Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* See Reality Fiction and Simple Prompts for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

🆕 New Here? ✏ Writing Help? 📢 News 💬 Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

I would kill and die for a series in this setting.

"Ya like Jazz?"

Ok good intro, now where’s the story?

How dare you make me cry my own fucking tears, God damn you

Oh, the woomph of the last line. I had a feeling it was coming but still it had a lot of impact.

I really enjoyed this concept and your working of it! Please let me know if you write more, I got a great sense of the world building already so I'd be so keen to read anymore of your creation. Also, this did cover the world and the loss, but I'm still v. thirsty for the revenge (or teaching moment) etc.

When I heard the news, it was like a darkness engulfed the entirety of my existence. The first feelings I recognised were despair and disgust. Two feelings I haven't felt for the past 25 years. Since that day, I had never felt anxiety, worry or any sort of doubt about the future. Everyone, from the homeless man on the streets to the most powerful hero has a moment when they have some sort of doubt. A moment they felt abandoned and helpless. But not me.

At least not until tonight. Then feelings of rage started to overtake me. I had always considered anger to be beneath me. Lesser men lose their temper and solve their differences with force. That is what my father taught me, and I had never hurt another person in my life, no matter how much they had hurt or insulted me. And throughout my life, I had been the subject of ridicule and abuse numerous times. Most people are just animals wearing clothes, making pretend they are something more. They consider weak those that do not try to force their opinion or will on others. What fools, my worst nightmare has always been that I became like them.

That didn't change even when I received my powers. Had others been in my shoes, they would have probably conquered or destroyed the world. How void and empty goals, as void and empty is the man that has those dreams. No, I accepted the true gift my powers gave me, freedom. Yet now, all I could think of was destruction. All I could think of, was that I am becoming like them.

"Jason."

The voice interrupted my waking nightmare. A voice I had not heard for 20 years, yet I could never forget. How haven't I felt her presence approaching me? Was I so entrapped into my thoughts? Or perhaps I am that old indeed..

"Lady Dusk" I replied stoically, trying to keep my cool. She was breathtaking as ever, even for her age. Well, she always looked younger that she is, while life had taken its toll on me. If someone was to look at us here, in my dusty library, there is no chance they would have thought we are the same age.

"Please, Jason, don't call me that." she replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Alright Christine, my apologies. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I replied, staring at her and nothing at the same time.

Tears began to roll down her face, while her arms visibly started to shake.

"Jason.." she said with a trembling voice "I.. I am so sorry..".

"It was not your doing, Christine." I replied, trying to bury my feelings, at least for now, at least for her. She had been my friend for most of my life, perhaps my only true friend.

"No.. I.. I should have known! I should have been there! I can't even begin to.."

She grabbed and hugged me. For a moment I wanted to resist, but it seems that my egoism had died together with my daughter. She cried at my chest, and for a moment, I felt my eyes watering as well, before I came to my senses and got a hold of myself. I released myself from her embrace gently, and took a step back.

"It was not your fault, Christine." I assured her once more.

In another lifetime, we could have been happy. I knew Christine long before we gained our powers. We were 16 at the time, long before anyone in this world had any superpowers. What started as a playful rivalry, resulted in a short love affair and a long lasting, deep friendship. I could never understand why she always supported and believed in me, what she saw in me that made her admire me so much. But fate had other plans.

" I really do not get it! I mean, I have not been in the academy for some years because of the invasion, but still, I can't understand why they went so far for just a harmless prank.."

"Oh, please Christine" i cut her off "I did the exact same thing and got the same treatment from those government bootlickers that are you precious league. The only difference is, that they can't catch or kill me. What do you think is happening for the past 25 years?"

25 years, that is how long I had my powers. Others would have enslaved the world. Others liberate it. I just tried to help people and protest against the corrupt politicians amd bankers that rule this god forsaken world. The interdimensional invasion solidified their power and with the founding of the Heroic League, they were now unstoppable. I always hated violence, in all its forms. So even if I wanted to, I could not bring myself to go full out. I resorted to try and expose corrupt officials, but it seems that every time, everything was buried and I was portayed as a vandal. So, I decided to play the part

So then, I mostly used to blow up some ATM's and distribute the cash to the poor, rob a bank to help a bankrupt family pay their mortgage, put some itching powder on some banker's wig, dance on top of police cars, stuff like that. You can imagine what a ridiculous show it was to have a jolly chubby man tap dancing on top of a police car in the middle of protests, wearing my signature top hat and holding my trusted cane.

No one really payed any attention to me, until that time the president really got on my nerves, so I popped up while he was giving a big worldwide speech and took down his pants on live broadcast. Things went nuclear after that, with certain members of the league going after me with specific orders to kill me, as I later found out. That incident was 12 years ago, and I have layed low since then. Well, except some inappropriate graffitis on some posters with my signature on it. I had a daughter to protect, and since Maggie died giving birth to her, I was all she had.

My daughter, Jocelyn, always admired the Professor. While others considered him at best a modern robin hood, and at worst a vile prankster, she saw something else behind his actions. She saw someone struggling for the every day person, someone that protested against the corruption of the government and society, and tried to reverse the death of human compassion for some reason. Little did she know her old man was her idol. I thought keeping it from her was safer. God was I wrong.

I tried to keep her idealism in check, but has there ever been a teenager that listens to their parents? I was just an "old man that could not understand". Teenage rebellions are a nightmare. She started just like me, although I have to say she really did put a lot of thought into her operations. After all, she did not have any of my powers, she was just a normal girl. Well apart from her super high IQ that made her old man wonder how can a normal girl evade League members that could see through walls or had super speed, and pull the most elaborate plans every single time. Never did she hurt anyone, she was so much like me. Why would they..

"I promise you, Jason, I will do everythi-"

"You will do nothing, Christine" I cut her off "I will do now."

Her eyes went wide, a look that I had never seen in her eyes. Fear, in the eyes of Lady Dusk. Something that the invading legion of Marxes, the terrible 12, or Erthoc himself did not manage to trigger. I was stronger than all of them, truth be told, but it still perplexed me.

"Wha.. whhat do you mean, Jason..? What are you going to-?"

"Even my father would understand. I am sorry, but I have to go."

I cut her off once again. I had trouble holding on to my feelings, and as such, I had trouble holding back my powers. The last thing I wanted was to lose control of them when she was near. God, at least let me have that, let one good thing remain intact in this world, the last good thing in MY world.

"NO! I CAN'T LET YOU!" She screamed " They will, they, they will kill you!"

Then I felt it. A rage I had never experienced before. A surge of power that I could no longer withhold. And now, I was screaming

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, THOSE FLIES COULD NEVER EVEN TICKLE ME. HELL, YOU ARE THE STRONGEST OF THEM ALL AND YOUR POWERS ARE JUST A PORTION OF MY OWN THAT I GAVE YOU".

Her eyes had become blank, staring at the floor, her entire body shaking.

"I AM THE PRIMORDIAL CHAOS THAT EXISTED BEFORE CREATION, THE DARK LIGHT IN THE ENDLESS NIGHT, THE CRIPPLING SHADOW THAT EXISTS IN THE MIND OF ALL MEN!"

She looked at the floor some more, then she looked at me. And that moment, for some reason, I understood. She would not try to stop me, and she would never try to fight me, not out of fear, but out of love. She was not afraid about her, she knew that I would never do anything to her. She was worried about me, and not because of the League trying to hurt me. She was afraid that I was finally broken, that the world finally managed to defeat me, to crush my morals and values, that I had started to become what I always hated the most. And the worst part is, she was right.

I started to walk away, out of my library. "Jason, please.." she muttered.

"Jason died tonight with Jocelyn. All that remains, is the Professor."

Literally "going nuclear"

I liked the fact they were already under trial for the brutality but protagonist was like, too little too late you all gotta go.

Wonderful. It took me to an unknown world and brought me back to reality. Outstanding writing.

For Queen and Colony.

I love and hate how some mha villains are written ; love cause it humanizes them and it is generally well done (even if probably for the deus ex most times) and hate cause often after introducing them something bad happens. Writing this made me realize it's probably to say that it's never good to kill or along those lines

This was amazing, stop bringing the Onion Ninjas! It doesn’t quite work, but I think this would be a fantastic story for /r/hfy!

That'd make for a great comic.

[removed]

If the hive is on a constructed hive stand, the legs of the stand can be placed in cans of oil. Ants/hive beetles don't like the oil and will not cross it.

I had never seen such a monster as I did that day. It was far larger than I or anything similar I had seen before. A giant that attacked our colony. We couldn't fight it, no matter how we tried. It was to big, to powerful.

I hid. I didn't know what to do. I knew I should fight, but I couldn't. I watched everyone die uselessly against the monster. I wouldn't be the same, I couldn't be the same.

So being hidden, I was able to see that it brought friends. More of the monster where coming to attack. I ran away. I abandoned the queen, the colony, the hive. Everyone and everything I knew and I ran.

The fear of the monsters was to powerful for me. I am ashamed of what I did, but all actions have consequences right? I got lucky and ran into the keeper when I left the hive. The protector, the god. It's not like I can speak to the thing but I danced in front of it with my flight and managed to get it's attention. The god seemed to understand that I was drawing it to the hive. It followed me.

When I arrived back to the hive I could see my friends bodies or parts of them anyway. The other invaders had started to arrive and I saw them eating my friends.

One of my friends was poised in battle against an invader. Dodging and distracting. Fighting for the colony. Until something slammed over her and the invader. The invader flung itself at the wall to no avail.

God had picked a target. I knew it was only a matter of time until the invader killed my friend in the confines of the new prison, but that didn't matter to the god. Something slid under the prison and lifted it. I watched as the god took its prisoners away to a pool. I watched as it drowned them both. Not caring that my friend was in the crossfire.

It then left, quickly. There are more invaders though. So many more. I didn't know what to do. Did God kill one and abandon us?

I didn't have to wait long until God was back. Apparently the capture method was to slow and the god had other plans.

It unleashed the very clouds upon the invaders, and the colony. I watched it horror as they got covered by the clouds it weighed them down and they struggled and died. I only survived because I was away from the colony, away from the invaders.

The god then captured our queen carrying her away and what remained of the hive followed. Everyone, other than me. I could only stare at the destruction that was caused. By the invaders, and by God as he punished them. However God had inflected clouds upon them and us was obviously powerful. Maybe on both sides lay dead. I can only assume God took the queen to keep us away from it.

It couldn't have been long I started hovering at the remains of the hive, but maybe it was.

Because the next time I saw God again my God was not alone. The entire pantheon had come. Armed with white armor covering the body. Some of them carried trees as weapons. They examined the hive.

I thought I knew why they were here but I had to know. I had to see.

I was right, God had called his compatriots for vengeance. God may have killed many of my hive, but that was God's right as a God. The invaders had stepped on God's domain there will be vengeance and there was.

The pantheon of God's wielded trees, clouds, and weapons and tools I can't begin to describe when they found the home of the invaders. Eliminating them and looking, hunting for more. I don't know if they were hoping to find more to destroy in their vengeance or if they were being cautious.

After all, how can I know the intentions of God?

😳🤯🍪🫡

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

The shout was authoritarian, demanding.

A dark skinned figure in a green costume sprinted across the screen, fleeing the direction of the voice.

" I SAID"

A bolt of red energy flew across the screen, hitting the figure in the back and continuing out through his chest.

The figure collapsed off camera, and four more figures walked into frame.

"Get on the GROUND"

The white armoured teen leaned down to check the figure. Ultraviolet

​

"Awww, did his mommy turn him yellow by mistake?" That was a blue costumed boy holding a crystal. Clearcast.

Ultraviolet stood back up. "Oops. Hit him a bit hard, thought he was better protected. What a shame." He turned to the rest of the crew. "Least we won't have to worry about him again. Call the cops for the corpse and lets get pizza?"

The rest of the four cheered and one of them, half his face covered in metal, cocked his head to the side and several lights lit up "Hello. Police. Teen Force here. Armed bank robber has been.."I wiped the screen, restarting the recording."Get down on the ground, NOW!"

The area around me lit up with electricity, there was a crackle and then a gentle thud as someone settled on the rocks next to me.

I didn't look up.

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

I swiped again, flipping to a different recording. This one showed the victim's face after he'd fallen. His jade mask had shattered, and the pain and fear were writ clear across his face.

"Oops. Hit him a bit hard.."

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Tears blurred my vision. I don't know for how long."He was a Villain, but he wasn't *bad*"

"I know"

The other person's voice was calm, controlled, and nearly as familiar as my own.

"He never really harmed anyone. A year and nobody got worse than a few broken bones"

"I know"

"It didn't have to go like this. All he did was breaking and entering"

"I know"

I choked down a sob."He's.. he's the third..."

"But the first caught on camera. I know"

I finally looked up, snarling. The figure was as familiar as his voice. Tall, gold clad, built like a Demigod. Tempest. I thrust my phone in his face.

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

"Is THIS what you lot call Justice??"

He turned his head away from me and raised a hand to block his view. "Please, don't. I've watched it too many times already" his voice strained slightly, and he looked sick.

I deflated at his tone, staring down at the rocks below. "I guess there's no chance then, that Spectrum, Glare, Fly and the rest are all wrong?"

Even without looking, I could hear him shake his head "I'm sorry, no. Confirmed on our end as well. Heard their stories... I identified Raki's body myself"

He held out a hand, holding a greenstone pendant in the shape of an Adze. "Here. I.. didn't want to risk something going missing from the police morgue"

I gently took the pendant, the stone a twin of the twisted spiral I wore. "Thankyou"

There was some hesitation to his voice "You know that this isn't what we're like, right? This.. this isn't normal""I know""We're here to help people. Look after them. Not.. this"

"I know"

"You know that the only reason we're on different sides is because you won't work within the system to.."

my glare had barely been raised to shin level when he held up his hands, placatingly

"I know, I know, not the time"

He took a breath "Raki shouldn't have even become a Villain. The kid could carve just about anything with more skill than I've ever seen. He shouldn't have been carving his way into bank vaults and museums"

​

I shrugged.

​

"Amazing what a racist art community and a shitstain of a father will do to a kid"

​

"Yeah. I still.. don't know why you let that prick remain free after what he did to you."

​

"Mostly for Raki's sake. He loved his dad in spite of everything. I tried to guide him, but his father is manipulative even without mental influence powers."

"So what're you lot going to do about.. this?"

​

He grimaced. "The rest of us.. the rest of us are sickened by what's happened. The first, well, we both know what Blackfire did. Lot of people think it was deserved, on your side too. And Flowgrey really did seem like an accident. But this... look. They're going to be arrested later this afternoon. They'll be.. put through due process"

​

I just raised an eyebrow at him and he fell silent. He looked nearly as sick as I felt.

"You know there's some serious Utu to be balanced here"

"I know. And I know I can't stop you"

A tiny piece of amusement made it into my voice. "Oh, you know do you?"

He snorted. "I've been your Nemesis since we were nineteen Chroma. I know what you can do, what you can *actually* do"

He looked directly at me, eyes serious "The public, and most of the heroes just think that you're a silly moron, a colour manipulator who couldn't handle not getting her own way in partliament and who now changes the colours of things to annoy, embarass or to confuse people. Most of them don't even realise you're altering government documents on the sly."

I shrugged. "Gotta make a difference somehow. Thanks for people like you distrusting computer records so much that they rely on paper, makes it a lot easier."

He shook his head, not letting himself be deflected. "I also know your power works on people, I saw you change that girl's hair, and that your area of effect is much larger than most suspect." His tone went hard. "And I know basic physics. Exactly how long would this city last if you just turned *everything* perfectly black, in the middle of summer?"

I shrugged at him again "Here's hoping we don't find out""Yeah. Right."He stood up, and held out a hand "Okay, what're we doing?"I stared at his hand "Excuse me? We? I'm not relying on your 'due process' "

His posture was shaky, but his voice was firm "Neither am I. I'm just coming with you to... prevent civilian casualties"I took his hand.

"Key?"

"Yes... He's coming for you Zenith." Says the famous "Prime", leader of The Order.

"And..?"

"I know you only know him as a trickster, famously named for a shortened version of Loki, the trickster god of myth... But he is so much more than that." Prime is visibly shaking now. Prime is "the strongest hero on Earth", I was placed in charge of The Coalition, a young league of new heroes, as I am theorized to be stronger than him. We can't test it without destroying a city.

"This is because we killed his kid? It was an accident, Morgan can separate molecules into component parts, and unintentionally caused an explosion when some phosphorus got exposed to air. It was all in the report, even the news is talking about it, it was a tragedy, 200 people died that day. Traveler and I moved as fast as we could, and we still lost that many people. His kid wasn't even in costume, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"The circumstances doesn't matter, he is going to come for you, you need to get off-world as quickly as you can." Prime is starting to get angry, I can sense it, but I can also feel that he's terrified, I'm finding the mix confusing.

"Why would I run? It's Key for gods sake, he's just a guy who makes our lives annoying, even if he blamed us for the accident, what's he going to do?"

Prime swallowed, odd since he also doesn't need to "Key is the most powerful person I have ever seen, I have only ever seen a taste of it but I won't be able to stop him... You need to jump into space and pray he can't follow you. I will come find you once I am sure the threat is over."

"You are going to kill him? If YOU can, I can, let's just do it together and end this... The team had twelve members there, children of several high ranking members, let's do them a favor and end this if he's so powerful." I'm starting to get angry, I don't like seeing him like this, and he is underestimating his ward.

"I am not going to kill him... We just need to wait and hope, I think..." Prime let out a long sigh, contemplating his next words. We both think and move a lot faster than everyone around us, I swear he's been thinking for actual seconds finding the words.

"I caught him..." Prime started softly "... It was nearly twenty years ago. He had decided, after pranking Golden King, to go for a long walk... He loves doing that." Prime laughed gently, before steeling himself. "... I was starting to suspect that Key was a lot more powerful than everyone realized, and I theorized that he was getting stronger everyday. He was headed into the desert North of Las Vegas, he would be away from most civilians. I got Rush and Time Keeper to help me move civilians to keep the way clear... And I hit him... Lake T'Lana was formed from the punch, named after a hermit that was hiding in a homemade bunker we didn't see. I hit him harder than I've ever hit anyone, harder than the punch that destroyed that rogue planet from a few years ago."

"You... YOU actually hit Key? Full out hit him? You're expecting me to believe he survived that?"

"He didn't survive it, I suppose." Prime was sweating now. "He did die, I think, then again, so did I. I woke up in the hospital a few days later... He was standing over me, and told me "Nice hit, but you killed a young man named T'Lana. He didn't deserve that. Name the hole you made after him, fill it with water and keep it full. If that Lake dries up, I will kill you.""

"... That is wild, he survived that much of a hit and recovered faster than you, no wonder you are worried... But you have me to help you, we can do this!"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Prime screamed at me, I've never seen him lose his cool like this.

"I saw him." He mumbles.

"Saw him?"

"Key... I saw him while I was dead."

"What?"

"I am pretty sure Key is actually a God." Prime says with tears in his eyes. "I need to fill the lake, and you need to run."

"I always wondered if you remembered." It was time for him to see.

"Oh God." Prime's fear... I can taste it.

I want a sequel where Braintrust hangs up his cowl because of his failure to save the lives of those children, and Noxus finds him in a bar when he goes to mourn the death of Phase Walker (Phazer would be a better name imo but it was your choice). I know this is most wishful thinking, so you do you.

I stood there staring into the frozen faces of the ones who murdered my son. They were celebrating when I found them, gleeful in their victory. The son of a washed up villain, harmless, murdered for stealing insulin from the pharmacy. The heros talked about stock losses and how my son was destroying a proud business. My son, who was only trying to help those this country turned their backs on. This world was corrupt, but I hadn't realized just how corrupt. I played my pranks while my son talked about change. He took after his dad that way.

"Kira, I expected to find you here."

I didn't turn towards him "Are you here to stop me, Chronus?"

"You know I couldn't stop you, even if I wanted to."

Time stood still around us, and memories came flooding in. Chronus was assigned to be my hero early on in my career. Apparently, pulling pranks on the top heros demanded the attention of one of the greatest new heros of the generation. Who knew a few pies thrown into some faces and tacks on chairs could warrant such a threat? Unfortunately, for the council and Chronus, he wasn't the only one that could stop time, nor could he stop my time.

"Where were you?" I asked. This time in-between time had been our getaway. No one could find us or stop us here. When you have all the time in the world together, things like heros and villains fade away.

"I was stuck, explaining how you got away with defacing the statue of Thunderus again. I had checked the routes earlier in the day, there wasn't a threat. I didn't realize..." He wrapped his arms around me. "They weren't supposed to do this, they were supposed to be on patrol in another city!"

"Why were they here?" As the tears stream down my face.

"They took on a contract job, lied to the council. No one knew until the press got the story." I can still see the blurred images of my son beaten body left lifeless on the ground and the smiles on these heros faces.

"I will be taking them, their families, and the ones that hired them." I felt Chronus flinch behind me. He was always able to keep my rage in check. To keep my contained. While the council might think he does an awful job of stopping me, it couldn't be further from the truth. We have balance. I stay harmless because I found happiness. Hidden away, in my pocket of time between time, and they somehow took that away from me. I would make them regret their actions for the rest of their miserable lives.

Chronus didn't say anything for a long while, but what was time for us anyway. "Let me help." I smiled a cruel, dark feeling came over me. My hero, my golden boy, they finally broke him. The world will remember the day they killed our son as the day the world would be changed forever.

I felt that. Growing up it was "my life for the swarm".

The fact that we get to understand that they are bees not right from the start but near the end like the prompt is fucking awesome. Good job ... May the keeper guide you

“Like I told the cops, it was Alley Cat, the Puddle, and Snow Cone. I was just in my bathroom, getting ready to take a bath.” Mrs. Gladys Smith took a puff on what she said would be her last cigarette. It was a lie she had told herself nine times today and would repeat at least that many times many tomorrow.

The man interviewing still wasn’t taking her seriously. Alley Cat had clawed his way out of supermax twice. The Puddle was notorious for her ability to seep into the highest security bank vaults. And Snow Cone was a science experiment gone wrong that once froze the CEO 4th National Bank into a cherry flavored frozen treat on national TV. No way, he must think, that you could live after facing them with no superpowers.

“I’m the CEO of the largest stencil manufacturer in the US. It’s always a possibility that criminals will attempt to kidnap me to extort money for my family or kill me to make a point. I have the best security the ADT can provide.”

“Yeah, but ADT just sends the police to you. They don’t kill three metahumans before the cops show up. You did though. And that means my readers have questions.”

“So I was pouring my bath when I felt a draft. A seconds later, the alarm went off. The bathroom window was open perhaps two feet when I turned around, a furry black creature and a being with a visage the color of KoolAid were there. I am something of a supervillain super fan so I immediately what to do. I jumped through the shower curtain into the bath tub. Alley Cat leapt immediately after me, into the water and was flailing before he could lay a claw on me. “

“What about the Puddle? Where was she?”

“There’s a little known fact about the Puddle. She can instantly turn into water, but takes seventeen seconds to return to human. I had a moment. Snow Cone was confused, unable to figure out what to freeze by the time I was clear of the shower curtain. I’m fairly certain the last thing they ever heard the switch of the hair dryer clicking on. Their circuits needed constant cooling or they world cease functioning. I pushed the hair dryer as deep as I could. And I lived.”

“And the Puddle?”

“The Puddle was strong. Stronger than maybe even she realized. She screamed at me. How I killed something so beautiful. Her head and legs were solid but every other part of her transparent. The walls distorted and the lights refracted through her. I thought was going to die, butI could not look away. She was beautiful. Then there a violent stream of water that bashed the hair dryer from my hands into the tub. It cost Alley Cat whatever lives he had left. It was so strange being pummeled like that. I felt the water, but not actually wet. The Puddle controlled each drop off her being. It was a river that both came from her and returned to her. And I was being beaten ever lower in my own bathroom, into my own graveyard. My head touched porcelain and in some corner of my mind in a long shot plan formed in an instant. I stopped resisting and my head dove into cold water. My left hand in desperation pulled down the chromed lever of my toilet. When I woke up, there was her head and black boots on the floor next to me.”

“That’s a hell of a story, Mrs. Smith. But is it true?”

“My dear, the truth is what people are willing to believe. I could tell you that six year old son heard the alarm, melted sentient shaved ice with heat vision, shot lightning from his fingers, and used supersonic breath to save his mother. Your readers would love that. To the point where a child would never the chance to be a child. They would call him hero or murderer or a patron of justice or evil incarnate. At six, I would have done anything for my mother. If she was crying in pain, I would have run to her. I would have done anything for her. Anything I could do. But truth is what people are willing to believe. I believe a child should have a chance to grow into their own person. But what do you believe, Mr. Kent?”

Edited because I wrote this at the bar three pints in.

How WOULD a beekeeper handle an ant infestation? Is there any salvaging it?