League of Do Gooders, Ne'er do wells, and those of Evil Intent

Villainy 215: Expectations

Father emerged from a dumpster in a side alley, attempted to catch his landing, and fell on his face with a resounding thud.

"Not- not heroic enough to catch your father but that is completely okay! My June is a superhero!" He ran over to give me a hug. Childhood memories came rushing back. Of me trying to hug in return, him screaming "No June stop, please stop, you're going to kill me", me asking "How exactly am I to hug?" and him responding "just please not the spine, June. I need my spine, June!"

Nostalgia hit me in waves. Father running off at random, leaving me alone in a white lab room with padded walls, getting food thrown in from a safe distance, the tv on the ceiling so I couldn't touch it... Was it a good childhood? Was it bad? What is a childhood supposed to look like for a child who breaks everything she touches? But my very gross father was here now, and I had one thing to say.

"Father, you stink."

"Yes, I don't know entirely how I wound up in this dumpster." He replied. "But June, you're the superhero I always knew you could be!"

I felt a twinge of shame.

"I've... definitely scared some supervillains." I told him. "And I... helped... their boss to... go away." I technically didn't lie, but I felt gross. I was meant to be a great superhero.

"You drove that maniac out? Is that why he was in prison? Oh my gosh June, that's amazing. Your father is going to go and push out whatever weak sucker they placed in charge! This will be just like old times. You know I was Burgundy Skid Mark, right?" He said, with an excited face.

"Yes but I don't really understand why the name was-" I began.

"It was because Galactic Mask hated it! If you're the new hero though, I'll go by something much more simple. Maybe "the professor"? That sounds pretty imposing! We can fight and it will be perfect! Just like old times! I bet that coward Crash is in charge too." He ran off. "Hold tight, Junie! We'll be battling before you know it!"

And the shame of not being a hero was replaced with a very different emotion. Panic. Father was going to go hurt Crash. My friend Crash. And he was a coward! He was a nervous wreck who pretended to be a big strong guy! And I liked that about him! He put on a big show in front of audiences, then came back and practiced breathing exercises to calm down. Crash was living his best life. But I didn't want to upset father. He was already going to be so mad that I wasn't the superhero he hoped for, and when Crash finally revealed that I was the one in charge the whole time... I didn't want to think about it.

I assumed father was heading to the old base, which at this point was an empty hole with a sign in front about how it was the former home of the villains. I had to gather the villains- or the heroes, or... somebody more mature than me! In a panic, I raced back to my office, broke the door because there was no time to fumble with the doorknob, and gave my TV/phone a command.

"ON!" I shouted. I'd never done that before.

"How can I help you?" Came a soothing robotic voice.

I didn't know what to do. I needed a family member. I needed a hero. I needed a villain! I needed...

"Call October Why." I commanded.

The next several seconds were some of the longest I'd experienced, as the rings chimed through my empty office, each one deafening against the silence of the room and the desperation of the situation. Finally, the rings went silent. Did the call go through? Did it not?

"October, hero in training, what's your emergency?" came a voice through the phone.

Tears burst through my eyes when I heard her voice.

"So... so much." I told her.

"June?" Came her reply.

"Yes! Father wants to take over the villains and he thinks I'm a hero and he wants to kill Crash or me or Crash and I don't know what to do!"

The phone hung up without another word.

A creeping feeling of emptiness that I hadn't felt for a long time swept over me, and I thought something I hadn't thought in a long time.

"I want to go back to prison."