A D Tier's Breaking Point

Chapter 13

Janice and Bernard were more than happy to leave the two villains to have full privacy in the living room. Lord knew neither of them needed their parents (biological or adopted) hovering over them. Yes they missed Alex of course, wanted to fuss over him, catch him up on the drama in town, bake him pies and make up for the year that they lost. And Morgan, poor Morgan, if there was a way for them to take away that year of grief and guilt they knew Morgan was holding onto, the two of them would do it in a heartbeat. But that wasn't what either of them needed. So Janice and Bernard pottered around the rest of the farm, tending to the chickens and Daisy, getting started on dinner (Bernard cheered when he saw he had the ingredients for Alex's favourite casserole) and gave the two friends their space. Waiting to be invited back in when Alex and Morgan were good and ready.

Janice had just come back into the kitchen, taking off her wellies while Bernard was making a broth, when Alex appeared in the doorway, 'So is the ban of the Rotters extended to the news? We want to see what they're saying about the fight today.'

'Oh I've been meaning to check on that,' Janice said, and Alex gestured towards the living room. Morgan was still wrapped up in the blanket, halfway through a slice of the tart and holding out the remote, waiting for confirmation from the kitchen. A nod, and the TV was back on, Alex curling up on the sofa next to Morgan as they found their favourite news station. Janice took to an armchair with a glass of lemonade, and Bernard hovered by the door, close enough to check on his cooking.

"-are still waiting on an official statement from the Fairness Association including the number of casualties from today's attack at City Hall. However, here is what we know so far." The broadcast cut with footage of the battle on the rooftop of City Hall, mixed with scrolling text covering the highlights. "As the announcement to formally start today's celebrations was about to begin the dreaded villain Heart Stealer-"

' Dreaded villain?' Alex said with a grin and a hush from Morgan.

"-and began an altercation with Aceman. Soon the Amazonian and Vigilante stepped in to assist in attempting to stop Heart Stealer. During a rather violent battle famed hero the Chadster-"

'Dammit!' Morgan shouted, 'I forgot to finish him off!'

Alex chucked, 'We can go back out if you want.'

'Well I can't now! The moment's passed,' Morgan sighed. 'Probably for the best, Katie would never forgive me.'

"-at which point a new villain entered the fight. Sources have not yet been able to confirm if this is some form of replica of the infamous S tier, or the real villain back from the dead."

'Imagine if this is how we heard about you being back,' Bernard said. 'We were just sat here, cheering on Morgan, and then boom! Sudden Alex, back from the dead.'

'Then I would have been pulling out the old suit and giving him a piece of my mind,' Janice said, her casual tone unable to hide the very real threat.

Alex cringed, hiding in Morgan's shoulder. 'I definitely don't want to fight my mum.'

'Then don't let me find out you're alive from the news,' Janice's lip curled into a smug grin and she sipped at her lemonade.

Morgan shuffled closer to Alex, letting him wrap his arms around their waist, head still resting on their shoulder as the news anchor continued.

"The two villains briefly clashed before joining forces against the heroes. However, at the point when the heroes were beginning to overwhelm them-"

'Bullshit!' Morgan and Alex shouted in unison, before quickly apologising to Janice.

"-created some form of fire shield in an effort to escape. The two villains have fled to an unknown location and are currently wanted."

'Yeah what else is new?' Morgan scoffed.