Chapter 4 - Secrets Revealed
Within the next few hours, Armie and Rat did as best as they could to keep Brandon company at the farmhouse.
The next day, Armie in his human form dropped Brandon off at the school while driving Tori's car. Rat was on the passenger side, also in human form. He, like Armie, wore a sleeveless jacket, but his was orange, over a green short-sleeved T-shirt, wore hillbilly jeans, and also looked college-aged. He retained his dark hair and buck teeth, and he wore cyan-rimmed glasses.
"Are you going to be alright, Brandon?" Armie asked him.
"I'll be fine," Brandon replied.
"Good," Armie nodded. "If any of the surviving kids belittle you again, simply ignore 'em." He then looked away. "Rat and I are gonna ride around town to chat with any survivors of the Snap today. Maybe even start a support group." He then turned back to Brandon. "Have a good day, Brandon."
"Thanks, guys," Brandon replied, hopping off. "See you later."
As Brandon waved, the car drove away. Rat looked at the overhead mirror, watching Brandon's image shrink.
"I hope we know what we're doin', Armie," he said with a worried look on his face. "I mean, posin' as Brandon's long-lost older cousins to take care of him."
"We're doing the best we can, Rat," Armie replied. "He did lose his folks to the Snap."
"Speakin' of parents," Rat began, "I wonder if our dads are okay, if they're still around, that is."
"Something tells me they are, Rat."
In the heart of Africa, on the edge of Pride Rock, Timon and Pumbaa, Armie and Rat's fathers, wore sad expressions on their faces, overlooking the Pridelands.
"Something tells me they are," Armie continued.
"This is terrible, Pumbaa," Timon said, worriedly. "Not only did Simba turn to dust, but we also lost Bunga. I mean, we did raise them."
"You forget, Timon," Pumbaa added. "We've also lost Ono, Fuli and Beshte. Luckily, Nala, Kiara and Kion are still with us."
"Yeah, there's that," Timon agreed. "And with Kion's dad and Lion Guard gone, I guess this means that he'll have to assume the throne now."
"But what about Kiara?" asked Pumbaa. "Simba did say that she's the future queen."
They noticed Zazu the hornbill flying to the duo.
"Anything else to report, Zazu?" Timon asked.
"Yes," Zazu nodded. "A few elephant herds, hyena packs, and even Basi's pod are trying to pull themselves together."
"You needn't mention hyenas, Zazu," Timon gulped. "You know how my old colony feels about hyenas. But I'm aware that they're missing friends and loved ones, too, as much as I miss Uncle Max. I just can't believe he's dust, too. But at least Ma and the surviving members of my colony are pulling through."
"Well, be sure to let her majesty, Queen Nala, know about the report," Zazu replied. "I'll check for anymore survivors in the Pridelands."
And with that, Zazu flew off, leaving the duo alone.
"This is bad, Pumbaa," Timon said, worriedly. "We must let Nala and her kids know."
As the two got inside the cave, Rafiki the wise mandrill, watching from his tree hut, shook his head, tsking.
"If only the two of you knew," he said, looking at the picture he drew of Armie and Rat.
Back in Brightburn, Armie and Rat, still in human form, were driving the car to check for anymore survivors when the former noticed something that caught his eye
"What the heck?" Armie whispered.
He drove the car to a wreckage site.
"Brandon said that there was a diner here," he continued. "But he didn't mention it bein' torn down."
"Maybe we should take a closer look," Rat suggested.
"Yeah," Armie agreed.
With that, they got out of the car to investigate.
Among the remains, Armie spotted something on one of the shattered pieces of a window. He picked up the piece and looked at it.
"A back-to-back double letter-B symbol?" he wondered.
"That's a case I'm trying to re-open, sir," a woman's voice got his attention. She wore a sheriff's uniform.
"You must be Deputy Reyes," Armie guessed.
"Actually, it's Sheriff Reyes now," she replied. "Because of Deever's untimely passing, I got promoted to sheriff of the Brightburn PD."
"Good to meet ya', ma'am," Rat said, coming to her.
"You two new in town?" she asked the duo.
"Yes," Armie replied. "We're cousins of Brandon Breyer. I'm Armand Dewitt, and he's Warren Tucker. We came as soon as we heard about Uncle Kyle and Aunt Tori."
"Brandon Breyer?" Reyes repeated. "He's a suspect."
"A suspect?" Armie repeated. "For what?"
"Two horrifying cases that I alone am trying to solve," Reyes replied. "Sometime before Deever got turned into dust, we interrogated your aunt, believing that Brandon may have caused the diner demolition and the accident that killed his Uncle Noah. A woman named Erica Connor used to run this diner, but she disappeared around the time it got demolished."
"Erica Connor?" Armie repeated. "Brandon told us about a Caitlyn Connor who got turned into dust yesterday. He said that he admired her."
"Erica is Caitlyn's mother," Reyes informed. "And if we find her alive, I'm going to inform her about her daughter."
"If she is alive," Rat began, "she's gonna be heartbroken. But Brandon's just a kid. How can he be responsible for demolition and a deadly car crash?"
"That's for me to figure out," Reyes replied.
Armie froze for a minute.
"Uh, Warren?" he suddenly said, getting Rat's attention. "I think we better head back to the farmhouse."
"Good point, Armand," Rat nodded.
"Thank you, ma'am," Armie nodded.
And with that, the duo got back into the car. Armie did his best to obey the speed limit.
They got back to the farmhouse grounds. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Armie held Rat's hand, and they nodded.
"Monster form," they said.
Glowing briefly, they turned back into their monster forms and got inside the house.
"Let's search this place for some clues," Armie suggested. "Rat, you check outside while I check Brandon's bedroom."
"Got it," Rat nodded.
While the two separated and searched in their directions, Armie got inside Brandon's bedroom and noticed an open notebook on his bed. He hopped on and saw red and blue sketches of the same double-letter B symbol on one page. Armie's eyes widened. He flipped a page to see a drawn image of Brandon in his hood using his laser vision to cut open a metal freezer door with a frightened woman inside, her left eye gouged out with blood coming out of it. As he kept flipping, more pages reveal Brandon's hooded form with his eyes glowing red, the woman screaming as a glass shard cut her eye, Brandon dropping a car with a frightened man inside, the man's lower jaw dropping after he hit the steering wheel, and repeated writing in red that read "TAKE THE WORLD" filling the page. Armie was horrified.
"Oh, my gosh," he whispered. "Brandon is…"
"Armie!" Rat's rather-horrified voice called from inside the barn, getting his attention. "You better take a look at this!"
Inside the barn, Rat looked up with a horrified look on his face. Armie got inside.
"Rat," he began, "didn't Brandon say not to go into the barn?"
"Yeah," Rat replied. "But look."
Armie looked at a metal pod with a glass window on the hatch.
"That must be the shuttle Brandon was brought in," Armie guessed.
"Not that," Rat replied, shaking his head. "That!"
With that, he pointed up. Above them was the dissected husk of a woman hooked on the ceiling.
"Is that Erica Connor?" Armie shouted. "Oh, crud," he continued, about to gag. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Rat then lowered his gaze, and he looked even more horrified.
"And look at the walls!"
Armie did so. The walls in the barn were carved with the same double-sided B symbol. Armie gasped, horrified, trying to catch his breath.
"This proves it," he said. "Brandon. He's no superhero at all. He's a superpowered murderer."
They then looked at each other, grimacing.
"Brandon's school!" they realized.
Author's Note: If I were to assign a voice actor for Deputy…er, Sheriff Reyes, it would be Jennifer Hale.
