Ethan woke up… The surroundings were familiar… Nostalgic… It was Ethan's childhood school, where he spent his formative years. He looked around, then he saw himself… but younger, a lot younger, he was playing basketball alone.
Ethan stared for a few seconds before the young Ethan looked at him with his innocent eyes, Ethan stared back… Suddenly, the younger version of him began to talk.
Young Ethan: "Will my dreams come true?"
Ethan: "Uh… What?… well, I guess. I got powers. So, yes"
Young Ethan: "Will I have any real friends?"
Ethan: "Of course you will! Why woul-"
A voice boomed into existence. Ethan turned to see that it was Ghost Emperor.
Ghost Emperor: "No! You won't!"
Ethan: "Zip it, idiot! This is a child, it's like you're telling him that he is destined to be depressed for the rest of your life."
Young Ethan: "So, I won't be happy?"
Ethan turned quickly towards his younger self, his eyes filled with desperation and fear.
Ethan: "No! You will! You just need to adapt. Life is great, but just because it didn't happen your way, or you had a few bad days, doesn't mean that your life is bad!"
Ghost Emperor: "Every day is a bad day!!"
Ethan: "Only if you see that side of it!"
Young Ethan kept looking between Ethan and Ghost Emperor, watching as they argued.
Ethan: "Just because a lot of bad days happened doesn't mean your life is bad! I hated my life, but things got better. I got friends! I have loved ones! And there is nothing better than that!"
Ghost Emperor: "What about bullies…?"
Ethan: "They are insecure people who just pick on people to feel good about themselves! That's it! So it's not your fault, it's theirs!"
Ethan looked at his younger self. He stared into his eyes, tears welled up, deep down, he knew that he had never grown up… His body did, but not his personality; he just acts like his age to fit in… But deep down… He constantly felt a crushing feeling of "When will I truly be free…"
Ethan: "Kid… Keep dreaming, keep fighting bad guys in this little head of yours."
Ethan poked his younger self's forehead and smiled softly.
Ethan: "Don't let the jealous people get to you… You're cute, smart, handsome, and creative. But most of all: YOU ARE COOL."
Ghost Emperor: "No! You are cringy! Idiotic! Ugly! No one likes you!!"
Ethan smiled even more. This time, it was a wide, calm smile, one that signified that he wasn't bothered by Ghost Emperor's desperate attempts at breaking Ethan's spirits.
Ethan: "See that guy? The one who looks like me? Like US? THAT is our biggest hater, THAT is our doubt."
Ethan put his hand on his younger self's shoulder and smirked. The young Ethan also smirked, but asked one final question.
Young Ethan: "Do we hurt people or just bad guys?"
Ethan: "Bad guys only, of course! Why would I go to a random guy and kick him to space?"
Ethan and his younger self laughed. Ghost Emperor's face scrunched and became furious; his rambling about insults became louder and louder.
Ethan: "Let's beat this clown! Shall we?"
Young Ethan nodded. He took Ethan's hand, and they both began running at Ethan, then… they both punched Ghost Emperor and sent him flying. Ethan lifted his younger self and threw him at Ghost Emperor.
His younger self lifted his arms, then his appearance changed into a cyborg, his arms became bulkier, and with one swift motion, both his arms punched Ghost Emperor towards the ground, SHATTERING the illusion of his old school and causing their surroundings to be a black void…
Ethan: "HELL YEAH!!! THE ORIGINAL HEROBOT!"
Young Ethan fell to the ground, and Ethan caught him. His arms returned to the thin child arms that he had. Ethan put his younger self down, and they both walked towards Ghost Emperor, who crashed so hard that a deep hole was left in his stead.
They both looked at each other and chuckled, before they both jumped into the hole…
Ethan opened his eyes… rubble all around him. He got up, looked around, and his past self wasn't here…
Ghost Emperor: "Well! Looks like someone was able to escape my illusion."
Ethan stared at Ghost Emperor with fury, the damaged supermarket right behind him. Dr. Thornes got out of a trapdoor, staring at Ethan.
Ethan got up, without saying any words… Herobot flew to his side.
Ethan: "Make that hero team that you said would come to hurry, and call EVERYONE I know, Vela… John… Minami…"
Ethan turned towards the cultist, who wasn't hiding his presence, though people ignored how he was wearing a white robe that had strange symbols on it, probably a product of his mind control powers.
Ethan: "You… get your 'believers' to fight, I think that Ghost Emperor will summon some skeletons."
Ghost Emperor: "You really think I would do that? You're right!"
Ghost Emperor snapped his finger, skeletal arms burst out of the floor, almost immediately, the skeletons climbed out, and Ethan kept his gaze on the "big bad". He then charged his legs, electricity building up in his legs.
Ethan used the charge that he built up to send himself flying toward Ghost Emperor, but instead of doing what was expected, he made lightning strike Ghost Emperor, just before reaching him, to make sure he did not dodge or parry.
Ghost Emperor is left stunned, which allows Ethan to get on top of him and throw him downwards, towards his army.
Moments later, John flew in. He attacked Ghost Emperor, but Ghost Emperor dodged. Ethan was still on top of him, and Ghost Emperor was struggling to get him off.
Ethan: "John! You and Minami make sure that the civilians are safe, and help the cultists when they arrive!"
John nodded, Minami appeared, and they began to do as planned. Some of the cultists came out of the sewer, while others ran towards the skeleton army through the street.
What was left now is defeating Ghost Emperor.
Ghost Emperor was finally able to get Ethan off of him by spinning so fast, but that also left him stunned. Ethan took advantage of that and created a vertical barrier before launching himself off of it and onto Ghost Emperor once again.
This time, he punched Ghost Emperor towards the hard ground, causing it to bend and crack. Almost immediately, Ethan struck himself with lightning, which helped make his descent faster, and once he reached Ghost Emperor, he made lightning strike Ghost Emperor.
Ghost King appeared; he pulled Ethan and threw him upwards, to get him away from Ghost Emperor. He helped Ethan by doing that.
Ghost King: "What the hell is happening here, dude? Why is there a wanna-be who looks like me?"
Ethan: "Long story short, this guy is not from this universe, but an alternate where you are strong!"
Ethan tried to explain fast, but his ascent had stopped, and he began to fall. Ghost King caught Ethan by his shirt and kept flying around with Ethan, dodging Ghost Emperor's long-range attacks, which ranged from guns to laser attacks.
Suddenly, Herobot, which was still standing for orders on the ground, used his powers to hack into a nearby military base and have it launch a rocket. The rocket hit Ghost Emperor, causing him to fly towards a wall and crash into it.
Meanwhile, Dr. Thornes is watching all of that unfold.
Dr. Thornes thoughts: "He isn't useful anymore, I have a whole universe to rule, Ghost Emperor's universe."
He takes out a device and presses a couple of buttons before a large laser hits Ghost Emperor from the sky, causing him to get even weaker and damaged.
Ethan and Ghost King land on the ground. They go to Ghost Emperor and get him up.
Ethan: "Dude… Stop… This is MY universe… Not yours… OK? You want people not to suffer, stop with your North Korean-style rule and get people to love you."
Ghost Emperor: "I guess you are correct… What have I become…?"
Ethan and both Ghost guys(LOL) looked at Dr. Thornes, Ghost Emperor made the skeletons turn on Dr. Thornes, and then… After a few seconds, we can hear screams as he gets overwhelmed by skeletons crawling on him, suddenly… Silence… No noise… Like he's dead…
Herobot stared at the huge heap of skeletons; his only thought was "Caelia now has no family… What can I do… I can get her to work with us now… I can be her friend… Or… 'Family'"
Minami and John, and the cultists stopped fighting the skeletons because they suddenly became dust and disappeared, the rubble everywhere.
The hero team that was supposed to arrive earlier has arrived… late… very late…
Hero 1: "What happened here?"
Hero 2: "We're late… like always!"
Hero 1: "It's ok, there is always next time."
They left as fast as they came, not even interacting with Ethan or any of the others.
Ethan and the Ghost Guys talked; they chatted and chatted.
Ghost Emperor: "How can I lead a whole world fairly? I am just a tyrant…"
Ethan: "Well, that is mostly why there are some things called COUNTRIES."
Ghost King: "Now I see that my past dream was really idiotic, haha."
Ethan: "Anyways, you can do this, you don't have to become a hero for people to like you, you don't wanna become a hero, then don't, just make sure to help people either way, not kill them."
Ghost Emperor nodded, and before long, he jumped downwards towards the portal. He entered the portal and left for his home, wanting to change his way of rule.
Ethan: "YO! Herobot! Turn off that portal before it malfunctions, and make sure it will never turn on again!"
Herobot nodded and jumped downwards towards the lab, and turned off the machine. He looked at the flash drive that he had put in, and before picking it up, he made sure to take away a vital part of it… The Plutonium and Thorium.
Herobot: "Caelia?… I'm sorry."
Caelia: "It's OK… He had it coming, I knew that I should've told him that the plan wouldn't work…"
Herobot: "DO NOT blame yourself… My offer still stands… So… What is your answer?"
Caelia: "I accept it… Transporting data to the flash drive…"
after a few minutes of waiting.
Caelia: "You can unplug the flash drive now…"
Herobot unplugged the flash drive and inserted it into a USB port on his wrist before the USB disappeared.
Herobot: "Here… Now… Everywhere I go… You go too."