The Cloak Guard

End of the Beginning

Franklin took a sip from his milkshake, watching the sunrise. It had already been a whole day since their battle with the Sculptor and yet the city kept going on, like nothing had happened. He guessed, to them, nothing had. Eustace had done a good job repairing everything to look like nothing had happened.

But, of course, something had. People still had died, despite their efforts, leaving a dark and bitter taste in Franklin's mouth. He didn't know how Lord Kane or whoever it was did it but the mind warp thing had happened again. Now the evacuations and deaths were blamed on a major gas leak that had now been fixed. People were scared but safe to return.

Franklin's mom knew the truth though. Angie had been beside her the whole time and since she knew what was going on, she kept their mom in the loop. It had been a tough conversation to have afterwards, explaining his powers and why he hadn't told her, but they came through it. While she was still scared for him, knowing he was going out into this new world with people like Swarm and Sculptor around, she was relieved to know he was practically invincible now. Though she had also limited his work in the deli to stop him from breaking stuff.

Now, he was up here, on the roof, sipping his strawberry milkshake and watching the sunrise, thinking about the future.

SLURP!

"Ah!" Travis sighed gratefully. "That hits the spot...oh, oh, brain freeze! Ow!"

Franklin snorted. "Guess it didn't hit the spot, huh?"

"It did for a second. Ow."

"Just take it slow, man," Franklin advised, taking a nice slow sip of his milkshake for emphasis.

"Yeah, slow isn't really my thing."

"I know." Franklin took another sip and then a deep breath. "So, I want to apologize to you."

"Oh you don't need t-"

"Maybe. But I want to. I kind of pushed you away after the whole superpower thing came up. Especially after Swarm."

"Yeah, but to be fair I pushed you away too."

"It's just...you kind of remind me of my dad."

Travis didn't say anything, just have him a look. It wasn't pity, which Franklin was grateful for, but more sympathetic. He placed his hand on Franklin's shoulder and listened while he talked.

"I didn't have many friends growing up. When I joined the football team last year, I did get close with some of the players there. I thought they were my friends. But then one night they decided it would be hilarious to rob a liquor store. I stayed behind and called my dad over and he paid for it all. I stopped hanging out with them after that. I didn't really want any other friends cause my dad was the only friend I needed. We loved the same things, movies, comics, shows, all of it. We just clicked. My mom said we were basically twins." Franklin chuckled a little at that memory before getting somber again.

"He was a fireman. He always loved being a hero, saving people, and that job made him feel closer to the heroes we idolized. So, when we got our powers and you said you wanted to race off and be a superhero, I guess a part of me was reminded of my dad and so...I just backed out. I didn't want to relive that."

"I'm sorry for making you think you were going to."

"It's not on you man. It's my own problem that I'm dealing with. I was really struggling with what to do with my powers. Cause I do kind of want to be a hero. It's just the danger...it got to me more than I'd like to admit. But...I think I'm ok now. I want to be like my dad, to save people. So, if you're still interested, I was thinking that..."