Reality Check

Five-Hundred Dollars

Never Give Up (by Sia)

"And I won't let you get me down. I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground . . ."

___

Owen couldn't believe what he was seeing. To see Nobody was one thing, but to see him as a superhero in front of the Lawful Legion's headquarters, being celebrated by thousands of people? That was maybe more shocking than reading about it in Mr. Creator. This made it real.

A little too real.

And that wasn't the only thing that was shocking. Last time he'd been in Jupiter City, it'd been when he, Bethany, Kiel, and Gwen were looking for Orion and Doc Twilight. During the day, the atmosphere had been friendly and inviting, exactly the way he'd always hoped to feel when inside a comic book.

All over the city, there'd been events to go to and merchandise to buy, all centered around the superheroes of Jupiter City. It was the same this time, except there were obvious differences. Differences that made Owen feel sick, another sensation that he should not be feeling in probably the most uplifting place he'd ever been in.

Just like the last time he'd been here, vendors were along the streets, selling balloons covered in superhero symbols, Captain Sunshine ice cream bars, and fried fruit pies that he'd never had the chance to try. There was more, too. Another vendor was balloon modeling, making balloons into all kinds of superhero-like shapes.

Merchandise of the entire Lawful Legion was all over the place, whether it was t-shirts being sold or face-painting, which let you get your face painted to replicate a superhero mask (a really appealing activity to Owen). The things around here had all stayed the same. If not, there were even more things to buy. 

But the difference Owen saw was huge. And terrifying, because there was also merchandise of Nobody. Well, he was Mr. Creator here, but it made little difference. There were Nobody t-shirts, mugs, hats, even blankets, as far as Owen could tell. Graffiti art was on one of the buildings nearby, displaying the Lawful Legion in the background, with Nobody being in the center.

Owen looked back at the Lawful Legion's headquarters. The domed building practically glowed in the sunlight, with a green park sitting in front of it. A large banner had been hung up between two trees, the words big enough that Owen could read them from a distance.

Come meet Mr. Creator, our newest superhero, at the Lawful Legion Headquarters!

Win our city-wide raffle for a chance to have your life rewritten!

Autographs today only from 9 - 11 a.m.

(No supervillains or supervillains-in-training allowed.)

Owen just stared at the sign, unable to contain his shock. Were they serious? People were gathering here for Nobody, an evil man who definitely wasn't superhero material, so they could get autographs and possibly win a raffle? Now that he thought about it it sounded actually friendly, but Nobody had rewritten things this way. To make himself seem like a hero.

"What is he doing?" Bethany hissed from next to Owen. She was standing on her toes in an effort to see better, but with both of them being a good distance away from the headquarters, it was hard to see.

"Look!" Owen pointed at the sign. "He's doing autographs and a raffle."

She looked disgusted. "He's doing autographs after he destroyed everything? Seriously?"

"Yeah. And I think whoever wins the raffle gets their lives rewritten." He shuddered. "That actually would sound nice if it was anyone else! Who would let Nobody do that to them?"