Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.56 - The Elephant in the Room

The morning couldn't pass quickly enough.

Mod tried to occupy himself with training, but he kept getting distracted. Mod shut himself away in a demiplane, in hopes that the isolation would help him focus, but cyberspace was always there.

He'd experimented with cutting off his senses to the rest of the lab, but it was nigh impossible. It was like trying to cover his eyes and ears and nose all at the same time. He could succeed in cutting off some parts of cyberspace, but data always trickled through.

And so Mod's mind wandered.

It didn't help that he was worried about his family and dreading the next several conversations.

Mod's attention drifted, settling on conversations between Clara, Mom, and Maci, and then Dad and Lock. Listening in was both heartwarming and shame inducing. Mod had spent so much time away from his family, trying to keep them safe in the process, that he hadn't realized how much time had passed. It felt like a gulf was growing between them all.

And as his mind wandered cyberspace, Mod caught glimpses of his former self.

Emmett.

Mod knew that his former self was just checking up on loved ones—the exact same as he was doing. Mod knew that, and yet, it didn't make the sensation any easier to bear. It felt uncanny and alien, like looking through an old photo album and seeing the photos come to life.

Ever since the Continuum Protocol was triggered, almost everyone in his circle called him Mod. Only Clara called him Emmett, and only rarely.

Ever since he became a superhero, Mod had been giving up parts of his old body—parts of his old life. There was almost nothing left of Emmett. Mod hadn't been trying to bury his old name. It just happened.

He hadn't felt like Emmett in a long time.

And now, people were digging that name back up.

Emmett.

Emmett.

Emmett.

A name that, quite literally, wasn't his anymore. Each time someone said it, it felt like the beep of a smoke alarm going off. Mod couldn't ignore it, no matter how much he wanted to.

But it wasn't just that...

Every time someone said that name, it reminded Mod that his friends and family were talking about the old him. They were remembering the old him—latching onto the old him.

It felt like a cuckoo bird had laid an egg in the nest. And now everyone was falling for the imposter. It was maddening, especially because Mod seemed to be the only one torn up about it!

It didn't matter how many times Mom referred to them as both of her boys, or Darryl referred to them as his bros, or that Mod's team seemed perfectly at ease with having an extra teammate—

It felt like everyone was latching onto the other him.

More than once, Mod wished his former self had died. That's what was supposed to happen. ...It would've been easier that way.

But that's not what happened. Mod wouldn't be able to bury the past that easily.

~

Antony didn't get up on his own. For all Dad's jokes, he wasn't the one that woke up his youngest son.

Mod did.

Mod went into Antony's room without knocking and had to stop himself from yanking the covers off of him. Instead, Mod nudged his younger brother's shoulder.