27 A Meeting Of Might

The phrase life, flashing before your eyes, has never been so apt whenever I step into a new form.

It's almost similar to a movie, except I am living through the experiences, yet I am not. Honestly, these methods of transmigration or reincarnation are still a mystery to me.

Are entire timelines being rewritten? Is a world created every single time I do a jump? Are these just empty husks that I'm entering, or are they their own existences?

So many questions entered and left my mind as I watched 28 years' worth of memories pass by. I was there when Metro Man, or in this case, Adonis Davenport, found our new family.

But before then, I couldn't recall our travel across hundreds upon thousands of light years in that pod, and unlike the original, it was created for two people with the design being made so that the pod itself rotated, so that we never spun or hit the sides of the ship, and the fact that they were actual buckles helped.

With my now perfect memory, I could even remember the face of baby Megamind as he bounced across the asteroid field. And then came to reentry into earth's atmosphere, and I do admit it is strange to feel fear over something, and that never actually happened to me.

It almost made me laugh how a decently sized pod crashing through someone's door could turn into an adoption, but I decided not to question the logic of a cartoon movie. But then that's where the differences began to show.

Unlike the original Metro Man, I did not exhibit any of his hours, and while I was more intelligent, I lacked the physical traits that he had, or it was that my body did not remember how to do it.

So, while Metro Man became a hero, I essentially became his man in the chair, feeding him Intel on any news relating to Megamind, but as a cover, I was also a very popular businessman, as well as the inheritor of our family's company.

The jump world itself was written in a way where the Davenport family was the highest-rated realtors and home developers in the city. You couldn't find a better way to reinforce or buy your home other than by going to our company.

My brother Wayne Davenport, as weird as it is to think of that, was never stupid. In fact, I would say he was a genuine treat to be around while there were the occasional bouts of pry and a bit of hubris. It never came from a place of arrogance but a simple fact.

Yet it wasn't the privilege or the fact that I was in a cartoon world that shook me the most. It was the fact that I had a family…

Martha and Bruce Davenport, it was almost funny how fate seemed to just laugh with those names. They were the same even the times when I was an orphan when I did not take the drop in origin, and the names remained the same. They're still alive in this world albeit getting up there in age currently they're on vacation doing a tour in Europe.

I have a feeling that it's a constant reminder of something that I refuse to accept. They weren't the same people, nor did they even look the same, but there is consistency there.

But even as the scenes continue to play by, I Find My attention split once more, and a rather interesting conversation.

"Carter, why do you help me?" Wayne asks as he flies back to our mansion.

" Because you're my brother, obviously." The answer, however, does not seem to satisfy him.

" Any other reason? I know you have 50 other reasons in that head of yours." Such is the power of an older brother, and by only a few minutes.

Spinning in my chair a bit, I ponder and answer to this question: " It's nice to do something that is in business-related. You know how much fun paperwork is. Consider yourself lucky that Father never had you do one of his paperwork seminars."

I could almost feel Wayne shake in fear of the prospect of having to do all of the paperwork. Well, he was intelligent. He was never one to do a lot of work.

" So why do you do this then? Is it the thrill, or are we doing this for Justice?" I see the cracks are already beginning to form.

" You would be right that I was doing this for some form of justice. As you know, our mutual blue friend hasn't exactly been very kind to me over the years. Did you really have to tell him your secret identity?" Wayne, on the other end of the line, just size as he arrives on the roof, which I open using my telekinesis.

As he lands in the living room, he immediately speeds off to his room, and then, not even a millisecond, comes back with some more relaxed clothing.

" Do you know why I did that, Carter? I thought that if I could relate to him, I could help him. I couldn't do it as Metro Man; I had to do it as Wayne Davenport. I do still regret it. I know getting kidnapped nearly every other week isn't exactly fun for you." as he says this, he's already preparing a three-course meal while keeping up with the conversation.

" While I will never agree with that action. I can understand it. I still remember when we went to school with them during that early year in elementary school. Do you think things would've changed if I was there with you?" Wayne stopped to think about it as I looked over some property values.

A decent chunk of my memory has mostly been taken up by Megamind, who is, ironically, living rent-free in my head due to the fact that I never developed any powers, and with Wayne telling him his identity, he tracked me down and began to hold me, hostage, on an almost monthly basis.

But thanks to the fact that Megamind isn't very malicious, I was rarely injured, but a slight feeling of almost disgust towards myself formed as I pondered these memories.

" So, how are things at the company? Carter, need any of my help moving any of the materials?" Shaking my head, I once again refused, as I did not want my brother in any way connected to the company as it could automatically overshadow his heroism.

People would begin to say that he's only being a hero because he wants to protect my investments; such is the problem with sponsored heroes. It's much harder for them to actually say that they're just doing it to save people when they're actively being paid for it.

" Once again, brother, I do appreciate you wanting to help out, but you already do as Megamind would've destroyed at least 75% of the city with his latest stunt. I mean what is he thinking trying to use nuclear fusion to power a shrink ray?! With that amount of power he was putting out, he would've shrunk the entire city." Wayne just sits down with a slight smile on his face as I continue to complain about the blue egghead.

Slightly coughing to focus myself, I continue, " So Wayne, I do have something to confess, which I believe will definitely surprise you." Wayne's eyebrow raises as I take the large table and lift it with my pinky finger.

Wayne then completely forgot about the food as he just looked on in shock, but instead of it being a form of negative surprise, I could see a decent amount of light returned to his eyes as he grabbed me at hypersonic speed and gave me a really large hug.

"Carter, you got your powers! How?! When?!" Even with his superhuman ability to think, he could barely speak out the questions, and as I shook them off, I began to explain.

" It actually happened yesterday because, you see, when Megamind was developing his nuclear shrink ray, I was exposed to a decent amount of nuclear radiation, and it seems that my body reacted, and my latent superpowers finally revealed themselves. You should've seen the look on my assistant's face when I accidentally picked up my entire desk with one hand. I was able to tell him that I had just been working out, but I may have blown it in the first day." Wayne just laughs as we eat our dinner.

" So what's the plan, Carter? You feel like helping out your big brother on the streets?" As much as I would like to nod my head, I knew that I needed to learn how to use them first; I would rather not flick a fly away and, on accident, break an entire building.

" As much as I would like to agree, Wayne, I'm going to need to learn how to control these powers. If you want to help, feel free, but I'm definitely going to have to take a short vacation. Although, if I ever see that blue man, he's going to be in for a bit of a surprise." Wayne just finishes his food and goes to watch some television before heading out on his nightly patrol.

As I cleaned up the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher, I sat down in the recliner next to him as I watched the football game.

"It's a good life we live, Carter," Wayne says as the game ends.

Nodding in agreement, I give them a bit of a fist bump, which may or may not have compromised the structural integrity of the chairs.

"The best. May it never change." I agreed as I turned the tv off.

" And may your new superpowers never change us." After he says this, he's already gone out to patrol the city for more street crime, which means that I have to prepare myself as I head to the basement of our mention and enter a specific code.

The stone wall that was once there then gives way to a sizeable advanced room, where I sit down near a large stack of consoles and computer screens, and as I get my satellite readings, I grab a coffee from the upstairs as I know this is just going to be one of many long nights.