The Way We Were

Chapter 9: A Broken Boxman

When she came to, all Nebula saw was Aiden leaning over her. "Nebula dearest, I am so sorry for earlier. I got it! I know just how to make it up to you!" He then brought her attention to a large open window with the hypnotized people of Lakewood surrounding the defeated heroes passed out in a cage. She gasped and jumped out the window, using her levitation powers to land. Once she got to the cage, she froze and broke the bars. She then turned around and glared at Aiden. "What. Have. You. Done!" She hissed. "You are so hard to please honey" to her surprise, she was captured and brought to Aiden. She couldn't move as her body felt as if it was weighted down. "Honestly, what will it take for you to be happy?" He asked rhetorically as he took her face in his hands, squishing her cheeks with his thumb and pointer finger.

Aiden sighed and brought her back inside and slammed the window shut. Once safely inside, he threw her to the ground and put a spell on the window. A loud alarm was heard and Aiden raced out of the room, slamming the door. As Nebula got up from the floor, her heart sank as she heard the door lock. She tried opening the window, only to realize that the spell Aiden used was to keep it from opening.She watched in horror as all the freshly hypnotized heroes were corralled into a cage. She then heard the door unlock and slowly open.

No one was in the doorway, so she carefully checked the hallway and to her surprise, no one was there. There were no guards so she cautiously shut and locked the door before she walked down the hall. She then heard Professor Venomous talking to someone through a cracked door. She poked her head in carefully to see him talking to other villains on a screen with HeartBreaker standing near him. Luckily she was out of their line of sight.

"Just imagine how much money we will make!" Professor Venomous said excitedly. "Everyone will want the powers of their beloved heroes" HeartBreaker said with a smirk. "We'll make their dreams come true for a price" they said in unison after the screen went dark. "And who says we should stop there?" she asked and Professor Venomous took her in his arms.

"Care to tell me what my wicked wife is thinking?" He asked. "Well my sinister husband, what if we expanded our horizons? We take from villains too? Think about it, the powers of villains and heroes, all at our disposal! We'd rule them all!" she responded. "We'd be unstoppable! Brilliant idea, my Queen" he smirked. Before they could share a kiss, a loud crash was heard and Nebula quickly bolted from the area. She escaped just in time as HeartBreaker and Professor Venomous raced towards where the crash was heard. The evil duo raced to the kitchen where Boxman was singing and cooking. There were piles of dirty pots, pans, plates, and utensils.

"Finally done with your meeting? I hope you're hungry!" he then pulled out a large pan of what was supposed to be food. "Boxman! What on Earth is that!" HeartBreaker asked angrily. "It's blunch! I just thought that after all that plotting and what not, you two would be hungies" Boxman responded. "Boxman! Clean up this filth this instant!" Professor Venomous yelled. As he yelled, a purple snake tail with a purple rattle appeared on him. Two large fangs appeared in his mouth and his pupils became slits. His tail rattled as he let out a hiss.

HeartBreaker put a hand on her husband's back and he reverted to normal. "Go check on the heroes' progress. I'll take it from here" she said calmly and Professor Venomous took a deep breath. After he left, HeartBreaker shut the door and locked it. Her back facing Boxman.

"Now then, about this mess" she said and Boxman began to cower as Heartbreaker's legs turned into a large and long blue tail that matched her light blue skin. At the end of her tail was what looked like a shard of ice that was dark blue like the large wings that grew in her back. He also noticed grey horns growing from her multi purple hair and her nails became sharp claws.

Her tail wrapped around his body and brought him to her. As she yelled at him, he noticed pearl white, razor sharp teeth in her mouth and like Professor Venomous, her pupils became slits. She continued to insult and berate him and all Boxman could do was remain silent as she emotionally broke him. Once she was finally done, she used her large and long tail to hurl him to the ground. He landed with a loud thud and he let out a cry of pain. She transformed back to her normal self and she unlocked the door. She paused as she was about to open the door. "Oh and one more thing Boxman" she then turned her head to look at him. "If you mess anything up, I will personally ruin your life before I end it. Capiche?" she threatened darkly. He gulped and nodded his head. She then said nothing and to Boxman's relief, she finally left, leaving the door open. He poked his head out of the door and he let out a sigh of relief once he saw she was finally out of the area. He then crashed to the ground and tears began to silently fall from his eyes.

"You okay Boxman?" he heard and he froze in fear. Out of the shadows stepped Nebula. She offered him her hand with a small smile and he carefully took it. "Yeah, I'm fine" he said defeatedly as she helped him up. He walked over to a small dining area and sat down, burying his face in his hands. Nebula sat next to him and put a hand on his back as she tried to console him.