Birthday Bash 2024

Prompt Four: Superpowers

The young cat man sharply looked up in horror. "You're kicking me off the team?!" he demanded, trying to rise from the bed in spite of his injuries. "Out of the family?!"

"No, of course not," his mother hastily corrected with a helpless look. "But doesn't it sound nice? An apartment all to yourself, you can walk around in broad daylight without anyone paying you special attention, and you can-"

"Be alone," he stated flatly as he felt a piece of him die. He looked down at his injured leg, still feeling some pain from it as well in spite of the medication. "We know I can't make friends-"

"Oh yes, you can," his father snarled, sitting down with a mighty plop close to the head of his son's sick bed. "It's like this, Humbert; the Quartet wants you dead. We don't know why, but they've hated you on first sight and have been trying to take you out of the picture ever since you made your debut."

"They've hated all of us for years, but you're the one they keep trying to arrange to get killed so that they can weasel out of public backlash," Lune reminded him, trying to be firm although he clearly didn't want to go this far. He even scratched one ear for a distraction, proving that he didn't want this conversation any more than his little brother. "Forgive us, but we'd rather love you from afar than mourn you up close. I never thought for a moment I'd be the first we bought the watch for. We'll still have phone calls, at least."

"Please don't do this to me," Humbert begged, trying to grab onto anyone he could, but even his father stood up and stepped out of range.

"We'll do what we can about the Amazing Quartet," Phoebus stated, his crossed eyes uncharacteristically glistening with tears. "But at least they won't be able to touch you or find you."

"And it's only until we have enough money for the rest of us to join you," his mother tried to say hopefully, but her tone seemed to know that it would be a miracle if they scrounged up enough to send the elder brother after the younger.

ooOoo

'I still feel the same,' he couldn't resist thinking, looking at his human hand with disgust. He couldn't help remembering all the times he wished his hand was as normal as the next boy's, but Megamind's watch only changed how his hand looked, not what it actually was. He rubbed his hands together to feel the fur on his palms and wrists.

"Gloves at all times," he muttered to himself, pulling on a pair as he looked around his new apartment.

It was as bare as any of the places he'd occupied and left in a hurry growing up, thanks to the family profession. He frowned, still feeling years of ingrained dread to let himself dream about personalizing his current home.

He sighed and opened his laptop to log in for work. He'd actually been writing summaries for a tea company for a few years so that he wouldn't feel like a freeloader while recovering from the Quartet's latest attempts to make sure he died. If only he'd known that his parents had been saving his contributions for his own apartment.

He stayed in that apartment for months. He wrote, experimented with different blends to offer to the company, and only occasionally tried to leave his abode for something other than grocery runs and taking out the trash, which were interesting to balance with the cane he now needed to walk.

He even stopped with the grocery runs when he simply couldn't relax while shopping around crowds of strangers, some of which were willing to start fights over literally anything. Having his purchases delivered to his door was the safest course of action, but it was hard not to grow bored with staring at the same walls, day in, day out. He enjoyed walks through a nearby park, or reading a book on one of the benches, but alas, drama would find him there as well.

"Sir, I've gotten reports matching your description of a stalker lurking near some children," a police officer informed him authoritatively after approaching from behind.

Despite previous encounters with cops, Humbert managed to stay calm while turning the page of his historical fiction book, his cane across his lap. "That's a funny way to pronounce, 'you made a dogwalker angry by rejecting a date, so she did the adult version of running to mommy to tattle'. Please feel free to tell the woman actually lurking by the tree two hundred paces to your left with the enthusiastic mutt that this is not the correct way to inform a man that he'll regret turning her down. As long as the noise level is acceptable and there's no blood, I couldn't care less about what any children are up to." He didn't bother hiding his smirk as his large ears picked up on the girl and dog making a hasty retreat after the cop looked in her direction.

He sniffed disdainfully, though his eyes never left his book. How he said the next bit with a straight face, he'd never know. "Besides, I'm more of a cat person."

ooOoo

It was late on a Friday night. He knew that the societal norm was to go out with friends or perhaps try to meet a young lady, but both felt hollow and pointless.

It wasn't that he didn't want friends or a girlfriend, but how could he explain himself? How could he explain his former role as a literal cat burglar and repeat escapee from prison? He unconsciously rubbed the little wrist peeking between his glove and sleeve against the couch to feel his fur change direction as he channel-surfed. He kept getting distracted by how bare the place was, but the trauma of constantly changing homes as a child still held fast. It felt pointless to paint the walls to something he'd like better or order artwork to personalize his space. There wasn't really a need for more furniture than his bed, working desk in his office, and couch in the living room since it was just him. He sighed heavily, still flicking between channels with one hand while praying to see something interesting.

Without warning, his lazy slouch sharpened to a militant sitting position, and a growl came unbidden to his lips.

The Amazing Quartet were entertaining a late interview. His green eyes narrowed into slits as he took in each tormentor that separated him from his family and sentenced him to a near house arrest.

Gizma, the daughter that could bend technology to her will with nothing more than a thought as well as an advanced black belt. He winced at remembering all the times she'd taken delight in beating him to a pulp. Even on his best days and peak health, he never got away from her unscathed.

Duster, the son who could run fast enough to leave both enemies and his own team… well, in the dust. Baron was usually on the ground and wheezing from an unseen hit before realizing the smart mouth was in the vicinity.

Amazonia, the mother whose sheer strength had toppled buildings more than once in the hopes of killing him while claiming it was an accident in the heat of combat.

Morphisto, the father who could turn his body into any substance he chose. He liked to publicly change his blood type to something rare in order to donate to hospitals, but he also liked to change his fist into various kinds of rock before throwing a punch at Baron, even if one of his parents or Lune would have been more convenient.

If this family had their way, he wouldn't have lasted a day after making his debut as The Baron. His large green eyes closed in agony.

He'd fought tooth and nail for that name. He'd never liked being named for his maternal grandfather since Lune had been named after the paternal. Lune had gotten off easier since that musician was likely to sue over the name 'Prince', and he genuinely preferred Duke, but his parents, King and Queen, had wanted Humbert to be Count or Marquis. But Count made him think of vampires, and he wasn't fond enough of 'Mark' to fight willfully ignorant people about what to call him.

Baron was simple. Baron was lordly. As far as he could tell from literature, barons had more freedom than any of the higher ranks because everyone always had their eyes forward to the crown. The perfect balance between power, respect, and personal choice. He'd been privately calling himself that long before the many, many fights with his parents that he was still following the family theme.

But because of this… disgustingly deceptive family on the screen, he had only gotten five years of use out of his chosen name, and he'd spent most of that recuperating from murder attempts. He'd been forced to give up his family for a lie so basic, he couldn't bring himself to change his lonely state and risk his safety if he happened to trust the wrong person.

'I should have let them win the fight and applied for my writing job under Baron,' he lamented yet again. 'I wouldn't be stuck with Humbert if I'd given another name!'

The interviewer he didn't recognize leaned forward on his large desk, lacing his fingers together with a warm smile at the local heroes. "Would you say that fighting crime has strengthened your bond as a family?"

"Absolutely," Gizma piped up with a grin that was never present when Humbert was. "It's hard to have petty fights after a long day of taking down supervillains, so things are peaceful when we're home."

"It's also great for keeping us out of trouble," Duster added before briefly blurring and coming back into focus with a bottled water. "Mostly," he smirked before cracking the bottle open.

"Hardly," Humbert grumbled, glaring daggers at the lot of them. How dare they pretend to be good people?! How dare they sit there in front of a camera and act like they're normal people when they've never known what it's like?! Humbert knew little about being normal himself, but he knew plenty about struggles to keep a roof over a family's head and food in their mouths.

'I hope Mother, Father, and Lune are doing all right tonight,' he couldn't help wishing sadly. Calling him once every three months was still more risk than they felt they should take, but that was eternity after being together, every bit a solid unit as the Quartet was trying to project themselves as.

After a while, he forced his attention back to the interview.

Morphisto was smiling as he turned his arm into rubber in order to stretch a hug over his wife and children's shoulders. "Yes sir, nothing builds a family like teamwork, and nothing builds a team like a family!"

The interviewer nodded while looking a little sad. "Sometimes I wonder how your third child would have changed the dynamic. Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Not this again," Humbert groaned, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

Amazonia flinched like she'd received one of her own gut punches. "A girl," she stated sadly. "We had a name picked out and everything."

"I wonder what her power would have-," the interviewer mused as Humbert angrily shut off the tv.

"I'm not listening to her whine and pout after the way she handled Mother's pregnancies," he growled, throwing on a coat while making sure that the watch was turned on and he had his apartment keys.

His blood was boiling as his cane tapped down the hall, suffered through the elevator only because of his bad leg, and started for the park as usual. There weren't likely to be many people there at this hour, and if there were, all the better. There were a few new tricks with his cane he'd been practicing in the privacy of his apartment, and it might alleviate some of his temper to test them on an eager subject.

It just wasn't fair. His family had only been in the villainy business for the chance to feed themselves and have a bit of fun while doing so. It had taken months to steal back Lune and himself after their births, both of which had been in prison and the courts deemed King and Queen unsuitable for raising the boys. They honestly acted like two cat children were not going to be bullied and neglected in a human home. Humbert knew full well that it did little good to point out that they carried human blood when their cat genes were so completely dominant.

He marched around the runner's path, somehow getting angrier instead of calmer. 'I wish there was a way I could get back at those hypocrites! I wish I could make them suffer like they've done to me! Not just me, my family! I'm worried sick about them, but there's literally nothing I can do!'

Even if he could still be the Baron, it was only a matter of time before the Quartet got in the lucky hit they'd been desperate for literally since the second they laid eyes on him.

Once his body announced it was tired of pacing around the lake, Humbert collapsed on the nearest bench and looked up while swinging his cane with one hand. He'd hoped to see some stars, but the overcast was dark and angry. The wind was steadily picking up, and the very air smelled of an upcoming storm.

His watch wasn't waterproof. If he knew what was good for him, he'd head back to the apartment, but the mere idea made his stomach clench in dread.

It wasn't home. He wanted to go home, wherever his family was. But it was the one thing he couldn't have.

That and revenge on the Amazing Quartet. Such a pity that there were no stars for him to wish on. Not even an airplane that he could tell himself was a star. Everything about this night was promising to be dark and stormy.

After what could have been minutes or even hours of revolving thoughts on the same subjects, his ears picked up a sound unrelated to the howling wind. His nose, long accustomed to moist grass and the damp air, were forced to take in a new scent as a human started crashing through bushes like a fox being hunted.

The scent immediately made him stand up and hold his cane ready to defend himself against-

A scrawny girl fell to the grass with a yelp as she escaped the tall bushes, her pale skin crisscrossed everywhere with lines of blood to tell of winning her way through the brush. She looked up at him, large dark eyes squinting to catch what little light from the park's nearest lamppost could offer.

"Sorry for the scare, could you tell me where the nearest train station is?" she asked quickly.

Humbert blinked before slowly lowering his cane to brace his bad leg again.

She was both familiar to him and completely strange. He knew that face, the way her hand braced itself on one knee as she rose to her feet, even the sound of her grunts of pain when there was something else her mind was worried about. Her scent was screaming the truth at him, but it was also salty, as if she'd shed many tears before making her way here.

He knew her. He'd never met her until this night, but he knew her all the same.

"What are you doing here?" he blurted out before he was thinking.

"Trying to leave, don't worry," she assured him, scanning the darkness as if trying to figure out the route she should take since he didn't immediately give her the information she wanted.

Humbert made up his mind so quickly, he could never be certain later if he'd wasted any thought on the decision at all. "I saw the interview too," he mentioned casually.

She gave him a terrified look, and even started backing away down one direction of the path.

"Oh don't worry. I'm the last person in this rathole of a city that will snitch on you." He briefly lifted his cane and swished it slightly before hurriedly setting it back on the ground. "They're the reason I can't walk on my own anymore."

Her grief turned to rage. "Some heroes," she snarked angrily before giving him a helpless look. "I guess I should have known better than to think I was their only plaything. I'm sorry you had to deal with them too."

Humbert frowned sternly, looking her up and down. The girl's shirt and pants were almost too plain to be out in public, even if one ignored the girl's minor blood streaks. "You don't have powers, do you?"

She looked at her feet shamefully. "No. One hundred percent boring human."

"… You weren't told of the stillborn coverup, were you?" he guessed, since there didn't seem to be any other reason she'd pick tonight to run away from home.

Her breath became sharper as she struggled not to cry.

Humbert rifled through his pockets until he could offer the girl a handkerchief. "It's justifiable to be upset. Even when I believed the lie, I thought your mother was milking the 'experience' for sympathy too much."

She looked up from the handkerchief in horror. "She's talked about me like that before?!"

"All the time," Humbert groaned, partially so she knew he was sick of hearing about it.

She buried her face in the handkerchief again as tears and snot came out faster than her words.

"Miwa normally shuts off the internet before they leave me alone. She never cared what I was doing, even when I was doing schoolwork, and they supported her! It was to keep me from finding out that I don't exist!"

"That's a bit of a stretch," Humbert offered a bit hesitantly while patting her shoulder, since he didn't think it'd be good to do more.

"I've-I've been wanting to leave forever! I even offered to go to college somewhere far away with a new name, but they always said no! All the groups I read online say 'don't leave without your documents, don't leave without your documents! I was a home birth, I don't think there are any! That's why they said no to college and want me to stay in that horrible place the rest of my life!"

"So that's how they covered you up," he mused before shaking his head and getting to the point. "Miss, I'm going to be honest with you. There's a storm on the way, security cameras in the trains, and unless you remembered to grab money before leaving-"

She flinched at the last two statements.

"Ah. Very well." He drew himself to his full height. "I know I'm a stranger, and you don't know why I'm at odds with your family. But I can assure you that if what they want is to find you, then you're not going to find a safer person to hide with than me."

She lowered the handkerchief to look at him. She was clearly a mixed ball of wild emotions, but she definitely seemed to remember that he was a strange man, and this was a deserted park.

"I have a couch for you to sleep on tonight, and I can arrange my office into a room for you in the morning," he offered, suddenly grateful that he had been letting his savings build up. At the bare minimum, she was going to need a bed, a few changes of clothes, and a wig with some contacts. "Also, instead of running and eventually getting caught, wouldn't it be more satisfying if you let me take a few photos or short video of you, photoshop you into surveillance on a train, and let them do all the running around instead?"

She lowered the handkerchief as her expression grew both thoughtful and mischievous. "It would serve them right to go on a wild goose chase and bother normal people until their public masks fall off."

Humbert grinned wickedly before giving her as much of a bow as his leg would allow. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Humbert Gikkingen, and the chance to help you gain a new identity, a job, and independence would make me the happiest man on the planet. Legal documents are mere child's play to me," he added with a roguish grin.

It was only then that she finally smiled, like it was the first time in years she'd been able to do it. She gave him a Japanese bow in response. "I look forward to learning from you, come what may. My name is-" she cut herself off abruptly, thinking hard for a second.

"Haru. From now on, I'm Haru."

xxXxx

This idea WILL be getting continued.