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Dennis looked away from his grizzled grandfather.  He had this way of making him feel smaller and lesser than anybody else on this earth.

Especially when he referenced his brother, Sean.

He looked back and once again was trapped in the old man’s gaze.  [b][color=fff200]“OK!  But turn that damn thing off.  It’s scaring the hell out of me!”[/color][/b]

Dennis looked at his shoes.  [b][color=fff200]“You sent me out to fight demons and THAT thing scares me.  Good God…  Can’t just let me take on a bunch of nutcase terrorists.  Have to find the biggest, darkest monster in the yard and say ‘Hey!  Dennis!  You’re still learning the ropes!  Why don’t you go piss in this big terrifying monster’s cereal?  That’s a wonderful idea!  I’m sure you can take him.  Or at least maybe he won’t chew up the Golden Rod too bad that I can’t give it to somebody else!’”
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Then a warm thought crossed his mind.  “Hey, who knows.  Maybe we won’t even be able to find the god foresaken thing anyway…”

Dennis raised his head.  [b][color=fff200]“Ugh.  I thought I told you to turn it off.”[/color][/b] He winced as he saw the beast slam a half dozen innocent people into a building where they lay in a pulpy, crumpled heap.

[b][color=aba000]“I did.  Does that look like the Fieldhouse to you?”[/color][/b]

Dennis’ face took on a dreadful pallor.  [b][color=fff200]“Oh God!  That’s the—“[/color][/b]

[b][color=aba000]“Macys.  The one 5 blocks from here.”[/color][/b]  The old man lobbed Dennis the Golden Rod.  [b][color=aba000]“You’re up.”[/color][/b]

Dennis caught the amazing device and donned his leather jacket and flight goggles whilst still in a state of shock.

[b][color=aba000]“Don’t let it kill you.  Don’t let it kill anybody else.  And take it down.  In that order.”[/color][/b]  His grampa commanded as Dennis ran out the door.

As if that was a simple request.  ‘Dennis, go down the corner store and picks up some milk, eggs and a newspaper.’  ‘Dennis, go fight the monster that obliterated Lost Haven Central PD and nobody else has been able to stop, don’t die, don’t let anyone else die, oh… and beat it.’

‘This is why Old Folks Homes exist.’  Dennis thought to himself as he took to the sky.  As if anybody could ever get the ornery old bastard into one.

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Fortunately the short flight from his Lost Haven home to the scene of the massacre-in-progress didn’t give him much time for panic.  There was no mistaking the scene.  Bloody, battered bodies strewn across the pavement, 4 beasts of varying degrees of humanity and ghoul and fortunately the authorities were starting to move on in.

Not the police either.  Not for something like this.  They wouldn’t be nearly enough.  The distinctive uniforms of a government peace-keeping force called STRIKE that his grandfather had told him about.

And floating down onto the scene was a familiar figure that Dennis had seen before on the television.  The prodigious Iron Knight, making his own ostentatious entry.  He was much like Dennis in his own way as well.  Not a metahuman.  Just the wielder of a magnificent weapon.

Sure, Iron Knight was the inventor of his own weapon; a billionaire genius who knew his tool perfectly… but who wants to split hairs?

[b][color=C0C0C0]“Good evening. As the unofficially designated representative of this city of Lost Haven, I order you to cease all superhuman activities and crawl back into whatever hellhole that spawned you or anyone that is most convenient for you.”[/color][/b]

“Ah good.  Someone who actually knows what he’s doing.  I’ll let him take point and just help out in the background where I can.”  Dennis thought to himself as he drifted down to a soft landing on the roof of a parked car.

Then the roof of the sedan buckled under his own weight.

[b][h3]Ka-Thump[/h3][/b]

The monster he would later know to be called the Cannibal King turned to the obnoxious sound of the unwelcome intruder and roared.  Drawing the attention of some of the others.

[b][color=fff200]“Ah.  Crap.”[/color][/b]