Thundercest: New Town, New Life, New & Improved Twin Brother

Chapter 2: New & Improved Max

Unlike most bad kids, even during Max's evil phase he was great at school (and he still is). So it's safe to say that he was an "evil genius"; now he's just a genius. He's a very fast learner, so we all knew that he would catch on quick with the superhero training. He's like a sponge, absorbing everything our parents and I were teaching him. Mom and Dad were proud of his determination, but not as proud as I was. I was so proud that I once asked him, "How about we become a crime-fighting duo called 'The Thunder Twins'?" "That sounds great, sis," he agreed. "I'm on-board!"

One day, he wanted to have a candid conversation about his evil phase...a convo he wanted to have with ONLY me. Max knocked on my bedroom door one Saturday afternoon and asked to talk. "Sure, bro," I said, setting down a novel I was reading on my bed and patted on a spot for him to sit down. As he sat down, he was rubbing his hands nervously, looking like whatever he was about to say was embarrassing to admit. "I wanna confess to you the main reason why I was evil all of those years, and that reason was hella pathetic, almost as pathetic as I was for being the person I used to be." "Well, what was the reason?" I asked him curiously. "Envy," he admitted. I had a shocked, yet puzzled look on my face. "Wait..." I started, "were you jealous of ME?" Max nodded yes.

"Everyone was always talking about how you were gonna be the greatest superhero ever," he explained. "I hated the fact that there was a possibility of me just living under your shadow and being the 2nd best. So without thinking, I chose to be the best at being bad instead of at least trying to be the best I could as a superhero. And all of this lead to me almost killing my twin sister whom I love very much but never realized until I saw you cry that day." "Well, you might love me a little more now because here come the waterworks," I warned, wiping a slight tear with my voice breaking a bit. "I can't believe you were envious of me. I'm sorry buddy, I didn't mean to make you feel intimidated." "No, I'm the one who should be sorry," he insisted. "I shouldn't have let jealousy get the best of me." "It's ok, Max; I forgive you." We shared a sibling love moment and hugged each other really tight. See, THIS is the Max that we knew was inside him somewhere all along...the Max that we'll definitely get used to from now on. But I think I got used to him a little TOO well down the line.