Brad fell backwards and gasped. He was not expecting that. He wanted to crawl under the nearby bush and close his eyes. He could feel the wrongness creeping up from the ground, into his feet and rushing up his legs. He battled with his demons and, for the first time he could remember, he won. He pushed the panic and fear back down instead of letting it explode from his mouth. He found peace in his mind bubble and it wasn’t long until he was ready to face the impossible vision he’d glimpsed through the window.

He was still on edge so he dealt with the easy things first. He looked at the furniture. The table and chairs could have looked at home in any suburban home. The room could have been plucked from the pages of an Ikea catalogue and placed here in South East London. So far, so normal. Brad had expected to see Mr Splendid and a female equivalent arguing over supper. He saw a man dressed in red from head to foot, the same red as Mr Splendid’s mask and shirt at school earlier that day. Wherever he touched, or nearly touched, something, tiny blue sparks flew from his skin like miniature lightning strikes. The air around him crackled with live electricity and he hummed like a power cable carrying too much energy. Brad had to accept that his favourite teacher was in fact The Shock. He was a local hero who had not yet made it to the national stage. He helped the police foil bank robberies and tackled antisocial behaviour but had not saved the world yet. He was waiting for his big break. He’d been making enough waves in the hero community that everyone expected him to be the next big thing.

Stood on the other side of the boringly normal dining table was no ordinary woman. Mr Splendid, or The Shock, was rowing with She-Borg, the greatest hero to ever grace the planet.  She had seven world saving events under her belt and four of them were before she became half robot. On her fifth world save, she had sacrificed herself to stop the Great Dragon Uprising of 2004. People decided that we needed her in the world so we created She-Borg. She’d been unstoppable ever since. Brad listened through the open window.

“Look, Paige, they say absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is what is happening here. Take a minute just to think about what you are saying. What would the Paige I met all those years ago think of your plan? Before She-Borg, the woman I fell in love with. Where has she gone?” The Shock said using Mr Splendid’s voice.

“Before I was She-Borg, before my enhancements, I was weak. Those dragons almost beat me. If you hadn’t had been there…” said She-Borg. Her voice was different to what Brad had heard on the TV. She sounded more human now.

“You owe me nothing for that night, I barely helped. That was all you. Your body may have been weaker, but your mind was stronger. This is a move our enemies would make. The sort of thing we have devoted our life to stopping.” His voice still resonated with power but was starting to crack with emotion.

“Stop trying those mind tricks on me. They have never worked,” her works drained the last of the fight from his bones.  She thundered on, “Our enemies didn’t have me. My motives are not selfish. I can succeed; make it work where they would have delivered evil.”

“Don’t do this, please…” he pleaded. He sounded defeated. Tears rolled freely down his face and Brad was surprised to find he was crying too. He had very little idea about what was happening here but he knew it was both tragic and important.

She-Borg, Paige, looked pitying towards Mr Spendid. She appeared sorry and the power couple embraced. This was even clear to Brad. It was the end of this relationship. She-Borg made a sudden snapping movement and Mr Splendid slumped to the floor. She turned, all previous emotion wiped from her face, and she left through the front door. Through his shock, Brad registered the soft boom of her taking flight from the other side of the house. He didn’t hang around to watch which way she flew, instead he leaped through the open window and ran to Mr Splendid’s side. He was relieved to see he was not too late. Mr Splendid looked up at him weakly and smiled. He was not surprised to see him there. With a jerk of his chin, he did not seem to have much control over his limbs, Mr Splendid beckoned him closer.

“You have to stop her, Brad,” he whispered. He struggled to take something from his pocket.

Brad wanted to stop him, to tell him he had the wrong boy. He tried to tell him it would be ok but he could not find the right words to lie to his hero. He looked down at Mr Splendid’s clenched fist. Something inside was glowing like the sun. Brad had to avert his eyes when the fingers uncurled from around the glowing crystal.

It was perfectly spherical, like a marble, but infinitely more beautiful. The light seemed to be coming from a thousand stars, each one brighter than the sun. As the sparks around Mr Splendid petered out, he tipped the star crystal into Brad’s hand. It was cool to the touch and much heavier than expected.

“This will help, I wanted to take the time to train you, Brad, but, alas, we are out of time. I chose you years ago, but you’re not ready yet. Find my secrets, they will guide you. But whatever you do, you must stop her,” Mr Splendid’s last words fell from his lips and he closed his eyes.

The lights left the crystal and flowed into Brad’s hand. One by one they tracked up his arm and spread though his whole body until he shimmered from head to toe. He felt the power tingle in every corner of his being. Then the lights went out and Brad closed his eyes. The control left him and the panic overwhelmed him. He had stamped it down earlier but now it ran free. It rushed from the floor, up his legs and escaped through his mouth as a scream. He tried to retreat inside his own mind, to run from the horrors around him, but it was too late. He gave up all resistance and let his mind win.