Heroes wear Capes

Chapter 6 - Being powerless really sucks

"Our story hasn't been written yet, Kal-El. And every villain is only as great as his hero."

~ Lex Luthor

". . . and then I totally saved the day." Brandon bragged. "Even after April let Black Knight run away."

April groaned and tilted her head back in frustration from the couch. Why couldn't Brandon brag about how awesome he was and how he always saved her when April was safe in her bedroom, far away from her judgmental family?

"It's not her fault," her dad responded, "April isn't a superhero, so it's really not her fault that she's so inadequate during these missions."

And there it was. 'Little innocent April Watson didn't know any better. You can't blame her for being stupid because she wasn't as great as us supers. She didn't understand what it meant to be a hero.'

There were moments where April hated her family, but at the same time it wasn't fair to think like that. They really didn't know any better themselves. They didn't know what they were saying was hurtful because they viewed it as the truth. April was the only non-super in the family, so she was the baby, the one they all had to take care of. Peter, her little brother, even had superpowers. Like – usually your parents would be mad if you thought it was a good idea to sneak around your uncle's chemistry lab and accidentally get doused with a mixture of chemicals and then fall into a broken prototype machine, but not their parents. They were proud of their little boy finally developing a superpower, super speed.

He never even got in trouble for almost killing himself. Her parents were happy that he found a way to get super powers. They knew for certain that he would join the family ranks when he grew older.

April on the other hand? Well, you already know about her.

April was the fragile one. The one who might break at any moment because she couldn't protect herself. She was the one who needed a White Knight to save her from every super villain in the city. The one who was surrounded by the best superheroes of all time.

They didn't know that their words hurt. They didn't know that she didn't want to be known as the damsel.

But, growing up in a family full of superheroes hadn't been all bad. In high school April used to always score autographs of famous superheroes to gift her friends, though they thought it was only because of her connection to White Knight. She also got to meet all of those other famous superheroes. What fun.

But, when you spend every day with Captain Fantastic, he becomes a little less fantastic.

"I'm going to go upstairs." April announced, anything to get away from the conversation that was ensuing about her.

"Do you need help?" Brandon asked quickly and hopefully.

April gave him her straightest face. "I'm only going up the stairs, not making a soufflé."

His face was still hopeful, so she had to spell it out for him. "No, Brandon, I don't need help. Thanks for asking."

"No problem." He replied with a smirk and a wink.

April sighed. Brandon wasn't stupid, only oblivious. He'd been playing the role everyone expected him to play since he moved next door when April was six and he was eight. He was the apprentice of Captain Fantastic, a legend in the making. White Knight had already won People's sexiest masked man alive for two years in a row. He was always meant to be the esteemed protagonist, he was born to be a role model.