The Trick to Falling in Style

Failure

Philza was born during a tumultuous time. The last vestiges of humanity were banding together to form a solution against the monsters spawning in the world. Philza had been a parentless child when the first district was established. In those days, everyone was afraid. Society couldn't function properly. Civilians were never sure that the monsters wouldn't arrive at their doorstops. The humans left outside the walls were scrambling for access to safety. Hybrids, humanoids with alien features, had just started appearing and causing a widespread panic. In these times, no one could afford to be a good person. It was a time and place where everyone lived for themselves.

Philza was no exception. As a child without parents, he grew attached to the one person that stuck right beside him, a fellow orphan named Sneeg. They were thieves in the night. They stole what they needed to in order to survive. Philza's conscience never snapped at him that what he was doing was wrong because even it knew that if he didn't steal, he wouldn't have anything. He would be homeless without food or water. He would be dead, and Sneeg would have died, as well. Philza will never be ashamed of those harsh days in the street.

When Philza was nearing his adulthood, the districts began to change. There were a few more. Widespread panic had quieted, but the crime rates were never able to drop. It became even worse when people discovered something unique about themselves that would later be called superpowers. Some people naturally possessed the ability to alter reality or time in some key ways. Philza's powers activated around this time. He can still remember the excruciating pain he went through when his wings snapped out of his back like diamond shredding paper. Sneeg was there with him, but it seemed that the trauma of watching his friend almost die in a bloody mess activated Sneeg's ability to shrink his size on command. When their powers finally settled in their body, they used them like everyone else did at the time: to benefit themselves.

The government decided to do something about the crime rates. They decided that the only people who could defeat superpowered criminals were superpowered law enforcers. To achieve this goal, they presented the world with seven superheroes of varying powers. These superheroes fought against the villains like the government swore they would, and the world seemed to reach some form of equilibrium. Philza and Sneeg never cared much about the villains or heroes. They were simple thieves, so that world didn't involve them.

It didn't involve them until someone tried to steal from Philza's stash. He had been angry at the time, but he soon discovered that the careless thieves were merely twin brothers with nothing to their name. Philza never imagined himself to be a father. He never wanted a family. He had Sneeg, and that's enough for him. But these two boys, staring up at him with wide eyes, both ready to defend the other... Philza saw himself and Sneeg in those twins, and he didn't have the heart to turn them away.

Philza raised the boys. He gave them names, a home, and a support system. Life wasn't perfect. Philza still had to steal to make ends meet. But he truly loves his children. Even if he knew they would be the death of him, he couldn't turn them away. They were his children in the most important sense of the word.

Then, his boys wanted to be heroes. Wilbur became one first, sneaking off with his friends to enlist. He left a letter behind, explaining his motives. He wasn't becoming a hero because he wanted to save lives or give back to the world. He wanted to make enough money that his family never struggled again. He wanted to bring his father and brother out of poverty. He promised to return with his first paycheck, when he had become someone in the world.

Philza wanted to leave him be. He wanted Wilbur to follow his passions, no matter how selfish they were. Techno was not as easily persuaded. He remained with Philza for a few weeks before he rushed off as well. Philza was left behind in an apartment falling apart at the seams. He wanted his boys to find their way in the world. He wanted them to be their own people. He knew that if he held onto them too tightly, he would choke them in his grasp. He determined that they would come back to him eventually. Wilbur would become a musician and Techno would become a farmer, the lives the two of them dreamed about.