Struggling Aftermath
Hello, and welcome to my first-ever Heroman fanfic. I must say I was taken by surprise when I learned from wikipedia that this manga/anime series is created by famed Marvel Comics icon, Stan Lee, and I only learned of this when it aired at my country's cable TV last September, and after researching this I started to watch it and found myself drawn to it.
Although set in the USA, it didn't deter me and I kept on tuning in seeing how Heroman was "born" and how Joey Jones came to light being the main protagonist. His background as a typical down-to Earth teen, and being often bullied at school, this is how he started to become a HERO after gaining the Heroman power via his gauntlet.
Though I haven't read the manga yet, I guess I can do something plot-wise to give you readers something to read having watched nearly all of the episodes (I started watching after episode 10), and having seen most of the characters, I came up with something that might interest you and give you Heroman fans something to enjoy reading.
Before I made this fic, I noticed that the Heroman fanfics within the "Manga/Anime" category shows mostly Joey and Heroman and one with Simon Kaina (aka "Psy"), and that it lacks a Joey x Lina pairing, so I decided to create one if there are readers who wanted to see a "straight pairing", since I find the two teens cute. Moreover, I believe that romance between Joey and Lina is possible so I'm going to try this out here to see if this fic would be well-received.
Moreover, the setting of this story will be set after the events of the anime, so expect some "bad guys" (manga/anime-made and fic-exclusive) to show up and give Joey a hard time, so expect a lot of drama here in this fic.
And...I'll be altering some of the plots, such as having Heroman "destroyed" after the "final" battle against Gogorr.
Okay...now that I said my piece...it's time to get things started!
Disclaimer:
Heroman is owned by Stan Lee and Bones
Twelve months have passed since Joey Carter Jones and his friends saved Center City from the Skrugg Invasion, and with Gogorr's apparent death, the said-city, located in Los Angeles, California, the residents within the "West City" of the United States of America are slowly resuming its normal, daily life, thankful that the crisis has ended and that the damage is slowly being fixed, and everyone is grateful to Joey and Heroman for their heroic deeds, though they are sympathetic when they witnessed Heroman's death when he exploded along with Gogorr and his base was obliterated and that only Joey managed to survive the explosion, and he was hospitalized due to the shock of the explosion which paralyzed his legs.
"H-Heroman…I'm sorry…"
"Easy, Joey…we got you…"
"Joey!"
"Joey!"
"Joey!"
"Psi…? Lina…? Sis…? Professor Dalton…?"
"We're all here, Joey…we're glad you're alright…"
"Professor…I can't move my legs…!"
"Darn…we need help! This boy's injured!"
-x-
During the first six months Joey underwent physical therapy to regain the movement of his legs with Lina Davis providing moral support for him, while Mr. Davis (Lina and Will's father), who is grateful to Joey for protecting Lina, shouldered Joey's hospital bills but he took it back after the US President informed him that the government will pay for the bills and Joey is grateful for the president's gesture.
Axel Hughes also made a visit and assured to him that his deeds will be recognized though Joey is reluctant to take it into consideration since he is not used to attention.
"Hughes…"
"The US Congress decided to recognize you as America's hero…and you've earned it, kid. I'm very sorry about Heroman's death…but at least our planet's saved. You should go back to normal life now…you deserved to be happy. First thing you need to do is get your legs moving again."
"Thanks…I'll go back to school once I'm moving again…"
After a few more weeks (about almost three months) of physical therapy, Joey is 80% healed though he cannot participate in any Physical Education activities for now given that his body is not yet fully recovered though he can resume his studies and is now getting ready to go back to school while his friend, Simon Kaina (aka "Psy"), who helped Joey in defeating the Skruggs, was rewarded by having his injured leg "repaired" and is now on his way to recovery yet it would take another month for him to go back to school and tells Joey to go ahead.
"You go ahead to school. I'll catch up soon."
"Thanks! I'll see you there!"
-x-
When word about Joey's return to Center City and resuming school got out, many flocked to Joey's place and visited him, congratulating him and assured to him that they are "100% behind him" which the now 15-year old boy shyly accepted and told them that he is still the same Joey everyone knew. Of course the neighborhood knows that Joey lost Heroman and they are quite worried that a new menace might come and attack Center City, but for now they are content with the peace they got.
"Joey!"
"Welcome back, kid! And welcome home!"
"The place isn't the same without you!"
"Sorry to hear about Heroman, though…"
"At least you get to be back home…"
Joey blushed at the attention he's getting but changed the subject by asking them if his elder sister, Holly is here, which he got an immediate answer.
"Thanks…uh…how's my elder sister…?"
"On a tour with her band…and they're making an album and even plan to make an MV and MTV based on you and Heroman…"
"I see…"
-x-
However, not everyone appreciated Joey's efforts and this earned the teen a lot of detractors, such as in school where some of Will's friends harbor a grudge against Joey, believing that the "brat stole Will's spotlight" and intend to make his life miserable once they get the chance when no one is looking around, having learn that Heroman is dead and that he has no means to defend himself.
"That brat…he stole the spotlight meant for Will…"
"Yeah…he's just showing off to impress Lina…"
"When we get back to school…when HE get back to school…we'll make him regret coming back here…"
"How about we dressed ourselves as masked hoodlums and break his legs again…for good…?"
"Sounds like a good idea…How about letting me join you…?"
"Huh?"
And in a shocking turn of events, Will's best friend, Nicholas de Carlo shows up and is unharmed, but somehow managed to regain his human form but was able to steal some of the Skrugg technologies and sneaked back to his home and there he conspires with some of Will's friends and plan to get even at Joey, believing he stole Will's "thunder" which should belonged to Nick's now-missing friend.
"Nick! You're alive!"
"Glad to see you!"
"Sure…anything to make that brat go away will do!"
"Good…but let's meet after school…"
-x-
Meanwhile, somewhere at Center City, the scene shifts to a posh house where a politician is shown glancing at the TV where Keisha Jackson is reporting about Joey's recovery and returning to school, and there the politician, identified as "Dumbo Tramp", is eyeing maliciously at the boy, seeing that he can garner votes for the upcoming elections where he plans to run for Vice Presidency by hatching a plan to make Joey a villain once he comes up with a plan to discredit him.
"Hmm…that boy…he'll make a good tool that would help me get the seat to Vice Presidency…and with Heroman gone…that brat's mine to manipulate…"
-x-
As another week passed, which Joey's school year is about to commence the following week, the 15-year old boy decided to pass up the time by working at "Hilly's Café" where Joey works part time there, and the owner, Hilly himself, welcomed him with open arms, along with the Café's patrons. Everyone witnessed Joey's heroic deeds and respected him even more. Because of this more and more customers frequented Hilly's Café not just to have coffee, but to get a glimpse of Joey Jones up close and personal. To their surprises, Joey kept a fine grip on himself and never let this "heroic deed" get over his head, remaining humble and keeping his humility.
"Joey!"
"Hey…the hero's back home!"
"Welcome back, kiddo!"
"We're starting to miss you a lot!"
"Yeah! The café's never the same without you!"
"E=he-he-he…guys…please…I'm still the same Joey as before…no need to revel on me…"
As Joey tries to tell the customers that he is still the same Joey as before, one of Hilly's Café's frequent customers, "Stan", tells Joey to keep up with the attitude and never let fame get over him, which the teen is glad to hear, but sweat-dropped when Stan demanded coffee from him, just like he always did. Joey sighed yet he is fine that things went relatively the same as before.
"Well-said, Joey-boy! You sure as humble as always…don't let fame get over your head…you're just an ordinary boy like everyone else…"
"Thanks, Mr. Stan…"
"Good…now then…GET ME A COFFEE! NOW!"
"EEEP YES, SIR…!"
Laughter echoed inside the café as things are getting livelier with Joey's return, who are glad to see him alive and well.
-x-
As peace is currently playing, crisis is now looming when Axel Hughes is having an emergency meeting at the NIA, discussing with other high-ranked military officials about the escape of Dr. Minami and his cronies, and they feared that they might target Joey should the mad scientist finds out that Heroman is destroyed and they might take advantage of it. Hughes realizes that Joey's friends and loved ones are at risk should Minami learn of their identities.
"Any footages of how Minami got out?"
"No…the CCTVs were deactivated…perhaps due to the Skrugg attacks…"
"There has to be…"
"This is your fault!"
"No, I'm not! It's your fault!"
"No…him…!"
"Stop pointing your finger at me!"
"Then who is to blame? Hughes? He's busy helping that Jones kid in defeating the Skruggs!"
"Then take the blame!"
"Will you stop pointing at me?"
As everyone bickered at who is to blame of the scientist and his cronies' escape, Hughes urged everyone to remain calm and that the first thing to do is find out where the escapees might head to and figure out the frequent places he'd be heading so that they can make their next step in tracking and trapping the escapees. By then Hughes' aid, Elmer Howard whispered to his superior and told him something.
"Sir…I have a suggestion…"
"What is it?"
"Sir…it's best that we keep this from Joey Jones…"
"Why?"
"He just got out of the hospital…regained the use of his legs…and he might go reckless if he finds out about this…and just to remind you…Heroman's dead…so the boy has no means to defend himself…and if Minami were to find out about this fact…he might target him…or worse…target his friends and loved ones…"
"I see…"
"How about we contact the boy's teacher…? At least his inventions can match up to that of Minami's…"
"I understand…I will make my move…"
With Howard's suggestion, Hughes then decided to contact Matthew Danton, Joey's school teacher and confidante, in secret so that he can confide to Joey's science teacher about the situation. He doesn't want Joey to be alarmed about this fact given that he not only lost Heroman, but he had just recovered from a serious injury and he doesn't want the young boy to risk his life over again, wanting Joey to live a normal life.
-x-
Meanwhile, somewhere within the West Coast of Center City, the disgraced members of the "Generas Industry" are stealthily making their way through a place where no one can pursue them. Dr. Minami is leading the pack, with his followers tagging along after his personal secretary, Veronica, freed them from prison during the final Skrugg invasion. Following Dr. Minami are the following who are easily identified:
- Amanorich, one of MRL's top researchers. Even though he is a nihilist, he wears 3-D glasses to see the world in a different color;
- Stallion, one of MRL's top researchers. He is always seen wearing thick machinist gloves
As they are trekking within a forested area, Minami vowed to make Heroman pay and will do everything to break, but then gets some good news when Veronica tells him the current situation and this is music to the scientist's ears, and now he is rubbing his hands in excitement, as he chose to settle his affairs by targeting Joey instead.
"Sir…I have a scoop for you…Heroman's dead…"
"Well, that's bad news…now I can't…"
"Sir…Joey Jones is alive…you can take your frustrations out on him…and with Heroman not around since he is destroyed, he's easy picking…in any way you can lay on him where you can deem fit..."
"Really…? I guess I can settle for that brat who stole my glory…"
"…and I managed to get the list of Joey Jones' friends and family…we can use them to break down the boy…then we can break him down before you can deal with the fatal strike…"
"Ah…yes…that's a good suggestion…at least I can satiate my lust for revenge…"
Amanorich and Stallion heard this and they too petitioned to join in on getting revenge by targeting Joey, and Minami is more than delighted to hear this.
"Boss…can we join you on that little plot of yours…?"
"We want to make that brat pay…since Heroman's no more…we can at least pluck the kid's fingernails…"
"Yes…be my guests…we will make Joey Jones pay for the humiliation we got…but for now we need a place to stay and hide…then hatch a plan on how to get the brat down to his knees…"
"Yes, boss!"
"Yes, boss!"
As the Generas Industry escapees made their way out of the forest, they are greeted by a parked limousine and they checked it out to see if there is someone there, but then the limousine's door opened and Minami is surprised to see Senator Tramp sitting inside and there the senator motions Minami to come inside as he wants to have a word with him.
"Hello, Dr. Minami…"
"You…you're Senator Tramp!"
"Yes…and I have a proposition for you…and if you agree and accept…I can shield you from the authorities…provide you sanctuary…"
"And how do we know if you're not going to rat on us?"
"If that was my intention…then the police would've surrounded you already…be not afraid…I only wanted a discussion with you…"
"Wait a moment…Veronica…what do you think?"
"I say we go with him and see what he has to offer us…"
"Fine…we'll go with you…can we ride with you…?"
"Yes, of course…we have much to discuss…such as Joey Jones' downfall…"
"Ahh…I see we have the same tastes and goal…fine…I'll trust you for now…everyone…hop in!"
And so the escapees boarded the limousine and Tramp took the escapees to parts unknown as Minami is assured that he and his cronies won't be sent back to prison and the parties involved are now discussing plans on how to "break down" Joey Jones, as well as making him a "menace to society" as a way to weakened his self-esteem before dealing the fatal blow to the boy.
To Be Continued...
Okay…hope you liked the opening chapter…
While the 1st chapter diverges from the aftermath events of episode 26, it will give you something to enjoy, as Joey gets to resume his daily life and how to cope with the future he is facing without Heroman. This will certainly add a lot of pressure once his would-be detractors comes in and starts to lay out the plans to "bring him down" emotionally before dealing with him physically.
While Lina gets little screen time in this chapter, she will get more exposure in the next chapter as she and Joey will meet as the school starts. Romance and drama will follow while danger is looming close by…and this is where the title comes in…"Struggling Aftermath"…as our "hero" will face a lot of pressure after his "adventure" ended abruptly while his enemies are making moves to get revenge on the teen.
"Dummy Tramp" is an OC (original character) and I based him as a parody of real-life billionaire, Donald Trump, but I have him as one of the villains here. He'll son becoming a VERY hated character in this ficm once the next chapters come i to play.
Moreover, Tramp's character is DIRECTLY INSPIRED from Acetylene Lamp, a character from the 2003 version of the anime, Astro Boy(2003). He is going to be the "main villain" for this fic after Gogorr's defeat.
Preview:
Joey goes back to school, and tries to rekindle his "romance" with Lina while adjusting to normal life, when his detractors make their first move.