Villains Wear Masks

“In the end my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. But, hey, it’s high school.”

~ Will Stronghold

April stood outside her old house, not wanting to walk in. As soon as she passed the threshold, she would be back to who she was before. April wasn’t sure if she wanted to be who she was before anymore.

“April!” Of course, she had no choice now that Brandon had seen her.

She walked forward as Brandon ran out the front door to her house. How had she thought he wouldn’t be waiting anxiously for her return? “Hey, Brandon.”

He engulfed her as they met on the front porch. April felt her feet lift off of the ground as Brandon floated. She had to remind him that they were still on the front porch and that floating would be a sure sign to anyone outside that he was a superhero. Reminding Brandon when he’s about to expose his secret identity was one of April’s chores she remembered having to do every day before she went to Alcatraz.

“Your family is so excited to see you!” Brandon exclaimed.

April laughed. “Trust me, they’re probably just glad I’m not fraternizing with super villains at the moment.”

Brandon’s grin never faltered. “I missed you too.”

She tilted her head at his words. April used to find Brandon’s willingness to devote himself to her a little extreme, and it had terrified her that she didn’t know if she could do the same, even though he cared for her so. Now she was more certain where her heart lied. Spending time away from home let her realize that she definitely did not have the same feelings for Brandon as he had for her. She couldn’t remember ever even missing him when she was spending her days interviewing X. She didn’t feel bad anymore for not returning his feelings.

Inside April was ready to get settled and drive over to the Kingdom City MASKED headquarters, but her plans changed when the lights were turned on suddenly and a room of voices yelled, “Welcome home!”

When April’s vision cleared, she saw that her parents had put a banner over the front hall with the words they had just said in a brilliant pink.

She hated pink.

The house seemed to be filled with more than just her family. It looked like Brandon and her dad had invited over some of their superhero buddies as well as family friends who knew their identities. Her parents had planned a big party for her arrival and made sure all of their friends were there to see their unpowered daughter safe at home from a big bad villain.

She also realized as the plethora of people in the room came up to greet her and ask how she was doing that she didn’t really know any of them. Not personally anyways.

Going through her school years, April had learned to keep her head down as much as possible. Her parents were superheroes, and just with that fact alone she had to make sure no one came too close. Captain Fantastic just had to make sure every friend that came through the doors had a background check by MASKED. For April’s tenth birthday party she remembered a girl in her class not invited just because her second cousin’s twice removed brother-in-law was once suspected of being a super villain.

In the Watson household you learned pretty fast that outsiders weren’t to be trusted.

Add to the fact that in her high school years she was forever the damsel to White Knight, friends were a no go. Anyone who talked to her in class or sat with her at lunch only did so to catch a snippet of information about White Knight, or just to be in the presence of someone so famous in their city. None of those girls back at Kingdom Hills High had ever really known her. She doubted any of them even knew her middle name.

Hell, her own parents didn’t even know her favorite color.

She had no friends or even close acquaintances she could see at home, and even if she did her parents wouldn’t even know of them. They were only ever involved in her life when they wanted to be, when it suited them. April would bet money that this party was not for her, but just a show, like everything else in her life had been.

It was their fault she hadn’t been able to make friends throughout her life. All she had ever had was Diana, and then Diana moved to Iris City to save people. Brandon wasn’t much of comfort when he only ever seemed to think of you as just another responsibility, even if he wouldn’t ever dare voice that opinion out loud.

“Mom, when can I see Diana?” April asked, finally finding her mother in the kitchen.

She frowned. “Any time you want. She’s probably in her room.”

April pulled back, confused. “I thought she was at the MASKED headquarters. They have the best hospital in the city.”

Her mother laughed and shook her head. “Oh, no. We brought her back home instead. That place is so stuffy and she’s much more comfortable at home.” April was shooed away as her mom brought more snacks out into the living room for the guests.

But if Diana was hurt enough to be brought back to Kingdom City, why was she allowed to just sit at home? Weren’t you supposed to be in a hospital or controlled environment when you were hurt that bad?

Diana’s room was across the hall from hers, so it didn’t take April that long to cross the house and find it. She stopped herself from entering when she heard more than one voice coming from the room.

“- not herself.”

A sigh, Diana. “Of course she isn’t. Don’t you think Alcatraz must’ve had some effect on her? I’m a super and I don’t think I could’ve survived long in the presence of all that evil.”

The other voice – Brandon – whined, “But how do I make it like it was before? Now that she’s away from that place, shouldn’t she be running back into my arms? Isn’t that what damsels are supposed to do when they’re reunited with their knights in shining armor?”

“Just give her a bit of time to adjust. She’ll be yours again soon enough, trust me. If anything the time away should’ve just reaffirmed how much she cared for you.”

“Yeah,” Brandon sounded more confident, his usual self, “she does care for me. Of course she does, who wouldn’t? Thanks for the talk, Diana.”

April had no time to look inconspicuous as Brandon exited her sister’s room. All she could do was smile and act like she hadn’t just been eavesdropping on their conversation.

“April!”

She smiled wider, though it only felt more forced, faker than Anakin’s efforts to thwart Brandon at every turn.

“What are you up to?”

“Just going to visit Diana, the reason I paused my project with X.”

Brandon’s smiled fell. “Paused?”

April furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah, I’m not staying home forever. I still have to get back to X soon.”

She shouldered past him into her sister’s room, ignoring his frowning lips.

Diana was laying in her bead, back propped up by pillows so she was closer to sitting than anything else. Whatever injury that had brought her home wasn’t evident on the surface.

“Hey, sis,” Diana greeted with a smile, “didn’t think I’d see you again anytime soon.”

April shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m here now. So, what happened to my big strong superhero sister while I was away?”

Diana laughed. “Well, let’s just say that there was an attack in Iris City to try and get to me and White Static. It won’t show up on the news, we were away from the public eye when it happened. The guy who got me was taken down by MASKED shortly after, so there’s no need to worry on that end. Mom and dad brought me back home to recover as soon as they heard. They’ve always been overprotective in that sense, right?”

April nodded along with her big sister. “Definitely. I’ve only been gone for three months and to them it seemed like years. They even threw a big party downstairs.”

“Don’t let me keep you from the party then,” Diana urged.

“Trust me, I enjoy your company much better than theirs. You know they invited Holographic Man?”

Diana raised her eyebrows. “Him? I thought he retired.”

April laughed. “Yeah, apparently he and Transparent Women showed up because Black Hawk invited them. There’s barely anyone even down there that I know.”

She frowned, “There has to be someone. You’re friends with Janus and Black Hawk, aren’t you?”

April scoffed. “Brandon’s friends with them, not me.”

“Shouldn’t you want to be friends with your boyfriend’s friends?”

April would’ve spit out water if she had any in front of her. “No, now more than ever he isn’t.”

“What do you mean? He missed you so terribly when you were gone.”

She sighed, “It’s just . . . I met someone in San Francisco.”

Diana opened her mouth wide like a dead fish. She was very surprised. “You met someone?”

April tugged at her sleeve, unsure of how to explain. “Yeah, I think I have. It’s complicated, but when I’m with them I feel more like myself than I ever have at home, you know? He makes me feel like I’m worth more than just as a damsel.”

Diana’s face scrunched up in an unrecognizable expression. “But you’ll break Brandon’s heart.”

“It’s not like we were betrothed from birth,” April argued, “and I’ve told him enough times how I feel. Why should I fake feelings just to spare his heart? What about my heart? Besides, I think the family will be glad that at least I’m not only poisoning my mind with evil super villains all day. I have more of a reason to be there than just that now.”

“Yeah, I guess you do.”

But she no longer seemed happy for April. Diana looked sad, not at all how she expected her sister to look. Shouldn’t she be happy that April was finally happy?

And even if April didn’t admit it to herself, she was telling the truth. Somewhere in the back of her mind, X had become more of a friend than anything she had ever known, maybe even more than just a friend. He for one wouldn’t have thrown her a surprise party just to keep up appearances within superhero circles and he would’ve known her favorite color wasn’t pink.

But her family couldn’t know that the one making her feel attached to a different city was X. He was definitely not someone they would approve of.

“Hey, how about you tell me all about Iris City? I’m sure you have some interesting stories in these past three months.”

Diana was all smiles again. It was like the previous conversation hadn’t even happened.

By the end of the day, April had forgotten about X and Alcatraz, Diana was making her laugh too hard at her stories from their childhood. By the time she made her way downstairs, she was no longer bummed out about the awful party. Of course, it was probably really great for everyone who wasn’t April Watson.

Brandon found her sulking in the den, absentmindedly stirring a coffee and pretending to listen to a conversation between her little brother and his best friend, the flight powered son of Wingman.

“You boys mind if I steal April from you?”

They both shook their heads, already running off to play hero and villain.

“What do you need?” April asked politely. She had already assured herself of her feelings. She and Brandon were nothing more than family friends. The weight of guilt that had been slowly crushing her for so long about her nonexistent feelings for him had disappeared now that she had accepted it. She was allowed to have feelings for someone else.

“I want to talk in the backyard, it’s quieter there.”

April nodded following him out of the den, past heroes showing off to each other and chatting earnestly about their latest save, whether it was forty years ago or yesterday. Outside it wasn’t as stuffy, and April was surprised she hadn’t tried to hide out there earlier. No one would’ve expected her out there and she could’ve avoided her parent’s party guests for a lot longer.

“What’s up?”

Brandon took a deep breath, looking a bit nervous. “Well, I sort of had something on my mind.”

“Spit it out.”

He put his hands in his pocket and then took them out again. She had never seen Brandon this nervous. In fact, the only time he had ever come this close was . . . never. White Knight was always confident. “You’ve been gone for a really long time. It’s given me the time I needed to think of us. You know?”

April let out a breath. “Oh, me too.”

He perked up, “Really?

“Oh, well, yeah.”

“Good,” he grinned. Their messages might have been different. “I was wondering if-”

“April! Oh how I missed you so!”

There was a sudden rush of wind as a figure flew at White Knight, knocking him over and out. When he made sure the hero was unconscious, Black Knight turned his gaze towards April. “I am so glad you’re back.”

April glanced around her quickly. She did not feel like getting kidnapped tonight, especially since she hadn’t even been home for an entire day yet. She spotted a shovel only a couple of feet to her left, leaning against the side of the house. All she had to do was lunge for it and she could knock out the villain before he enacted some crazy plan.

“Can we just go get coffee or something like normal people?” April voiced. “Isn’t kidnapping a little weird for a reunion?”

She had confused Anakin enough for her to grab the shovel and swing it at him. He recovered quicker than she thought, catching her shovel and bending the tip over just to prove he was strong enough and he could.

“You really shouldn’t have tried that, April. I thought we were friends?”

April shrugged. “I just really don’t want to get kidnapped tonight.”

“Too bad.”

April was knocked out so fast she didn’t even see Anakin hit her with the bent shovel. By the time Brandon woke up at the foot of her back porch, they were both already long gone.

Everything was back the way it used to be – the way it was supposed to be.