Author's Note: This chapter contains a character death, so prepare yourselves, readers. Also, there's a bit of an allusion/reference to Beauty and the Beast near the beginning.

Chapter 5 – Accidental Tragedy

Back in human form, Armie and Rat drove all the way back to the middle school Brandon was at. But by the time they got there, it was already too late. Brandon had started terrorizing the kids who bullied him with his powers, wearing his red hood. He was currently taking on an African American kid, picking him up by the shirt collar.

"Please," the boy pleaded. "Just leave me the hell alone!"

"Why, Royce?" Brandon asked. "Just so I could let you live, and you can start picking on me again? I don't think so."

And with that, his eyes glowed an angry red.

Royce, fearing for his life, winced.

"Brandon!" Armie called, getting his attention. "Leave him alone!"

Brandon turned to face Armie and Rat, as his eyes stopped glowing.

"Please, Brandon," Rat added. "Put the boy down!"

Brandon did so, and Royce ran back inside the building with the other kids.

"You don't have to do this, Brandon," Armie begged. "We found out from Sheriff Reyes about the demolished diner. We know you killed Mrs. Connor."

This stung Brandon. He quickly remembered her calling him an animal for breaking her daughter Caitlyn's arm. He also remembered tearing open the freezer door in the diner before pouncing on her.

"She called me an animal," Brandon replied. "She even filed a restraining order against me, keeping me away from Caitlyn."

"And why do you think that?" Armie asked.

"I broke her arm using my powers."

"You shouldn't 've done that, Brandon!" Rat replied.

"Caitlyn pushed me during a trust exercise," Brandon remembered, "and called me a pervert. That's why I broke her hand when she reached for me."

"I thought you admired her," Armie replied.

"I did," Brandon began, "until she called me a pervert."

"We also know that ya' killed yer uncle," Rat added.

Brandon gasped. Hardening, he replied, "He threatened to tell to my parents about my outfit. He knew that I was stalking Aunt Merilee. I didn't want him to ruin my reputation. So, I did what I had to."

It was then that he remembered levitating his Uncle Noah's truck and dropped it, which caused his lower jaw to drop when he hit the steering wheel.

"And you did it to shut him up once and for all?" Armie guessed.

Brandon nodded.

"My Dad assumed that I did it," he said. "So he used that hunting trip as a diversion to try to get rid of me, to avenge Uncle Noah. But his revenge was in vain. I thought he loved me. I was so heartbroken and angry that I tried to kill him as my revenge. But then, the Snap happened, and Dad turned into dust when I held him by the jacket collar."

It was at that moment he remembered the events of the "hunting trip", all leading up to the time Kyle turned to dust in front of him.

"Thanos beat ya to it, huh?" Armie replied.

Again, Brandon nodded.

"Brandon," Armie began, "I thought that these powers would make you special, to save the world like a superhero. I guess I was wrong. You're no hero at all."

"If I didn't know better," Brandon began, "I think you monsters were on their side."

"We're no monsters, Brandon," Armie recoiled. "You are!"

This made Brandon more angrier, and his eyes glowed an even brighter, angrier red.

Armie gasped in shock.

Brandon fired his laser vision at Armie. Armie shielded himself with his arms.

"ARMIE!" Rat shouted.

He then noticed that something was off. Brandon's laser vision kept hitting Armie, but somehow, it didn't penetrate through him. When the lasers dissipated, Armie slowly opened his eyes and checked himself. He was relieved.

"I'm not dead," he said.

Brandon was stunned.

"But how?"

"I guess when this Cagliostro guy created me," Armie began, "I was created to be indestructible. Which means…" he grinned, lowering his eyes. "You can't kill me!"

Brandon's eyes hardened. He charged right at Armie. Before he could hit Armie, however, Rat, using his speed, got him out of the way in time.

"Rat, what are you doin'?"

"Protectin' you from further harm," Rat replied, "so I can take ya' to a safer place."

Back on the school playground, Brandon seethed, not being able to pounce on Armie or hit him.

"You two can run," he said, his eyes glowing, "but you can't hide."

And in a flash, Brandon flew away from the playground at blinding speed, leaving the horrified students and teachers behind.

Armie and Rat, back in monster form, found refuge inside the barn, and hid behind the shuttle.

"What are we gonna do, Armie?" Rat whispered. "We're trapped like cattle in a pen while Brandon's out there, about to slaughter us."

"But I can't be killed," Armie whispered back. "I'm as invincible as he is." He froze for a second. "Maybe you're invincible, too."

"What?" Rat replied.

"Maybe the Metamorphicreatron has a side-effect," Armie guessed. "It can give its creations invincibility."

"Armie, there's no time ta' know whether I'm invincible er not," Rat shook his head. "We gotta find a way ta' stop Brandon before he begins his killin' spree."

Just then, a red glow shone in front of them. They turned around and saw the shuttle emanating a red glow.

"The ship," Rat guessed. "Brandon must be gettin' his powers from the ship."

"We gotta destroy it," Armie declared.

"But how?"

Just then, Armie grinned. He peered at Rat.

"I think I have an idea."

"Well, think fast," Rat replied, worriedly, "'cuz we've got company!"

He pointed to Brandon, who's eyes were glowing red still, and he floated in the air, wearing a dark red cape. He followed the two all the way to the barn.

"You two shouldn't have come here," he said. "You deliberately disobeyed me."

"We had to, Brandon," Rat replied. "After Sheriff Reyes said that you were a suspect in the cases, we knew we had ta' investigate, and I figured that you were hidin' some'n in this barn."

"I will not allow any monsters like you to get in my way!"

Brandon fired his laser vision at Rat, who, instead of getting turned into a glazed ham, survived, which proved Armie's theory—he, too was invincible. But he didn't have enough time to celebrate, as Brandon kept firing his laser vision at Rat all over the place while Rat ran for his life. Finally, Rat tripped on a rock and toppled over to the barn door. Cowering, Rat whimpered and shielded himself as Brandon was about to deliver the finishing blow.

"Brandon!" Armie called, getting his attention. "You were brought to Earth in this pod, which controlled you to use your powers for evil instead of good!" With that, he clenched a fist. "I am not going to allow you to threaten, frighten, hurt or even murder anyone else! Kryptonian form!"

Armie glowed, and he grew into a large muscular version of his human form, wearing red spandex adorned by green speedos and boots, a pink belt, and had a flowing green cape. On the chest was what appeared to be the Kryptonian symbol for hope—Superman's namesake. Armie floated, his eyes glowing white.

"What are you doing?!" Brandon shouted.

"Say goodbye to your little piece of home, Brandon."

And with that, he fired his laser vision at the pod. Emanating an agonizing moan and glowing orange, the pod exploded. A mushroom cloud was produced, and the barn, too, exploded, pieces of wood flying all over the place.

Armie, after being flung back to the ground, regained consciousness after a few minutes, and rubbed his head. Just then, he saw a horrifying sight.

"BRANDON!" he shouted in anguish.

A few feet away from him, Brandon lay lifeless, a piece of large shrapnel from the pod had pierced his chest, where his heart was located. Armie had accidentally killed Brandon.

Utterly horrified, Armie ran to him.

"Monster form!" he shouted before reverting to his monster form.

He got to the boy's body, and started to cry.

"Oh, crud," he said. "What have I done? I'm sorry, Brandon. I am so sorry."

Rat got up, hearing Armie's mortified voice, and saw that he had cradled Brandon's head. He got to the two, also sad.

"Oh, Rat," Armie wept. "It was an accident. I only wanted to stop Brandon. I didn't mean for this to happen!"

"Well, it did happen," Rat replied. "And a' course ya' didn't mean to. Nobody ever means fer these things to happen."

Armie hugged Rat, still crying.

"It's all my fault, Rat," he said. "I've become no better than Brandon."

Rat looked on and saw something shimmering.

"Hey, what's that?" he said, pointing to the object.

Armie looked in that direction, drying his eyes, and saw the sparkle. He got to where it was and picked it up. It was a golden ring with seven red stars on the orange orb-shaped jewel.

"A ring with an orange orb and red stars?" Armie said.

"Huh," Rat said, coming to Armie. "It must be a Dragon Ring."

"A what?" Armie replied.

Author's Note: The Dragon Ring is featured in my Code Geass/Dragon Ball crossover fanfic "The Rise and Fall of Kreeg". To new readers, you'll learn what the ring's concept is based on in the next chapter.