2.0 - Edited by: Rellawing, AlliterativeArts, Raleon, Trismegistus Shandy - 8/5/2020

Leo giggled as he raced through the living room with his hands to either side like wings. In each of his hands two action figures were gripped like precious jewels.

 

“Whoooosh! I’ll get you, you dirty Black Angel!” Leo whooped and slammed one against the other. “Hahaha! Take my blizzard! Hiyaaaaaa!”

 

“Auuugh! It’s so cold! My feathers are frozen! If you want a piece of me, take a big cloud of darkness in--- your---- face!!! Raaaaaawrrrr!” The figure of a dark angel with ebony plumage collided with her cloaked hero opponent.

 

“Your darkness won’t work on me! If you want to blind me, I’ll send a flurry to blind you and freeze your butt! Ehehehehe!”

 

“Nooooo! Not that, Mistral! I hate that attack! EVIL BLAST!!!”

 

“Auuughhhh!” Mistral fell to the ground and Leo stared down at her. Meanwhile Albert rolled his eyes.

 

“It’s so hard to play a fight all alone…” Leo’s eyes sparkled as he delightedly ran to his father. At the age of five he was precocious and a bundle of energy.

 

“Daddy! Play Mistral for me! I think I have Black Angel down now. I worked really hard to get it perfect!” He beamed at his father.

 

“Oh… those dolls again…” Albert laughed and scratched his head. “Don’t you have a guy part to play?”

 

“Huh? Awww…. But they’re girls and they’re REALLY STRONG!!!” Leo jumped up and down. “You remember when Mistral last froze her butt, right? She, like, captured a whole city! Monteel or something! Hehehe… because it’s so far up north like that, she’s so strong Black Angel can’t win no matter what she does!” Leo enthused.

 

“Uh huh…” Albert shrugged indifferently. “We did get you a strong looking guy figure, right? That Vanguard is a real hero! He’s who you should be…”

 

“But Daddy! He never fought Black Angel… I don’t think so…” Leo tilted his head and pursed his lips. “Anyhow, Mistral is wayyyyy cooler! I love her!” He danced and grinned. “I wanna be able to control the weather and call lightning and make everyone go whooooo!”

 

“Hahaha…” Albert facepalmed. “You’ve told me all about it, Leo. It is pretty great to be able to call storms, but you know… she’s a girl. They’re the weaker sex. Get me that figure I bought you.” He squinted at his son.

 

Leo pouted and fidgeted. “But she… um…” He winced when the look turned withering. “Okay… we can pretend that they fought! And you can be the big strong superhero! I’ll be Mistral and we’ll fight Black Angel together! I think my acting will...”

 

Leo’s ears suddenly began to ring as he collapsed on the floor. He blinked to clear his vision as he looked around with uncertainty.

 

“Oh God… I’m sorry… I couldn’t help it… I don’t know how to handle kids!” Albert knelt down and helped his son up. “Does it hurt? I really didn’t…”

 

“O… owwwwwww!” Leo started crying when he realized his father had struck him. “I don’t… ahhhhhh!” He sobbed.

 

“Oh jeez… I didn’t mean anything by it…” He looked around for some refuge but an idea occurred to him. “We have some ice cream. Let’s go have some, and…”

Albert stared at the television set, sitting on the edge of his chair.

 

“This is News Nine San Isidro. Covering the attack of the S-Plus Supervillain Gravitas. Things are looking grim as the courthouse became the epicenter of this foul attack. Now to Valerie North, our correspondent safely hovering above the city in our News Nine copter.” The scene cut to a view looking down on downtown San Isidro where tall distinctive Victorian style skyscrapers rose into the sky.

 

“Sam, we’re here live. It’s looking as bad as you said. Look at all this damage!” Zooming in, the camera showed how demolished the courthouse had become. “Oh my… It’s a tragedy! The surrounding areas are being relentlessly pulverized by the surreal gravity powers of this villain.  He’s killing indiscriminately. Stay far away from downtown for the moment. The death toll continues to mount, let’s see the numbers… Wait… YES! He’s here!" The camera caught Vanguard zooming onto the scene. 

 

“He’s like a blur! A whir of freedom! Follow him, Charles!” Valerie yelled. The camera panned desperately to find him. Finally it focused below on a street where he’d landed.

 

“We don’t have any microphones nearby so we can’t tell what he’s saying, but it’s certain that he’s challen… oh! He’s there!” The camera panned again to show Gravitas himself.

 

Albert gripped the arms of his chair, his fingers going white while his face reddened. Leo cheerfully flew through the living room. He ignored the television as he squealed and crashed his figures together. “I’ve got you this time!” Instead of Leo’s usual high pitched voice, it was oddly gruff for him, going as low as he could make it. But still, Leo could only manage to produce something… extremely shrill.

 

Albert starts to notice that this time his son is holding the figure of Vanguard and Black Angel. “You won’t win this time, Black Angel! Ha-ha-ha-HA!”

 

Albert smiled despite the seriousness of the situation playing out on the television. He was strongly considering throwing his son into their car’s backseat and driving far away, except his wife was surely somewhere out there. Without Yvette knowing where they were, he wouldn’t leave.

 

“SHIT!” Albert yelled. A plume of dust spread on the screen as buildings were leveled as the stately structures were made to fold like stacked playing cards.

 

Leo looked blankly at his father, blinking. “Huh?” His head tilted. He glanced at the television set and his jaw dropped. “Oh! SO COOL!” He squealed, dropping the three figures he held onto the floor as he pressed his face up against the screen. “A supervillain! And… OHHHHH! It’s your favorite! VANGUARD! YAY!!!!” Leo whooped.

 

Albert stared despondent, swallowing hard. His eyes latched onto the figures. Vanguard… “Please protect her… I beg you...” Tears filled his eyes even as wonder filled his son’s.

A weary paramedic stood on Albert’s doorstep. Their eyes locked and Albert licked his too dry lips. “God, please no… Don’t tell me...”

 

The man nodded wordlessly. “She’s passed… I’m so sorry. She was a paragon. One of the real heroes of this city.”

 

Leo ran up to the door and stared up at the man with a cheerful smile. “Hi!!!” He stuck his hand out like his father had taught him.

 

The man chuckled mirthlessly before his expression became troubled and sad. “Oh… it’s very nice to meet you.” He forced a smile while Albert stared into the distance with bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks.

Leo watched, not understanding when his father hurled the action figure of Vanguard into the family television. The screen fractured on contact. “DAMN IT!!!!” Albert screamed. 

 

And Leo watched, trying to figure out the situation. His father would only scream.

“Daddy, I’m hungry… Can we have…” Leo asked diffidently when his stomach had started to turn inside out with how hungry he was.

 

“FUCKING SHUT THE HELL UP, LEO!” His father roared.

 

And Leo cried as he waited for his father to calm down.

The next time he asked his father for food, he was hurled across the room. He learned to walk softly around his father and even started to hide. Meanwhile Albert started drinking to forget for a short time. He couldn’t balance the finances without Yvette’s income, since he made a great deal less. Albert was seriously thinking he couldn’t handle taking care of a child. It wasn’t long before he drowned all his sorrows and worries in alcohol. 

 

Now and again he would crawl out of the bottle long enough to remember he was alive and his child. He would get tv dinners from a nearby convenience store and try going through the motions of being a father. There was nothing else he could do.

 

“DAMN YOU VANGUARD! FUCK YOU!” He’d shriek, drowning in liquor. 

 

When Leo started bothering him, he struck him the first time on impulse. Eventually it got to the point where he couldn’t trust himself around Leo. The child was nothing but a disappointment to him.

 

A baby, a wimp, and worst of all he wanted to be a girl! 

 

The world had dealt Albert the worst hand ever. He came up with a solution though, knowing how dangerous he was getting. If Leo wasn’t anywhere he could see him, if the kid couldn’t bother him, he’d be safe. Albert decided to bring out his mother's old chest. It was fitting that because she used to keep her dresses in there... 

 

Was he really going to do this?