Chapter One

The Seriousness of the Situation

"Why so serious, Kevin?" said Dr. Hilman, Dr. James Hilman was a psychiatrist, she specialized in children at the children's clinic in Gotham City. She is the psychologist of Kevin Wulff, Kevin is the son of renowned real-estate owner, David Wulff of The Wulff Corporation . Kevin was seeing Dr. Hilman for depression after his mother died in a devastating car accident. Kevin was twelve years old and way too young to have lost a parent, especially a mother. "Kevin," said the good doctor, "Kevin, are you listening to me?" Kevin sat in a chair across from Hilman with a blank stair on his face. The room had a large window to the right that took up the entire wall. The door was on the left, a bookcase was to the right and on the left was a long, leather couch. On the bookcase there were children's toys strewn on the shelves.

"Kevin?" said the good doctor again. Kevin looked at the doctor for a moment and said, "Sorry, I was thinking."

"About what?" said Hilman.

"About the last thing my mother had said to me."

"And what was that?" came the reply.

"I was upset that my mom was leaving for the week to go over to my grandmother's. And I was pouting as she was about to leave, she looked over at me and she gave me her beautiful smile and said, 'Now Kevin, lets put a smile on that face.' and I gave a fake smile, anything to please my mother."

Hilman looked at Kevin the light from the window shone on Kevin's face, showing off his boyish features. "Kevin, have you cried since your mother died?" Asked Hilman,

"Why do you ask?"

"Its just a question, you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable with it." Said Patricia Hilman

"Why is that important?"

"Because, in the whole two months I've seen you, you've never cried, you've never even acted sad, you just act indifferent to the whole situation. And frankly, its just not healthy."

"Well, no, I Haven't cried since the incident."

"Why is that?"

"Because my mother wanted me to smile, and crying isn't smiling."

"But you don't smile either." Said Hilman

"But I just can't smile, I can't even laugh, I'm a freak now, right that's why I'm in therapy? I'm a FREAK!"

"Your not a freak," said Hilman a little startled. "You've just gone through a tough time and you're emotionally injured, its completely normal." Dr. Hilman turned to her notepad and wrote on it, "Has sudden outbursts when asked simple questions. Kevin is on the early stage to catatonia.

"I miss my mother," said Kevin with a slight tremor in his voice. "but there is nothing I can do about it, crying won't help, smiling won't help, and definitely laughing won't help."

"You know, sometimes they say, laughing is the best medicine."

"Well they're wrong."

Kevin's session ended without another word said, he was led out to the lobby where his father's secretary George E. Nigma, was waiting for him. George Nigma is a tall well built young man, George is just recently married and his new wife is pregnant with their first child. "Are you ready Kevin?" Asked Mr. Nigma.

"Where's dad?" asked Kevin half expecting this to happen.

"He wanted to come but got tied up at work."

Kevin put his head down and walked slowly toward the door, he felt for the millionth time in three months that he was alone in this world. He would never be happy again he said to himself, he would always be a tortured soul, a damned spirit, thrown into this dark, cavernous hole that he was slowly falling into, and knew he would never return from.

Kevin lived in Chicago, Illinois, it was a busy city but he was always accustomed to it, it fit him like smile, his mother used to say to him. Kevin stared blankly out the window as the dark windows of office buildings streaked past his window seat on the raised train platform. He always used to love ridding the train through town. Now it was just another bad memory, he dreadfully thought of the long ride to the hospital where his mother's half alive body was being held. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, and hours felt like days.

The train suddenly stopped and Kevin was snapped out of his trance, he looked around, Mr. Nigma was already out of his seat and getting his briefcase out of the overhead luggage carrier. Mr. Nigma held out a hand for Kevin to grab, but Kevin ignored it and helped himself out of his seat and in front of Nigma. Kevin walked off the train and onto the cold platform, as a gust of wind whipped Kevin's face he wrapped his jacket around him tighter.

He stepped into the yellow cab, and sat in the seat, the smell of greasy, McDonalds hamburgers and fries. The cab ride home was completely uneventful Kevin stared at the back of the driver's seat as the taxi proceeded to his large home in the outskirts of the big city. The taxi turned the corner of Hillsgrove Dr. his street, the street he last saw his mother alive on. Kevin walked up toward the big house on the street corner and little did Kevin know that as he ascended the steps to his home, he ascended the steps to the events that would change his life for forever.