3.15

“Thousands of witness reports have been coming in from the strange events that occurred last night. Reports of monsters, vampires even. And a bright green light that shot into the air.” Hunter awoke on the lounge in the treehouse. There was a pretentious, stuffy reporter on the t.v. wearing a suit and standing outside of the gallery.

“I can tell you know, there were monsters. One of them came right up to me and attacked me, but luckily, I was a boxer back in high school. I was able to finish it off no worries.” The camera showed a pigman shadow boxing. Hunter recognised him as the one that had thrown the rock at Sonoya.

“And was it scary?” The reporter asked.

“Oh yeah. I’m telling ya, its those freaks from Midnight Yards. Never shoulda let them be.” The pigman started shadowboxing again.

“Many witnesses share the same point of view, that the Midnight Yards is the source of the problem. That they need to be dealt with. Some want more force than others.”

The camera cut to a small rabbit. They had with them two witnesses.

“And what do you both think should be done with Midnight Yards? If the allegations are true about the source of the monster problem from last night?”

“We need to come down on them like a ton of bricks. They need to be held in check like the rest of us. They can’t be allowed to run around willy-nilly.” The witness was an elderly looking weasel.

“It’s the individual who should be reprimanded. Not the entire country. Athena City is rarely held accountable as a whole if one of our villains gets out and causes havoc elsewhere.” This second witness was an elderly tortoise.

“Which brings us to another topic, Loïc,” the rabbit reporter turned back to the camera. “The debate in what heroes and villains get away with has seen new life because of last night.” The camera flicked back to the news anchor.

“Athena City, being a city state, has its own laws in place compared to the rest of the country. But does Athena City get away with too much? We de-” the t.v. flicked off.

“Ah, they’re all full of it.” Hunter turned and saw Stick standing there. “How you doing?”

“Yeah, bit stiff.” Hunter used all of his strength to pull himself to sit up. “It was wild, and kinda scary.”

“It sounds it. Michael briefed me on it this morning. You doing all right?” Stick sat at the other end of the lounge and looked at Hunter, concern written all over her face.

“Yeah. I’m just…I don’t think I ever really thought about how crazy and dangerous it can all get. I constantly feel like I’m in way over my head. Doctor Flink, and then what happened last night, they’re in a different league than me.”

“Are you sure this is what you want to do? There’s nothing wrong with leaving it all behind. Many people have done it. My brother became a firefighter instead. Said they were a lot more helpful than he ever was as a hero.” Stick narrowed her eyes as she watched Hunter think it over.

“I’m sure this is what I want to do. I just need to get better.”

“You’ve already gotten into a few scraps and come out on top. And you’re a great team leader, just like your father. Just give it time.” Stick slapped her knees and stood up to leave.

“Hey Stick, thanks.”

“All good.” Stick left the room and Hunter was left on his own.

Hunter got dressed and walked to his favourite comic shop. He needed something to settle his thoughts.

On his way over, Hunter saw a fight happening between Halite and Rush and Fizz. Fizz was rolling around the place, shooting her bubbles. Rush’s bike was split in two and were attached to his arms like gauntlets. He was going toe to toe with Halite.

“Quincy’s come far pretty quickly.” Hunter watched for a few moments, then kept going.

Hunter finally made it to his local comic shop and walked in. He hadn’t been in ages. Crossing the threshold felt weird, trying to return to parts of his “normal” life.

The shelves were packed as always and the shop was overcrowded, as always. Hunter looked around to find the Bulldog comics, he now had seven ongoing titles. The owner pushed them as far back as she could.

Hunter grabbed the latest issues of Goblins and Dwarves and made to pay for them when he realised, he was out of money. He hadn’t worked a shift at Greasy Timez in so long, he’d probably been fired. Normality was slipping away. All Hunter had known was changed and he felt now, more than ever, his life really was different.

Hunter put the issues back on the shelf and sighed quietly to himself.

“Hey, did you get a look at the new cards that just got released? They’re new heroes and villains. Never had cards before, the team is called Justice Punch.” Hunter’s ears heated up.

“Never heard of them,” replied a second voice.

“Here. There’s Balloon Boy, Quagmire, Woolpack, Rampage, Gauzelle and Mite. He’s the leader of the team. Woolpack and Rampage are two of their villains. They said they’re doing a reprint of old Copter cards as he’s been seen mixed up with the lot too. My dad’s got the first Copter card ever made, it’s worth heaps.”

“Gauzelle looks kinda funny,” said the second voice.

“I’m excited to see this new team do more stuff. Hey, I got doubles of D-Rex. Do you want it?”

“Who’s that?”

“For someone who likes superheroes and villains, you don’t know many of them do you?” There was condescending tone in the first voice.

“I just don’t follow them like you do.”

“D-Rex is short for Dangerous Rex. He’s as dark as obsidian with flecks of white. He’s a really smart t-rex and has some earth powers. He’s so cool.”

“He sounds so cool; can I please have the card?”

“Of course, I offered it to you.” The two kids ran out of the store.

Hunter made to leave the store and saw a framed display of the Justice Punch cards. Hunter felt chuffed as he left the comic shop.