Chapter 2
Dark Place

Calvin was sleeping at the moment. His sleep was when his imagination was most active, which was saying something for a kid who imagines dinosaurs and space monsters in everyday life. Normally, Calvin's mind was a happy place. Every so often, there would be a dark or cynical thought, but for the most part, it was fun and happy. Unfortunately, Calvin was not happy. His mind and imagination was, but he was not. He sat in a dark room at the center of his mind, isolated from the rest of his world, away from the dinosaurs, away from space adventures, away from Tracer Bullet's mysteries, and away from the superheroics of Stupendous Man. Calvin was in his dark place at the moment, a place so dark that it could not be accessed by most of his other thoughts.

Calvin was thinking in his dark place at the moment, contemplating what he would do. His thoughts were interrupted when a creature entered. It was the clawed masked man, the same one that killed Spaceman Spiff.
"Oh, it's you." Calvin said, knowing who the masked monster was. The creature's name was Killer. He existed in Calvin's mind and imagination, but Calvin was not sure if he created him or not. He did not act by Calvin's will, but on his own and would talk with Calvin in his dark place. Killer had only recently been appearing in Calvin's psyche. Calvin did not trust Killer and wondered what he was hiding under that mask.

"I killed him." Killer said.
"Who?" Calvin said, angered.
"Spaceman Spiff. He's dead. Forever." Killer said. Calvin was angry now. He clenched his fist.
"You jerk! Why did you do that?" Calvin shouted.
"It needed to be done. Besides, my name isn't Killer for nothing." Killer taunted. Calvin tried to imagine Spaceman Spiff, but came up with nothing. He tried his best to imagine him going on an adventure and flying to the moon, but was unable.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Calvin shouted.
"I made you better, Calvin. Expect great things from me. Trust me, things are going to change around here and whether you like it or not, it's happening." Killer said.

Calvin was unable to control his anger. He dove at Killer, trying to pummel him, but Killer stepped out of the way. He grabbed Calvin by the neck and held his claw up to the boy's neck.
"How… How did you do that?" Calvin said, scared.
"It's cute how you want to stop me. I can't hurt you yet, though. It's not something I want to do." Killer said. He tossed Calvin into a corner of his dark place and left.