Interlude:
Tyler slept fitfully. The image of his mother and sister plagued his dreams.
"You can't afford to rest Tyler." His mothers transparent face spoke. You have to stop her."
The faced pixelated and reformed into the sweet features of Debra.
"You can't let her beat you. You have to be stronger than her."
There was a haunting sound in her voice. It kept fading in and out like the surf at the beach.
Momentarily Tyler was taken to a time not so long ago when his family had went to Ventura Beach. It was one of the hotter days of that summer and his family had gone on the spur of the moment. His dad had called in sick to work and his mother packed up some snacks and water bottles for a day near the ocean. It was memorable in that Debra had chosen that trip to assert her independence in the form of a two piece swim suit. Even though they had only recently became teenagers, Their father still thought of them as little kids. He remembered his dad disappearing for a while and coming back with a shirt for Debra to put over the swim suit. All she had wanted to do was get a good start to her summer tan and ended up wearing a huge crab on her front side the rest of the day.
The family packed up and were walking back to the car. Tyler was ribbing Debra about the shirt.
"Come on 'lil sis… don't be so… Crabby!" and started cracking up. The small jokes kept coming until she finally turned to him and gave him that glare. Tyler backed up a few feet and threw up his hands in submission.
"Hey, at least I didn't start in on the Spongebob jokes!" and flashed his trademark smile.
"but while we're on the subject, how exactly did a crab get a whale for a daughter? I mean, how would that even be possible?" and looked right into Debra's eyes with the most serious expression plastered across his face. He waggled his eyebrows after a second and his sister couldn't suppress the laughter.
His parents turned their heads and smiled at each other at the way their kids were getting along.
Tyler was getting into the car when the door handle was pulled from his grasp. The back end of the car lurched up accompanied by the sound of crunching metal. His mother gasped and Debra let out a scream as they saw a lady standing on the hood of their car. The lady was outfitted in some type of costume done in red with a black cape. She had blond hair and was only a little bigger than his mother in stature. The dark circles around her eyes gave a menacing look to her. She slowly turned her head to each side surveying the people in front of her. As she turned her gaze to Tyler, she locked eyes with the youth.
"You weren't strong enough to save them then…" and as she jumped down from the remains of the car's front end she continued, "and you aren't now!" She smiled in a way that sent chills to Tyler's soul.
Debra let out a scream that imprinted itself on his mind for eternity. The lady in the red suit grabbed Tyler's mother by the front of her shirt. With a flourish she was hurled into the air. Tyler went to move but was stopped by the feeling of running through chest high mud. His mothers screams faded out as she disappeared from sight over the horizon. They were immediately taken up by Debra who was right behind her before all this began.
"And you… you little brat!" The costumed figure said through clenched teeth.
Tyler reached out to stop her.
"No!" He shouted. To his ears it was muffled.
Debra had a look of panic in her eyes as the lady took her by the shoulders. She hit at her and bellowed for her brother.
"Tyler… Tyler… Help me!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs just to have no sound emit from his mouth. He stretched to leap over the car, but it was as if he were made of lead. He could barely move through the soup of this nightmarish vision.
"Tyler, why won't you help me!?" Debra beckoned.
The lady in red looked over at Tyler.
"And just like before… You won't save her either." And smiled.
Holding Debra with her right hand, she let loose with a vicious backhand from her left sending Debra careening out into the water. Her form hit the water with a violent slap that reverberated through Tyler's bones. She didn't surface again.
The lady turned to face Tyler.
"You see, you have no true power. If you used your suit, you may have been able to save your family.." She came close enough to pat Tyler on the cheek. "But now that will never happen… Too bad." And she turned, took three steps and flew off into the sky.
Tyler was free just as soon as she was gone from sight. He stood panting with tears streaking his face. The sobs were coming strong and the anger sparked into existence. He didn't know what to do.
"Quit your balling over there you little girl!" came his dad's voice.
In the middle of all this, Tyler had forgotten where his father was. He scanned and found him sitting in a folding lawn chair with a glass of amber liquid in his right hand. His clothes had changed from the tank top and shorts of the beach and was now replaced with a sweat stained shirt and faded jeans. Looking up, he guzzled down half the contents of the glass.
"Now shut your mouth and get me another Scotch." And put the glass out for Tyler to take it.
Tyler could feel his face grow hot and he was shaking with anger.
"What? You think changing into your pajamas is gonna make you any tuffer?" and he burst out laughing.
Tyler glanced down at himself to find he had somehow changed into the black power suit like the one the lady had worn.
"Yeah, If I had been wearing this before, I could have stopped her from letting mom and Debra die." Tyler spoke softly to himself.
"Yeah, yeah… stop the cry-baby routine and get me my drink." He Nick said with a slur to his speech.
Tyler let the fury grow into a raging inferno. He walked over to his father who was slumped into the chair. The scene now morphing into the trailer they had lived in the last 3 years. The scent of the filthy place infused every inch of the construction. Tyler took the glass from his father's hand and looked at it.
"Never again." He murmered.
"What did you say?!" Nick asked in annoyance.
"I said never again!" and he smashed the glass against the side of his father's head. The contents of the shattered glass pouring all over the seated figure of Nick.
"Never again!" Tyler shouted. He felt the thought enter his mind and suddenly he felt the heat leave his body.
With a thought, Tyler set his father on fire. Watching the flames consume Nick, both were reflected in the tear filled eyes of his son.
"This is why I gave you the power suit Tyler." The voice said next to him. Tyler never broke eye contact with the burning figure seated in the chair.
"To give you the ability to deal out true justice. Justice that those in charge of this world do not have the courage to dispense." His tones wavering in a hypnotic pattern. "But before you can meet the challenges of ridding the planet of those that bar justice from occurring, you must first take on their champion."
The burning form of Nick Ellis then changed into the form of Aidan Hinkley.
"Yes… she must be destroyed."
"Yes… destroyed." Tyler droned.
With a snap, Tyler sat upright. Breathing rapidly, his room was cold. Except it was not his room. It was the cave he had taken refuge in after being set back to Earth by his alien host. Blinking several times, he fought to clear the fog of the dream, only to find he couldn't.
"She is the only thing standing in my way." He thought out loud.
The alien smiled as he exited the cerebral imaging room.