[CHUCK MCCOY]

✧ RIP ✧

“A’IGHT, listen up, kids!!” We’re roarin’ down to the Bay at 160 kilometers per hour. I squint at our babies, through my mask, in their lil carseats. Their big, beautiful heads are lollin’ around, smilin’, lookin’ at everything and nothing as various toys strewn about the backseat roll this way and that. I keep going. “Now, your mother is a Superhero! The BEST of the best, y’hear?! #1 deadass n’ always in my heart!!” I grin at her. Thank ■■■■ for these tinted windows!! If not, everyone would see me cheesin’ like her lil lovefool that I was! Plus, we’d blow our whole cover. Apparel and Zombae ridin’ dirty together? If only they knew! “Now, I’m a little less lawless of a man,” I start, putting a hand to my bulletproof vest, “like, I don’t wake up and feel like a Villain? I ain’t intentionally hurt innocent people? Guess I’m criminal-fluid. Your mother’s smooth criminal!”

They gurgle indiscriminately. That’s a win for me!! I take it, before they become teens who ain’t wanna laugh at their old man’s jokes!! “Anyway, I hella wanna explain the situation so we’re on the same page! Your mom n’ I fight for opposite sides of the law but we’re always on the same team, a’ight? That’s the first thing you need to know.” I squeeze her hand. May they never forget that, never realize who I am in the first place. “N’ just like that, we got the same mission today!! Tokyo Bay’s under attack n’ needs Heroes to clear the swarms -” I veer a sharp left, jutting for a more clandestine entrance to the Bay - “n’ the black market needs samples for sale. Your badass mama’s gonna save the day and we’re gonna get money to put you through college at the same time! How ya like it?!” One of them BURPS. “Whoa! It ain’t have to be college if you ain’t want to, no need to be fussy tho…”

It was an insane idea. Our kids were like a month old n’ we just ain’t wanna leave ‘em anywhere, the separation anxiety would be too great!! Plus, what if my cuz had a sudden emergency or operation she needed to attend to? She couldn’t babysit all the time! I ain’t know this, but that damn Ghouligan was always getting in trouble n’ needed her to bail him out!! So, why not take the babies with us? Who better protect them in the heart of war than us? I had no right to call myself their a father if I couldn’t!!

A crooked grin grew over my face. From one of my weapon compartments I pulled out one of the tiny things we had made them!! That I hella prolly fumbled to start with and my gorgeous wife made beautiful!! Lil suits for ‘em. I flash it to them in the back, wonder what their reaction’s gonna be!! “Now kids, you gotta mask up. Cause your kills ain’t count if you ain’t wearing your mask! Zero killcount boost! Huh, honey?”

tag: Kazashi McCoy

[Kazashi McCoy]

She looked over at Chuck, her heart welling up with love as he gave their babies the big talk! How much could they understand being so young? It was hard to comprehend, but they probably needed to have this conversation with them more than a few dozen times. Not only to make sure that they wouldn't be scared by what their mom and dad did, but also so they knew how important dad's secret work was.

She couldn't help but look back at them frequently, always checking on them, making sure they were happy and cared for. She had transformed one of her arms into a red scarf and wrapped it around both of them, letting them hold onto her and get used to her quirk. It also made her heart explode with their every little action and noise, this way she could feel like she was sitting right next to them even though they were in the back. She smiled back at Chuck, squeezing his hand in turn, rubbing soft circles into the back of his hand with her thumb. She laughed at the conversation he had going with them, ''College is hard, ya don't have ta think about it until ya get ta that age.'' She chimed in, her voice softer as she looked back at the babies. ''Ah think we're gonna have ta have this talk with them a few times, but they'll understand.'' She leaned in to kiss his cheek.

When presented with the suits both babies cooed. ''Ya like 'em?'' She smiled, feeling a whole new kind of love when she looked at their happy children. ''That's right! Ya gotta suit up for the job.'' She moved over to get them dressed. ''It was all pa's idea so ya have ta remember ta thank him.'' She kissed each of their foreheads and held them close. They hella didn't have the vocabulary to yet, but somehow it was like the kids just understood them, like they had some kind of family bond that made communicating easier even if it was only through baby noises and gestures. ''Where are we lookin' first?'' She looked at Chuck. The whole Bay had been thrown into chaos, the cleanup work after the fact was going to be its own kind of special hell.

CHUCK MCCOY

[CHUCK MCCOY]

✧ RIP ✧

My heart did funny somersaults in my chest hearing them coo over her arm, little hands gripping her fabric and putting it to their mouths. Cheeky babes. They were hella gonna steal my girl just like that!! “Deadass, listen to your mama!!” I repeat after her when she mentions college, the biggest grin over my face. Couldn’t help it, not when she said things like that to them, not when she rubbed soft circles into the back of my hand. See? We’re all a billion times better off when caressed by the light of an angel. This one right here. Likes anime, Disney, and hot chocolate even in the heart of the summer. My favorite girl. “They will,” I breathe out, alive with her kiss on my cheek, they’re gonna have a home so good n’ a momma so cute and amazing they’ll accept what we do, even if it ain’t make sense in their tiny brains. I ain’t say the latter but I was hoping, manifesting. That our differences wouldn’t turn them to a life of crime themselves, that somehow as a Villain I’d be the best possible influence on ‘em as I could. A miracle, I know!!

“Look baby they LOVE it!!” I cooed all-goofy like as they reacted over the suits. “Or I think they just love YOU! But you’re so pretty, how the hell else are they gonna react?!” Seeing her kiss their foreheads was a hella core memory, my hand pressed lightly to her back before leaning up and in to kiss her real quick. “Let’s start from the eastern shore and work our way to the deep.” My eyes behind the masquerade mask peer out, the pandemonium of bodies and critters almost a violent blur from up here. I squint. “Less eyes, more valuable materials. If someone’s stranded for real all the way out there, they’re in real trouble.” Then casual as if we were getting groceries, I turned to my baby and smiled with grabby hands. “Want me to take one or both?” Then I’d fasten either one or both kids to the baby holster at my chest, above my Villain getup!! They squeal as I turn really fast in a circle then, their lil legs flying all out!! “Fwoooosh!!”

I squeeze her hand. “I’m with you the whole way.” I’m ugly grinnin’. “Ready to save the day, Apparel?” Her name melts in my mouth, tip of my tongue savouring her long after I say it. Then I’d leap all the way down from the jungle-like outcropping we stood upon, sailing right into a living sandsea of quirked-up creatures. The sounds and sensations of carnage viscerally slam into perception, metallic tang of blood and a million screams of the tortured all around us. Seconds before impact with the beach, the ground splits into two, the open maw of a sandshark like a bus widening to claim us!! “Awe man, how’d you get there?!” I’d scream to it, a happy squeal still at my chest!! We’d entered a whole ring of them, Civilians shouting from somewhere in the blood-tinted sands.

Something even bigger lurked on the horizon.

tag: Kazashi McCoy

[Kazashi McCoy]

''Not like either of us found school any easy.'' She laughed, none of that came naturally to them, but maybe their kids would be hella geniuses? Not that they had to, of course, they would love them either way. It was probably another thing she was going to reiterate over and over again. She didn't want to be the type of parent that put pressure on her kids. She was a hero, but they didn't have to go down that path, she'd be happy and proud of them if they settled even for some much simpler work and a cozy lifestyle. It didn't matter as long as they sought out their own happiness and did their best on tests, that's all she could ask for. ''Still, ya gotta listen ta pa too!'' She reaffirmed, pointing over at Chuck as she addressed the kids, soon making silly faces at them, couldn't help it, she'd do anything for their smiles and gurgles.

''Hey now, this was a collab. ~'' She blushed, sticking her tongue out at him. ''They love the outfits an' ya too. Don't ya? Don't ya love yer dad?'' She whispered to the lil ones, her heart overflowing with love. She smiled when Chuck snuck a quick kiss, closing her eyes to savor every second with his lips. ''Sounds like a plan.'' Start from one end and work their way through, it was all they could do when things were this out of control. She nodded along as he laid out the strategy and his reasoning. ''Can ya take both? Do ya want pa ta carry ya?'' She looked down at the twins who instinctively reached their arms out at Chuck, looking at him with those big, irresistibly cute and curious eyes. ''Ah want ta look for survivors, Ah bet some civilians got caught up in this. If we have ta fight somethin' Ah can shield ya an' the kids, or ya can give 'em ta me if a monster appears. Of the two of us yer the hard hitter.'' Those muscles weren't just for show after all!!

''Yeah.'' She grinned, couldn't hold back her happiness. ''A Zombae an' Apparel team-up? They never stood a chance.'' She squeezed his hand back. When he leaped she followed suit, by literally turning into a wingsuit to hang in the air and play lookout, but she didn't get to for long as some shark showed up immediately to threaten her family. ''What do ya think yer doin' ya big fish?!'' She called out with the kind of anger that could only come from an angry mama bear, turning into a full suit of heavy armor as she positioned herself to drop on top of the shark's head, superhero landing and everything to hella impress the fam!!

CHUCK MCCOY

[CHUCK MCCOY]

✧ RIP ✧

I was ugly cacklin’!! Then sighing… “One day they’re gonna find out just what kinda delinquents we are, ain’t they?” I couldn’t wait to randomly drop lore on our babies, mega downloads of how their old man’s old man bribed his high school into letting him in… only for their old man to drop out anyway. And I wouldn’t change a thing ‘bout it, cause every choice in the end got me closer to the love of my life. All the misery and mistakes, lessons, all worth it. Plus, better they find out the shit from me than anywhere else!! I lean up and in to kiss her when she tells them what she does, lips lingering over those full, sumptuous lips. There’s a certain magic to my moongirl I just ain’t ever gonna get used to, like every time it’s vibrantly new. Parenting carried a lotta new things, made me fall in love with her all over again in these lil moments. Like a diamond turned to a different side, a whole new perspective of beauty I ain’t seen before.

N’ I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her either when she talked about the collab, asked them what they thought of me!! Melted my heart damn near on the spot! “Your daddy loves YOU!” Isn’t that word so ■■■■ing weird now?? “Good plan, baby!” Lit my heart afire when she mentions our teamwork, squeezes my hand. I’m invincible with her, our kids. Ain’t nothin’ gonna stop us. I scoop ‘em both up, leaning down to nuzzle their faces and kiss their eyes under their masks. They’re cooin, gurglin’ hella, even when we’re sailing down through the air!! My girl transitions from a wingsuit to a badass plate of heavy armor wicked fast, givin’ me whiplash for how hard I was gawking at her!!

REEERUGH! the enormous shark wails, avalanching backwards as a wave of sand went with it. “HOLY ■■■■!! YEAH beat his ass hun!! Look kids, your mom’s takin’ names!” Split seconds before making contact with the ground, I’d bring up my leg, slamming it down on the adjacent shark. It heaves, violently opening up its maw before I sprinted towards it to jump kick it. An unusual wave of aching coasted through my thigh - I never skipped leg day but never entered a fight without my fists! “Whew! Guess I’m gonna get real good at kickboxin’, ain’t I?” Kids in arms, I’d turn towards her.

SAVE ME!!

“G’on! I got your back!” I was all eyes all around us, hoping to knock down any threat that came her way!

tag: Kazashi McCoy