The Adventures Of Red Dragonfly [Volume One]

Issue 12 - Metal And Love's Burning

SATURDAY MORNING

It was early morning. As early as 8:00pm. Wilbur was on the metro bus, carrying his plastic bag full of clothes, including his red suit. He sat on the crowded bus of adults, probably heading to their jobs.

Wilbur started listening to music through his earphones as he looked at downtown going by outside. The bus was going through a traffic jam, due to many clean up crews around the city block cleaning up the mess in the streets made by Mickey Meloni a few days ago.

Wilbur got off at a bus stop two blocks away from his mom's house as he just walked the rest of the way. Nothing much has changed around the neighborhood, I see. Wilbur thought to himself, walking along the sidewalk as early morning was beckoning. A lot more trash was on the street though. He jogged up the steps, onto the porch as he knocked on the door softly.

Rosemary opened the front door with a bonnet on her head as she opened her door, wiping her eyes sleepily. "Wilbur, why ain't you at your dorm?" She asked, yawning softly.

"I need to wash my clothes." Wilbur replied. "Most notably, my suit."

"The rest of your clothes, sure. The suit? Nuh-uh. It could ruin the washer." Rosemary dismissed, giving her son a frown.

"It stinks, Mom. It hasn't been washed since I fought Septic King." Wilbur complained, digging his mask out of the bag of clothes.

"Septic King?"
"Supervillain nickname. Just roll with it."

Wilbur took one sniff of his suit and almost gagged. "C'mon Mom. I can't fight crime smelling like this."

Rosemary just sighed and let Wilbur in. Wilbur was on his way to the basement where the washer and dryer were before noticing that boxes laid all over the living room, mostly full of Russell's stuff. "What's with all the boxes?"

"Oh yeah, Russell's moving in." Rosemary replied. "He's upstairs sleeping right now."

"Why? He already lives in his lair." Wilbur said as he walked down the dusty stairs of the basement, turning the light on to see.

"Son...you haven't seen what he has to live in. That place...it's...fragile for this self esteem. It's a good place for missions but...he needs a real roof over his head instead of a boarded up bowling place."

Wilbur listened to what his mother was saying as he put his suit in the washer with a dab of laundry detergent. As they were in the basement having their conversation, Russell walked downstairs to the kitchen to make himself some coffee. After he started grinding up the beans, he saw Wilbur and Rosemary coming up the stairs from the basement.

"Morning, Wilbur."

"Hey Russell." Wilbur said, waving to him softly. "So....you're gonna be staying with us for a while, huh?"

"Yeah, it was your mother's idea." Russell asked.

"Hey Wilbur, how about you stay for breakfast until your clothes get done washing?" Rosemary offered.

Wilbur only shrugged. "Sure. I'm not in a hurry anyway. It is the weekend after all." He would sit in the kitchen with Russell as the TV would turn on.

The news was still covering the recent events of the damages that reached 7 blocks straight thanks to Mickey's rampage. "Man, the taxpayers are gonna be pissed." Russell chuckled softly, pouring his coffee into his cup.

Wilbur reached in the cabinet and grabbed some Pop-Tarts to put into the toaster. "You think I'm somehow gonna be blamed for this?"

"Only by the angry, loud and stupid." Russell replied, sipping on more coffee as he sat it down on the table. "Trust me, you're gonna be dealing with a lot more haters than you have out there. It's what I had to go through when I was Green Dragonfly."