𝙻𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 | 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 |

Prologue

Joseph Fletcher was not an ordinary child growing up. Might that be to do with the fact he chose to spend every last penny he had scavenged on books, instead of sweets like the other children, or to do with the fact he had superhero abilities, we will never know. Whilst most would wager on the latter, Joseph was always going to be an unusual child; the outcome of being born and raised by an intelligent family of scientists.
Richard and Anne Fletcher had never planned on having children, prioritising their careers over a family. However, on the 1st of October, 1989, Anne gave birth to one healthy boy, despite never showing signs of being pregnant the many months before the extraordinary event. Though they never expected to have children, Anne and Richard were thrilled to have a baby of their own- believing him to be a gift from God himself.
When Joseph turned one, weird things started to happen in the Fletcher household. It started off small, with a purple butterfly that seemed to appear out of nowhere around the small boy and, no matter how many times the new parents captured it and set it free outdoors, it always materialised again. One time, Richard swore he saw the butterfly disappear into a cloud of dust right before his eyes, but that could always be explained by a trick of the light. As Joseph grew older, the mind-boggling scenarios only seemed to become more frequent. Until one day, when Joseph was four, after being read his favourite book about dinosaurs having a tea party, Anne and Richard witnessed a stegosaurus, triceratops and a velociraptor sitting around their outdoor table drinking tea and eating scones whilst conversing in, what seemed to be, quite serious tones. This only confirmed Anne and Richard's suspicion that Joseph could do unexplainable, extraordinary things and, whom they first thought was a gift from God, might have been a gift from the Devil instead. Despite thinking this, Anne and Richard cared not for how the baby came about- as they had fallen deeply in love with their only heir. Instead of casting Joseph away, as one might presume, they decided to enquire some advice from a fellow scientist, whom they reckoned of somehow obtaining several of the miracle children himself. The scientist, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, provided them with insight on training techniques that he had found effective in improving his "children's" gifts. Richard refused to acknowledge that the seven children were Reginald's, as he was the furthest thing from a father- he was more of a poison dart frog than he was a parent to those kids.
With Joseph around, life had been wonderful for the Fletchers and their qualities had flourished with the goodness and innocence of little Joseph to influence their behaviour. Every year, on his birthday, the family would take a road trip to the Lake District and would rent out a lodge for the week. They would ban work and school, instead focusing on themselves for a while; playing board games all day, and drinking so much hot chocolate that Joseph swore a cocoa tree started to grow inside him. To Anne, she couldn't dream of life getting any better, and she was right: it got worse.
October 1st, 2007. That was the day when Joseph's life shattered in front of his eyes. That was the day he vowed never to use his gift again.
The 1st of October, 2007, began as it did every year. Anne and Richard Fletcher woke up their son with breakfast in bed: pancakes and a mug of hot chocolate, with an abundance of squirty cream on top. Then, they left the lodge that they had been residing in, since two days earlier, and set out for a quick drive to a nearby lake, where they would relax in the silence and bond as a family by playing games- such as charades and pictionary. Only, this year, they never reached the lake. Joseph Fletcher had the gift of illusions, he could convince anyone's mind and senses that something was real- and for a while, he considered his gift harmless. However, he would soon perceive otherwise. On the journey to the lake, Joseph gazed out of the window and admired the beautiful scenery. Conjuring a deer, he watched in fascination as it galloped alongside the car- whilst mostly concealed by the trees, in the woods, that enclosed the road. Joseph smiled and watched the deer gracefully prance through the dirt. Suddenly, Joseph's favourite song, 'I Think We're Alone Now', began playing throughout the car. Distracted, Joseph accidentally allowed his illusion the powerful gift of autonomy and, unknowingly to him, it decided to head straight towards the road. As the deer strutted in front of the car, the older Fletchers yelped in surprise and Richard swerved the car out of the way of the faux deer. Unfortunately, this was all the old car required to reclaim control and cause the card to rear off road and slam into a tree with a loud crash!. The impact was so fierce that Joseph relinquished the deer, and it burst into oodles of shimmering dust, that dispersed into the surroundings. That was the day Anne and Richard died, and the day Joseph swore he would never use his ability again.
The next year was hell for Joseph. Growing up, he always loved his house, the sheer amount of rooms meant hide and seek was a fresh adventure every time- Joseph was frequently finding spots to hide in he hadn't noticed before. However, without his parents, the house seemed lifeless and dull; Joseph felt as though the empty house mimicked his empty heart. This is why, on his eighteenth birthday, Joseph set out to America; where he could reconstruct his life, from scratch. After quite a few years, Joseph had overcome his grief and learnt to celebrate his parents' lives instead of mourning their deaths; nevertheless, he had kept to his oath and ceased using his ability- in fear of himself and what he might do.