"We're Not a Family Without You." (A Thundermans Return AU)

Chapter 5: Hold on to the Memories, They Will Hold on to You

Back in Metroburg, Max and Chloe found themselves locked in a cell inside Balfour's villain lair. Balfour entered the room, laughing evilly.

"Let us out of here, Balfour," Max demanded.

"Oh, let me think about that..." Balfour pretended to think for a second. "No!"

"I don't get it," Chloe spoke up. "Why didn't you just destroy us back at the house?"

"Well, I was going to, but then I realized... your family is sure to notice you're gone. If I just send them a little video, letting them know that I have you guys held captive, they'll be sure to come after you. After I send the video, I'll destroy you. Then, when the rest of your family gets here, I'll destroy them, too!" Balfour laughed maniacally, then he said, "and to think, all I needed to pull this off was Phoebe's downfall."

Max hit the side of the cell with his fist. "You leave her name out of your filthy mouth!"

Balfour walked closer to the cell, taunting Max. "Awe, what's the matter, Max? Miss your twin sister? Oh, how the tables have turned. And to think, you used to hate her! Wow, I bet you really feel like a huge jerk right now!"

Balfour laughed as he left the room, putting up extra security as he left, just in case.

Max sighed. He needed to think of a plan. He couldn't let Chloe die. She was too young, and he couldn't feel the guilt of losing another sister. Max tried to come up with something to get them out of there, but his mind just kept traveling back to what Balfour said. Balfour's words really got to him.

"Max, what do we do?" Chloe asked. The cell was specifically designed to short out their powers, so Chloe couldn't even teleport them out of there.

Max wasn't really paying that much attention. He sighed. "He's right, Chloe."

"What?" Chloe questioned.

"I do feel like a huge jerk," Max admitted. "Do you remember when I was still evil?"

Chloe thought as far back as she could. "I mean, a little bit, but not much."

"Well, one thing about that time of my life is that Phoebe and I fought all the time. And I'm not talking about just petty sibling arguments, like we sometimes had before she..." Max still couldn't say it, but Chloe knew what he meant as he continued telling the tale. "What I mean is that we got into pretty big fights sometimes. A lot, actually. It was that way for most of our lives. Actually, for as long as I can remember until four years ago, when we were both put as a team for the open spot on the Z-Force, and we were forced to learn how to work as a team. Then, we started leading the T-Force together. Any arguments we had were quickly resolved, and we were practically inseparable. But, I can't erase the past. All those years I spent pretending that I hated her, because I thought family was lame. And now she's gone, and I feel like a huge jerk about the first sixteen years of our lives."

"Why are you telling me this?" Chloe asked. She was glad her oldest brother was starting to open up to her, but it wasn't like anyone in her family to tell her stuff like that. They still treated her like a child.

Max sighed. "You aren't a little kid anymore, Chloe. At least, not by superhero standards."

"What do you mean 'not by superhero standards?'" Chloe asked curiously.

"Well, you're in fifth grade, and to normal people, that's still a young child, but to superheroes, that's a hero-in-training," Max explained. He then remembered something. "You know," he started, sitting down on the floor near the back of the cell, and gesturing Chloe over to sit next to him, which she did, "Phoebe was about your age when she started her superhero training. Starting this young wasn't a really common thing when Phoebe and I were growing up, but Phoebe insisted, so our dad started training her. Heh, I remember how excited she was, and how annoyed I was that she was so excited to become a superhero."

Max paused, thinking back to that moment in his life. "Now that I think about it, that was really around the time I decided I wanted to be a supervillain."

"Why did you?" Chloe asked.

Max looked at her, confused.

"Why did you decide you wanted to be a supervillain?" Chloe elaborated.

"I... don't know," Max admitted. "Maybe it was because I wanted to stand out. Phoebe was always better than me at everything. I was referred to as 'Phoebe's twin' by practically everyone besides our parents. I thought that if I wanted to stand out, then I needed to act out."

Max looked at Chloe. "You remind me a lot of her. You have the same drive and initiative that she always had when she was your age. And I know that, if you ever get out of here, you will make an excellent superhero; one of the best, even."

Chloe smiled at her brother. "Thanks, Max."

It was refreshing for her to hear that from someone, rather than being told she was too young to understand, or being treated like a child. She stood up, then offered her hand to help Max up. "Come on," she said, determined, "let's find a way out of here."

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A.N. And that marks the end of what I have written so far! Expect the next chapter within a couple of days. (I usually write instead of doing anything productive in my free time at school.)