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Chad didn’t know how to tell Morgan that it wasn’t Superior.
He knew as soon as he laid eyes on the injured hero that it was Alex— his baby sibling’s alleged best friend, desperate to take Morgan away from their family.
It was in their expressions, the way they moved; the way their eyes couldn’t help but make their way over to Morgan.
Chad didn’t understand the villain’s interest in his little sibling, but he wouldn’t let Morgan get hurt.
Sometimes it felt like Morgan was all he had— Chad’s siblings were the only ones willing to treat him not as The Chadster but as Chad, but Diego had married Dave Dodgers months ago. It was just him and Morgan against the world now.
Maybe he was a little overprotective of Morgan. He knew that Morgan could be doing bigger and better things— they didn’t deserve to be shackled to Chad as his sidekick.
But Morgan was so young when they almost didn’t come back. It had been just after their sixteenth birthday when they were taken by Captain Cerebro.
Chad wanted to rush in— to go in guns-a-blazin— but Mom and Dad said no.
If Morgan’s hero worthy, their mom said benignly over spaghetti, they’ll find their way back home.
So Chad waited.
He got the first aid kit, pretended to go to bed, and once his parents were gone for the night he snuck back downstairs and waited for his baby sibling to come home.
The vision of Superior floating down from the sky, Morgan snug and secure and alive in the hero’s arms made Chad swear that he’d never let Morgan get hurt.
Chad glanced at them, still holding the fake Superior’s business card like it was gold.
Chad shook his head. He could let them believe for a little while longer.