"They were lovers once."
"Shut the hell up. The Boogie man was gay."
Frost looks over at me, "He sure was. You sound shocked. You got a problem with gay guys?"
I'm amused. Was it me or was Frost taking that kind of personal?
I bite my lip, "No. Definitely not the case. Just shocked they existed. Shocked the boogie man had a lover. It seems like he was pretty good looking too."
"Materias? Yeah. He was a hero. The story goes that Materias attempted to show Vicious Vigor how to be a hero. Together with my father they reshaped the Host of Heroes. But Materias fell in love with my father and Vicious Vigor went back into darkness."
"Your father was..."
"No. My father isn't gay. But he always explained to me that when you loved someone you loved that person. It didn't matter what gender they were," Frost explains, "He thinks metahumans have the tendency to understand that more than regular humans. Either way, when Materias fell for my father, Sunbeam, Vicious Vigor attacked the Host. He killed hero after hero after hero until one-day Materias and Vicious Vigor met in battle. Neither survived."
"It's tragic."
"Love is tragic," Frost tells me, "Here. This is the battle."
I take a look at the fight between Materias and Vicious Vigor and my mouth drops open. I can't believe what I see.
No.
"Oh my god..."
"Is everything OK?" Frost asks.
"Take me home."
"You had a meeting with my father. He was going to make you an offer to join the Host..."
I had no time for that. No time for any of that. My entire life didn't make sense right now. None of it. All I could think about was what I saw carved out on that wall.
"I can't be here, Frost. Take me home," I order before softening because I realize how strange I sound in that moment, "Please..."
~
Frost flies me home. There were times when I used to dream about being in his muscular arms as he soared me through the air using ice particles in the sky to keep us afloat. We float on the ice particles with me wrapped around his neck and I feel so secure. I know he won't drop me. It was a dream sequence but right now I don't even have time to enjoy it. The awkwardness between Frost and I is so thick that we don't speak until we land.
"I don't understand," Frost states.
"I'm sorry..."
I feel like Cinderella when I leave Frost. Here was this man that had the face of Prince Charming and the body of a fucking professional wrestler but I was leaving him high and dry. He stands there watching me trying to figure me out and I can feel his eyes on me until I run into my house and shut the door.
My house is silent.
"Anyone home?" I ask.
"Down here."
The voice comes from the basement. I never really went down there. Never found a reason. I know it's my father's voice. I take a few steps down the basement. The basement usually didn't have anything in there. Nothing at all. But I notice a door that I've never noticed before. It had always been blocked off by a large cabinet. Again I never came down here. I never needed to move the cabinet. I never suspected that there was a door underneath the cabinet.
The door is open.
"In here..." my father repeats.
I walk into the door. What I see shocks me.
My father is sitting there. He's sitting in a trench coat. There is a tunnel that leads somewhere else but my father is resting with an eyepatch on with his leg pressed up against the wall. He's smoking a cigarette.
"You went to go see those fuckin' heroes didn't you..." my father tells me, "Thought they'd show up to get you sooner or later. Those ants didn't even wait a fuckin' second."
"They have you on their walls, Dad," I tell him, "It's a younger version of you. You looked different. Now you've grown a beard. Your eyes are different. But I recognize you. I could recognize you anywhere. Even in carvings. Dad...I'm so confused. Who are you?"
"You know the answer to that," my father states, "Don't make me answer stupid questions..."
My father was the Boogie Man.
My stomach turns, "You are Vicious Vigor."
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