A vigilante who heals villains, I guess?

CH9 Dreaming of a better life

13 years ago...

"Come on Clay! You're gonna be late! Nick is waiting!" a small blonde boy shouted.
"Coming, coming! Don't rush me!" Clay shouted back running after the small boy.
"[T%&/@] wait up! You're too fast for me!" Clay shouted after the small boy.
"No way, big bro! You're not outrunning me!" [T%&/@] shouted.

Clay was 10 and [T%&/@], his younger brother, was 4, but they got along really well. Their powers were so different from each other that their parents thought that they wouldn't get along because of it, but they were wrong.

"Clay! Come on! Nick's gonna be mad! Hurry up already!" [T%&/@] whined.
"Alright alright, I'm trying!" Clay said.
He then got an idea. His hands started to glow green, and then his feet were off the ground.
"Let's go!" Clay said determined.
"Yeah!" [T%&/@] exclaimed.

They arrived at Nick's place on time and no-one was mad.
"Clay! [T%&/@]! Welcome! You guys were almost late", Nick said.
"Yeah, I know. I told that to Clay, but he's just too slow", [T%&/@] said. Nick laughed.
"Clay!" someone from behind Nick exclaimed.
"George! Hi!" Clay also exclaimed as the brunnette jumped on him.
"I missed you!" the 13-years-old brunnette said.
"I missed you too", Clay said.
"Hey Gogy!" [T%&/@] interrupted the moment.
"Hi [T%&/@]. How are you?" George asked.
"I'm good. Still faster than Clay. And Clay is still super slow", [T%&/@] said.
"Kids, why don't you come in?" one of Nick's fathers asked.
"Hello Mr. Halo!" [T%&/@] greeted him.
"Hello [T%&/@]", BadBoyHalo, also know as Bad, said.
"Come on in boys, the kitchen is packed with cake and other sweets!" Bad said.
"Ooh! Are they made by you?? I really love your bakings!" [T%&/@] said.
"Yes, [T%&/@], they are made by me", Bad said. "Of course they are made by Bad. Who else would be making mountains of muffins and other baked goods?" Zak, Nick's other dad, said.
"Come on guys!" Nick said as he ran in the others following suit.

They ate and celebrated Nick's birthday. He had just turned 8. He opened gifts, read cards and thanked them. In the evening everyone left.
"Clay, can you carry me on your back?" [T%&/@] asked.
"Sure. Hop on", the dirty blonde said.
"Yeah!" [T%&/@] exclaimed. He hopped onto his brother's back and got comfortable.
"Goodnight [T%&/@]", Clay said.
"Good night big bro", [T%&/@] answered.
Clay walked home carrying his little brother on his back.
"So, how was the party?" their mother asked when they got home.
"It was great. We had lots of fun", Clay said.
"[T%&/@] fell asleep, so I'll go put him into his bed", he continued.
"Alright. Goodnight duckling", Puffy said.
"Goodnight mama", Clay answered before going down the hallway his brother's room. He put him down in his bed and ruffled his hair.
"Goodnight [T%&/@]. Sleep well", he said before leaving to go sleep.

The next morning he woke up to loud noises.
"You never do anything else other than annoy me! Do something already!" their father shouted.
Clay rushed out of his room to the living room where his father was shouting at [T%&/@].
"I'm sorry...", [T%&/@] said in tears.
"Leave him alone!" Clay shouted running in front of his little brother.
"You stay out of this!" their father said angrily.
"[£%&)@£)] leave. Now", Puffy said stepping into the room. "You can't continue to do this to our kids!" she shouted.
"Alright, I'll leave", he said with a grin. He turned around pretending to leave when he turned back grabbed [T%&/@]'s arm and dragged him with him. "But I'll take him with me", he said.
"[T%&/@]!" Clay shouted terrified.
Their father left the house dragging [T%&/@] with him. Clay ran out after them only to see a car coming. He couldn't even do anything when it happened. The car tried to slow down, but it was all futile. Blood spatted everywhere. And [T%&/@] was gone along with their father.
"[T%&/@]!" Clay desperately shouted as he fell on his knees. Puffy ran out of the house when she heard the car. She kneeled down next to her crying son and tried to comfort him...

The dirty blonde woke up gasping for air. It wasn't the first time this memory replayed in his dreams, but he still couldn't get over it. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.
"Dream? Wake up, we have a job to do. George is already getting impatient", Nick, by hero name Sapnap, said from the other side.
"I'm up. I'll be out in a moment", Clay said.
He looked at the clock. It was 5.38am in the morning. This wasn't the first time he had to wake up early for hero stuff. And it most certainly wouldn't be the last.
He got up, changed into his hero gear and walked out to meet with his friends.
"I'm here", he said when he arrived in the living room.

"Finally, Clay. You took forever!" George, by hero name 404, said.
"Sorry. I had that dream again...", Clay, or now in the situation Dream, said.
"Again? You dreamt about loosing Tommy again?" Sapnap asked.
"Yeah, I did", Dream replied.

After that, they left to take care of the mission they had to...

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You guys have finally earned the privilege of chapters 9 and 10. How we feelin'?

-Your fave author, Lixxie