Super Crush (BxB)

Dad's BFF

I ignore the pang in my gut, for I know skipping school today after the locker room yesterday is a good idea. Stephan was seriously going to pummel me and I have no allies right now. Abe made it crystal clear that I am on my own, and Clay hasn't returned any of my texts.

My computer blinks on as I sit down in my desk chair. I had planned to use today as a catch-up day on the work I am behind on, but my curser goes immediately to the library of videos Malware last delivered. I pause, thinking of my fallen friend. In all the time Abe has been with The Fleet, I never had contact with someone who was...collateral damage before. I knew Malware least well out of my three vigilante buddies, but that doesn't mean I haven't balled my eyes out for them. I push off the sadness by telling myself that these videos need to be seen and Malware here or not, they would want me to watch them.

I click the first file and think about how I have only gotten a few episodes at a time. Craving more but having to wait for new ones makes me feel like I am living in the 90s. Weekly TV shows sound bananas to me.

Dad pops on the screen.

Interesting news. I have been transferred to the Neurological Defense team. Though I am sad that I have been taken off the Herozin project, the new project I am running is equally as fascinating and could change crime control forever. Today marks the commencement of a low impact, high yield mind-disabling tool. This nonabrasive criminal capture or NACC patch will stop criminals in their paths without the use of lethal force.

The next scene is as exciting as the first successful Heroizon trial. Dad ushers an agent into the room and straps a metallic headband to his subject's forehead. There are blinking lights and glowing buttons. He turns to a computer monitor but pauses as a third man comes into view.

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Matthews.

I am not sure anything should surprise me anymore, yet I feel my eyes get big and my jaw drop. Dr. Matthews is none other than Sir Madness.

"Thanks for letting me be a part of this momentous occasion. The first run of a brain control apparatus! This is exciting," the doctor formerly known as Matthews says.

I go into a daze, watching the agent display clear pain in trying to resist the commands Dad and Sir Madness suggest to him. After the sixth direction is given, the agent doesn't resist anymore. He thoughtlessly follows everything that is asked of him. 

My mind takes off on a high-speed chase. Two contrasting feelings start racing through my brain. One. My dad, a normally compassionate individual, created a way to prevent crime by brain-controlling perpetrators. And two. My dad, the same guy, was somehow in cahoots with the city's biggest supervillain and gave him a way to make zombie minions.

The only thing that pulls me from this mind-suck is the realization that Clay must have gotten this technology from Sir Madness and used it on Stephan. If it works in the form of a headband, he could have easily slipped it in Stephan's hat. Furthermore, it has to be the technology that Clay thinks Matriarch is using to control her team. This also makes sense considering all of the members of The Fleet were some kind of mask or headgear. 

I fast forward through the rest of the entry until near the end when I notice Matriarch comes into frame. I hit play, but am confused at first. There are strange muffled sounds and the picture blurs as Dad covers the video.

No, not Goldfish!

Though the screen is still blurry, the fear in Dad's voice is clear.

The video rights itself just in time for me to see Goldfish's scaly hands make a connection with Dad's temples. Goldfish's eyes roll to the back of his head and my father lets out a single screech of pain. Dad looks faint and stumbles backward.

I am unwell. 

Though Dad seems fine, when he returns to the camera, he can't remember what he was doing. He is shaken and doesn't know why. But I do.

Hmm. What was I planning to do today...

The scene continues with him pacing the room trying to recall his thoughts, but I am interrupted. Something catches my attention on the other side of my balcony doors. I look up from my video-watching to find Clay looking in on me. He has his Slammer uniform on and his helmet in hand.

I sigh, shake my head, and turn my attention back to my dad. He has had plenty of opportunities to respond to my texts. 

How long he will stand out there before if I don't let him in?