CHAPTER 32

Franklin had come home last night in a bad mood. Though that wasn't surprising as it would be more surprising if he was in a good mood after getting beaten up and nearly killed by a super-powered criminal and his cronies.

Fortunately, whatever strikes that masked man had made against him hadn't had that much affect thanks to his impervious skin, a fact which he was thankful for as he didn't look as bad as he felt when he walked through the door.

"Hey baby, you ok?" his mom asked as soon as she saw him.

"Yeah, I'm good," he replied. Knowing she would have gotten mad that he was late, he had sent a text every few minutes saying where he was, explaining that there had been an accident holding up the streets and traffic. Fortunately, she had bought it. Though from the look on Angie's face at the table, she clearly didn't.

He put on a happy expression all throughout dinner, ignoring the looks Angie shot his way and answering every question about school, friends, and whatever else his mom threw at him. She was thrilled he had made two new friends and that they didn't suck, a fact Franklin was also proud of considering his last friends weren't really what he considered 'friends.'

Still, he was glad she only saw his face and couldn't see what was happening beneath the table. His leg hadn't stopped trembling throughout dinner. He had just been in a fight with real-life criminals. While wearing a hoodie. Nothing else, just the hoodie. No mask or anything like that. Nothing that could really hide his identity. Just that damn hoodie.

He kept expecting the criminals to come breaking down the door, barging in with guns blazing. And it would be all on him. But what else could he have done? It wasn't like they really chose to be in that fight. Madison had gotten trapped and Travis had rushed in to help her. He could have easily picked her up and run off in speed mode though. That pissed Franklin off a little.

But what really pissed him off was that they really hadn't had a choice. It wasn't like they had gone out looking for a fight. They had wanted to avoid the bad guys, to not get involved with any sort of crime-fighting. But thanks to a very bizarre and unfortunate coincidence, they had done the opposite. It had been completely out of their hands, like fate itself had ordained that just because they had superpowers, they had to fight criminals. It sucked because he couldn't even regret his choice to fight since if he did, then he would be regretting saving his friends' lives.

And now he had to pay for something that wasn't even a mistake. His family too.

Franklin managed to evade Angie for the rest of the evening, helping his mother with the clearing up and any other chores he could manage around her. She'd tried to pull him away but he'd ignored her. Then he was able to lock himself in his room. As soon as he had, he sighed and just collapsed on his bed.

He felt like crying, screaming, and punching something all at the same time. But he couldn't really do any of that so he just stayed where he was, lying there.

What was he supposed to do next? What could he do next? After something like this, what did someone do next? Did they just go back to normal, pretend it never happened?

In the comic books and TV shows and movies they made it look so easy. That it was so cool to fight villains, so exciting. Only a handful showed how utterly terrifying it was and even those paled in comparison to the real thing. And most of them didn't really show what happened to the heroes after their first fights. Like, what did they do? How did they cope? Spider-Man had vowed to be a superhero from then on, so Franklin didn't really think that was comparable. He had no desire to be a superhero. For him, there had only been one real superhero around and now he was…

The tears came so quickly that it felt like they had just been waiting for a break. He didn't even try to fight them, just letting them flow out.

He'd almost died. He did have impervious skin and super strength but none of that had helped when facing those guys. None of that changed the fact that he still felt like at any second, he could die. How could anyone cope with this? Is this what his dad had felt like every day when he went to work?

Franklin looked over at the picture on the wall. The picture that was hung in such a way that it cast a shadow over the figures so you couldn't really see them. It didn't matter anyway, he'd memorized every part of that picture. He saw clearly his dad's arm draped over him in his firefighter's uniform during Career Day, the proud smile on his own face and a goofy one on his dad's as he made bunny ears on himself.

He couldn't deal with this. Not like this anyway. He got up and left his room, marching all the way down to the basement and raising up the punching bag. He'd set up his private gym here as whenever he was too lost in his thoughts or feelings, he worked it out by working out, letting all the stress turn into the burning sensation of hard work.

Of course, the last time he'd tried it he'd just gotten his powers so he hadn't felt any burn or even fatigue at all. It had been so dull. But he still felt like hitting something right now, so why not?

Ten minutes in, he knew it was a mistake but he kept it up anyway. He had to really pull back his punches to not demolish the punching bag and that was taking away the whole point of this. He didn't want to hold back anything. He just wanted to keep punching until his problems were gone, imagining each one right in front of his fist as he cocked it back.

The masked man and his goons.

BAM!

His stupid new powers messing with football.

BAM!

His stupid new powers messing with his life.

BAM!

His stupid powers in general.

BAM!

Travis treating this like some game.

BAM!

Moving to this stupid city in the first place.

BAM!

His father…

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"AGHHH!" he cried, sinking to his knees. He couldn't stop it, the memories flooding over him. All he could do was ride it out.

"I'm so sorry," the fire marshal had said, as if that would make it better.

It had been an ordinary day. His dad had pranked him with peas in his cereal, causing him to gag them up after taking a bite. They'd all had a laugh while Franklin promised to get him back. Then, his dad had dropped him and Angie off, saying he loved them, before heading off to work, giving one last wave from his truck's window.

Franklin thought he would have felt something when it happened. Like some sense, some warning in his brain that let him know it had happened. That his father had died. But nothing. It had been a day like any other.

The first warning was when his dad didn't come to pick him up. But he figured he was busy, it happened sometimes, so he just walked home, grabbing Angie on his way.

Then, when he rounded the corner to his house, he saw the truck in front of his house. Not his dad's. He'd been confused for a moment until he saw the doorway where the fire marshal was standing and where his mother was lying, crying her eyes out.

And he'd known. Right then, he'd known. His father was dead.

It didn't hit him all at once. For a second he thought it was just a mistake. Then he thought it was a dream.

And then the pain hit. Not like a knife to the heart. More like a battle-axe that completely obliterated it. Franklin had fallen to his knees, gasping for breath, his brain on fire and his chest throbbing. He just couldn't process it. How was the man who had always been there for him gone? How had that happened? Nothing made sense anymore.

It was supposed to have been a routine thing, something they had done a hundred times before. But out of nowhere, the fire got stronger and then his father had become separated along with the people they'd been rescuing. They tried to go in after them but it became too dangerous. His father had gone to the roof and they had managed to get the people to safety using the life net. But before his father could, the roof collapsed and that was it.

The rest of the day, the week, the month had been a daze. He didn't really understand any of it. He'd been let off school for a little while but eventually he'd had to go back. He didn't remember what had happened. He just passed from class to class, barely learning anything.

The world had completely stopped for him and yet it just kept going for everyone else. How was that right? How was that fair?

He'd never seen his mother cry before and he saw it so many times after that. She tried to do it at night when they were asleep but what she didn't know was that he often stayed up to use the punching bag so he heard it all. And he wished he didn't.

He'd barely made it through the memorial, feeling like punching someone every time they said the same things.

'I'm sorry for your loss.'

'It gets easier with time.'

'I know what you're going through.'

All of them trying to make him feel better but there was only one thing that could do that and it was impossible.

None of them understood. His father was his hero. The man he had looked up to his whole life. His anchor, his rock. Without him…Franklin had no idea who he was. He had no idea who he wanted to be now. He had no idea what he was going to do. He was lost with no one to help him.

After that, things had gotten worse. The bills started piling up and even when working two jobs, his mom couldn't support them even with help from the family. They'd been forced to move, helping Uncle Pete and Aunt Janice way out here.

It was like, nothing had stayed the same. One bad thing happened and everything changed because of it. Franklin didn't recognize anything anymore. He barely recognized himself.

"That's even more true now," he muttered, standing back up. He cocked his fist again and this time didn't hold back as much, punching the bag hard. It swung up so high that it struck the ceiling with a SMACK! before swinging back down. Franklin felt like hitting it again but instead he just stood there, staring at nothing.

"Feel better?"

Franklin felt his heart skip a beat as he turned and saw Angie standing at the foot of the stairs with her arms crossed. "Don't scare me like that," he said.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Because I don't want to talk, you ever think about that while you were hounding me?"

"Well too bad, I want to talk so we're gonna talk."

"Fine!" Franklin snapped, fed up with this. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What happened tonight? Mom may not have noticed but I know you better. You're hiding something, you've been trying to hide it all night. Now what is it?"

Franklin thought about lying to make her, and himself, feel better. But he was just so tired right now of it all. And she was the one person outside of the other super-powered people who knew what was going on.

"We went to train. Me…and some of the others. To figure out whatever the hell these powers are and how to control them."

"Ok. But that's not it."

"No," Franklin shook his head. "We…were attacked. By criminals."

"What?" Angie said hoarsely.

Franklin told her everything, about the masked man and his weird powers, about what the criminals had talked about, about how they'd nearly killed him and the others so easily. "I'm sorry," he told her when he was done. "This…none of this is what I wanted."

"Yeah, I know," she said, sitting on the stairs now. "I don't really think someone wants to almost die like that."

"That's not what I meant," he said softly, causing her to look up. He took a breath, biting his lip a little. "After…dad died, I made a promise." He still remembered that day. That evening really. He'd just seen his mom cry at the table for the umpteenth time, had seen Angie break down in her room, and he'd almost lost it. Instead, he went back to his room, stared at that picture of his dad and him, and vowed to never be someone like his dad. Never be a hero like that because he refused to leave people behind the way his father did.

He didn't blame his dad. Not for a second. He knew his dad had done what he felt was right. But Franklin couldn't do it to his mom and sister. He knew it would break them if he died too. And now, here he was, in that same situation. He'd been forced to try and help and because of that, he'd almost died, abandoning them.

"We never asked you…"

"That doesn't matter," Franklin said. "I made that promise and I will keep it! I won't leave you like he did."

Angie just looked at him sadly. "That's not fair."

"If things were fair, dad would still be alive," Franklin replied. "If things were fair, everything would be like it was. But here we are. And I'm stuck with these powers somehow and it turns out there's a maniac running loose. I know if we…fight again, somehow, I'll lose. And I'll die. But if I don't fight him, then…"

"You're worried others will die," she finished for him.

Franklin took a shaky breath. "Yeah."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Franklin kept clenching and unclenching his fists, not sure what to do. How was he going to handle this? How did anyone?

"Do you think dad wanted to die?"

"What?" he snapped, glaring at her. "What kind of stupid-"

"No, I'm serious," she said, rising angrily. "You're acting like…like it was inevitable for him. That doing what he did was going to end that way and that if you even think of doing the same, you'll end up just like him. How stupid is that?"

"It's not-"

"You want to know the truth? Dad would be ashamed of you right now."

Franklin stumbled, gaping. "W-what?"

"Yeah," Angie said, tears tricking down her cheeks. "He would be ashamed that you took his death to mean something so idiotic and selfish. He died helping people and he didn't regret it and now you're wondering if you should regret saving people like he did? You think you're doing me and mom a favor by ignoring what's happening out there? I don't know how you got these powers and I don't care. All I do know is that if this is how you're going to act with them, then they definitely went to the wrong person."

Franklin watched her storm off, completely shaken. He sank back down and just sat there, not sure about anything anymore.

To say he was in a bad mood the next day would be an understatement. He didn't even see Angie that morning. She had snatched breakfast and left before he even made it downstairs. He left quickly as well, not really wanting to talk to his mother right then either. After everything Angie said, he didn't want to face either of them. So he got to school early and spent the rest of the day in a daze, basically ignoring everyone around him. He noticed Travis zipping around but was glad that he didn't try to talk to him. He didn't notice Madison and saw she was absent from one class, figuring she must have taken a sick day. He could only think of how lucky she was then.

He barely had energy left when the day finally ended and it was only thanks to him overhearing someone mention football that he remembered the new team list had gone up. He couldn't muster any real excitement for it but he did need to know if he made the team or not.

Surprise, surprise, he did. And so did Luke, which also wasn't surprising at all. He had been really good at tryouts. A little too good, but Franklin didn't really care to think on it much.

He had almost made it but then Travis ambushed him out of nowhere, demanding they talk. Franklin had wanted to refuse but the urgent look in his new friend's eyes and the way he was moving made the choice for him. And he was glad he did as he found out not only Sumin but Gabriela had powers too. That made five people now, excluding the supervillain they'd met. He wondered how many more there could be.

More people dragged into this madness, he couldn't help but think. Madison was obviously traumatized and from the way Travis was acting, he'd been radicalized into fighting off villains even more now. And Franklin? Well, he didn't even need a therapist to know how screwed up he was after what had happened.

Franklin initially thought Travis's excitement over Sumin and Gabriela was because he wanted to form some sort of super-team with all of them though that thankfully turned out to not be the case. Though that relief was short-lived as Travis immediately said that he was going to take down the bad guys solo. Franklin hadn't known Travis long but he could tell that these powers had had a negative effect on him, galvanizing him into a superhero life with no care for what might actually happen. He seemed to care only about the glory of a superhero, not the reality of it. Franklin just hoped he could show him in time.

Then he left, ready for home. He really didn't feel like doing another shift at the deli after a day like today, but going home probably meant just sitting around doing nothing and feeling sorry for himself. No thanks. He wasn't that old yet.

So that's how he found himself walking down the main pathway from school right outside the gym, heading to the exit, when he heard it.

Someone screaming.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "Just…I'm sure it's nothing, just…oh come on!" Not giving himself time to rethink it, he just started running for the gym

He burst through the doors, sending them clattering onto the ground. "Oh shoot," he muttered. "Uh…I'll pay…well, no I won't so I'll…oh forget it." He kept going into the main gym, skidding to a halt at the sight in front of him.

"What the hell?"

He wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. A large figure towered above him and someone else, a girl with short brown hair who was cowering against the far wall. The figure itself looked like it was made of the earth come to life, constantly shifting as it formed and broke apart over and over again. It had the semblance of a human shape with arms and legs and what looked like a head, but that was it.

But the wasn't even the weirdest thing. That was reserved for the person wrapped around the figure, her arms stretched across the figure's own limbs and trying to restrict it.

Only one thing popped into Franklin's head as he watched. Isn't that the cheerleader Luke has a crush on?

"I don't know what the hell you are but there's no way you're beating me, Goliath!"

"Oh my god!" the other girl cried out. "Are you seriously competing with it right now?"

"What can I say, it brings out the best in me. Now come on, you misshapen garden gnome. Let's see who can beat the other into a pulp."

Franklin watched for another second, not truly understanding, as the cheerleader started to kick the giant in the face repeatedly. Every time she did, her leg elongated, creating some weird fleshy rope. He didn't know what her plan was exactly but it didn't seem to be working as the creature began to pull its arms apart which in turn started to pull hers apart though her arms only grew longer.

"So she has powers too huh?" he mused, before shaking himself. "What the hell am I doing? Hold on, I'm coming!"

"Huh?" Unfortunately, his shout distracted her, causing her foot to miss the giant's face and sending her reeling midair. The giant took advantage and slammed its head into her body.

"Damn it! Get off her!" Franklin roared, charging for its feet. He smashed right into it, aiming to tear it up but it was lot sturdier than he expected. So instead, he grabbed hold of it and lifted it up with all his strength. He grunted a little, the weight taking him by surprise, but he swiftly adjusted and heaved, throwing the leg to the side.

The giant wobbled for a second, trying to regain its balance, before it toppled into the bleachers, crushing half of it and splintering the rest.

"I'm not paying for that either," Franklin muttered.

He turned to see the cheerleader getting back up, her arms and legs returning to normal. She faced him at the same time, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You have powers too?" she checked.

"Yep. And so do four others at last count. We just keep expanding."

"Huh."

They didn't have time to talk anymore as the giant slowly got to its feet again, shaking off all the wood and debris.

"What the hell is that thing?" Franklin asked.

"I don't know. It started out smaller too, normal size, before growing into…that."

Franklin briefly wondered if this was the masked man's doing. The substance of the giant did look similar to that of what he saw last night. But if he was this powerful, why hadn't the man used this from the get-go?

"Hey!" They both turned to see the other girl waving at them. "Let's get the hell out of here while we still can."

"That thing will rampage across the school if we run. Don't worry, it's just brawn and no brain. I can handle this, no problem."

Who is this girl? Franklin wondered. He himself was tempted to run. This was the exact kind of situation he did not want to get involved in.

"Damn it Emily, this is no time for you to get all…well, you!"

"She's right," Franklin said. "We can't take that thing. Even with our powers."

"Speak for yourself. I'm taking that walking art project down no matter what. And nothing's going…hey, what's it doing?"

Franklin didn't answer as he was too busy staring in mounting horror as the ground around the giant's feet began to heave. Then the giant's skin began to writhe about, contorting and twisting. As Franklin watched, he noticed that all the movements became centered on the giant's right hand where something began to grow. Soon the hand became enormous, swelling to five times its size. Then it began to split apart.

"What horror movie did this bullshit crawl out of?" the girl called Emily murmured.

Franklin quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket as a brand new giant began to form right out of the other's hand, forming its own arms and legs and head until there were two twenty-foot tall giants staring down at them with gaping eyes and mouths and enormous fists to crush them.

"Come on," Franklin muttered, scrolling through his contacts until he landed on Travis. But he didn't even have a second to press down as the giants attacked.

Emily was able to dodge, nimbly leaping aside as her giant shattered the wooden floor on impact. Franklin wasn't so lucky. He'd found his new body not as agile with its added powers so when he tried to leap aside, he barely made any movement. "Oh shi-"

The fist struck him head on, nearly covering his entire body and sending him flying into the wall where he cratered, lodging there. He grunted, trying to pull himself free, when he saw the giant coming in for another round. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," he gasped just as the fist hit him a second time, sending him crashing straight through. He burst out the other side in a cloud of dust and debris, falling hard on the pavement.

He coughed and struggled to get to his feet, refusing to get hit a third time. He felt like when he'd first taken up boxing lessons with his dad and gotten slugged in the gut, the wind knocked out of him. Even before he'd gotten his powers, it took a lot to hurt him like that. And with his powers, well even bullets barely hurt now. But these guys packed a real wallop. He could feel bruises forming all over and his ribs felt like they were being pressed down. At least it wasn't as bad as the masked man's attack, but only barely.

Now that he was outside, he could hear screaming and he looked up to see students and faculty running around in a panic. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was due to the giant stone figure rising out of the hole in the gymnasium's wall, breaking it apart even more.

"Well, guess the secret's out now," he muttered. He was tempted to run away as well. It would be so easy to lose himself in the crowd right now, just get away from this madness.

But he couldn't. If this giant hurt these people and he left…well, that was obviously on him. And it's not what his dad would do.

He died because of that philosophy, his brain reminded him.

Maybe. But Franklin couldn't dwell on that. Right now, all he could do was keep that thing distracted while everyone escaped. Unfortunately, it's attention was currently on all the fleeing people, turning away from him.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, looking for some way to regain its attention and finding a bench next to where he landed. With a heave, he ripped it out of the ground and threw it right at the stony giant. The bench struck the thing's head straight on and broke into a million pieces, the shattered wooden parts clattering back on the ground. But it did get the thing's attention as it now turned to face him. Franklin couldn't really tell from the expressionless face, but it looked pissed off.

"Yeah that's right, come over here! You stupid statue, come on! I think it's time for a little remodeling, don't you think?"

Every time the creature moved, the ground cracked a little underneath its feet. Franklin gulped and hoped Emily was faring better than he was.

The giant pulled its hand back and threw another punch at him but this time Franklin saw it coming and was able to dodge in time. Still, the shockwave caused him to stumble and almost fall.

"Why can't this all just be a bad dream?" he bemoaned, readying himself for the next strike.

"Take that!"

Franklin blinked as the second giant suddenly came crashing out of the gym to land on its back. Above it was a large, inflated fist that led back to Emily who landed on her feet.

"Ha! Told you I had this."

"Who the heck is this girl?" Franklin wondered aloud. But he didn't wonder long as his giant came back for another round, raising its fist up high again. "Oh come on, don't you get tired?"

Still, an idea popped into his head. A crazy, insane idea that probably wouldn't work. But seeing what Emily had done made him curious. And he was tired of this thing already.

"Alright stoner, bring it on!"

The giant brought its fist down and Franklin didn't leap away or dodge. Instead, he threw his own punch, pushing all his strength into the strike. As he did, he remembered when he did that at old Natworth's Gym against the punching bag, his dad coaching him. His dad had taught him the best way to move his body, the right angle to use, and how to distribute the power in his body. All that came rushing back to him as his fist met the giant's, the two clashing together and holding fast.

There was even a shockwave from the blow but Franklin didn't focus on that, struggling as he pushed back against the giant while it did its best to knock him down. He could feel his knuckles bruising, probably even breaking a little, but he kept pushing. He couldn't back down. Not like this. So he took a step forward. And another, and another, all the while pushing with his fist against the giant's. He could see the cracks forming around its own knuckles, growing across its hand and up its arm, pieces of it even splintering off.

One last push then. "YAAAHHHH!" Franklin roared, forcing himself to rush forward with all his remaining strength in his fist. The giant held steady for a split second before its own fist gave out, shattering apart, causing it to stumble.

But Franklin wasn't done yet. He used his forward momentum to rush through its guard to its unprotected side and lay out one last haymaker to its thigh. He had tried this before, wanting to tear apart its legs with his strength, but its skin had taken him by surprise. Now he was ready and he struck hard, cracking the thigh apart and causing most of it to crumble. The giant staggered before falling down onto the pavement.

"That's how it's done," he remarked, panting a little.

"Show off!"

He looked up to see Emily still dealing with her giant, her strategy currently being to hit it repeatedly with her overgrown fist. He moved to help her when he suddenly heard a laugh.

"Impressive!"

That voice. It made Franklin's insides go cold and caused a shiver to run up his spine. He slowly looked up until he saw the roof where a cloaked figure standing. It was hard to make out their identity but that eerie voice and the way they looked made it obvious. It had to be the masked man.

"Let's see how you fare now," he said and raised his hands.

Franklin heard it first, a cracking sound coming from all around him. He looked down and felt his breath freeze in horror as hands began shooting out of the earth. No, that wasn't quite right. They weren't coming out of the earth, they were the earth. It was like the ground itself given sentience, each limb made of rock and dirt. Then the arms began to heave upwards and more of the bodies pulled together until dozens of earthen golems appeared around him. They were each about half his size but there were too many to count and they each looked strong enough to punch through metal.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said. "Where's the damn police? Actually, where's the damn national guard? They're always looking for an excuse to get involved, well here it is."

But he honestly didn't think they would be much help. There was only one person he could think of and even he didn't seem like much help but he was all Franklin had. He reached for his phone but came up empty, a hollow feeling filling his chest.

"Ok, this might be a bit too much."

Emily suddenly appeared next to him, eyes wide as she took it all in. If it wasn't bad enough already, the two giants were still there and Franklin could see the one he'd been fighting was reforming its arm and leg. Just perfect. They could really use backup now.

"I do know someone who could help us," he said.

"Great, who?"

"My friend, Travis. One problem though. I lost my phone."

"Lovely," Emily nodded. "So how does that help us exactly?"

"I think it's somewhere in the gym. It must have fallen out of my hand when the giant punched me."

"Ok, here's the plan," Emily said as they kept backing away from the army shambling towards them. "I'll run back to the gym and get it, you hold off the newly formed Terra Cotta army."

"Why do I have to hold them off? It's my phone."

"Yeah, but judging from how you were fighting, your power is super strength which gives you a better chance of surviving against these guys."

"You were doing just fine on your own," Franklin argued. "And your crazy big fist knocked that giant down before I could even hurt mine."

"But you actually broke yours. I only stumbled mine."

Franklin opened his mouth to argue some more but nothing came out. He was out of excuses. Which meant he was stuck fighting the army. "Fine. Get it. But you so owe me!"

"Thanks, bye!"

A second later, she was gone, running as fast as she could back to the gym and leaving Franklin alone to fend off maybe fifty stone warriors all marching to him alongside the two big ones. He took a deep breath, hoping it would calm him, but at this point nothing would really help him. Even with his superpowers, he was vastly outmatched here. There was no way he'd be able to take these guys alone.

He glanced up to the roof but the masked man was gone, having evidently thought the stone army would do his job. Franklin honestly hadn't expected him to have this power. He'd only shown that weird metallic ability last night that gave him enhanced strength and allowed him to trap them all easily. He must have levelled up somehow.

At least the people were safe. Franklin couldn't hear the sounds of people running around, screaming anymore. He also didn't hear the sounds of sirens and he was pretty sure an attack on a school would get the police's attention. So where the hell were they? Though he should be a little glad they weren't here as he didn't think they'd do much against these guys.

But he could. He hated it with every bone in his body, stuck in an impossible situation with no viable option left but to fight. But, what else could he do. Like his mom said. There was a time for complaining and a time to get to work. And right now was the time to work.

Or else he'd die. At least that was good motivation.

"Alright, let's see how many I can take down," he said to himself before charging forward right into the horde. He threw a right hook, clocking the first figure across its head and sending it flying. He was surprised for a second at how powerful the blow was when he remembered that these a fraction of the size of the big ones. Still, judging from how it swiftly got back up, they were durable. Which just meant Franklin had to work harder.

He started punching as fast as he could, laying into as many around him as he could reach. He punched, turned, punched, twisted, and punched over and over. He smashed one's face in with a solid blow but only knocked another back with a glancing strike. He could see they were trying to swarm him so did his best to keep to the wide open spaces and pick off a few before running to the sides, all the while avoiding the big ones. They tried to get close several times but he was always able to avoid them and they did their best not to destroy their brethren, giving him some advantages.

He did get to use some cool moves that he'd only seen in movies like grabbing two of them and smashing their faces together. That had actually been more satisfactory than he'd thought. He'd also tried the Hulk clap thing with his hands together but all it had done was create a slightly large gust of wind that didn't even faze the stone figures.

"Damn Hollywood crap making shit up. Now I look like an idiot!"

He kept going, tossing one over his shoulder, kicking one away, punching straight through a third, ripping the head off another. It felt like he'd been fighting for hours though he knew it had only been a couple of minutes. Still, what the hell was taking Emily so long to find that phone?

A terrible thought struck him as he wondered if she had just abandoned him. Used the opportunity to run away and leave him like this.

He shook his head, dispelling the thought. He couldn't afford to think like that right now. Besides, he'd seen her personality. She was as competitive as they came. He didn't think she'd just run off like that without trying to even the score.

At least, he hoped not.

They were swarming him again and this time he was backed against a railing. Thinking fast, he grabbed the railing and ripped it out of the ground, flinging it directly into the ground with as much strength as he could muster. He blinked gratefully as it carved through a few of the figures and knocked down a bunch of others. That gave him an idea. But he would need something to hold onto. Something light enough to get a good swing from it but heavy enough to put more power behind it. Something like…

He glanced down at the stone warriors' solid feet.

Hmmm…

"Get over here!" he yelled, reaching down and grabbing the warrior's feet, lifting it up easily. "I've always wanted to say," he said, taking a second to revel in that. Then he started swinging.

With the first swing, he managed to knock three away and then two with his next one. He tried spinning next, turning in place for one constant swing that knocked back several of the figures and kept the others at bay, but he had to stop as he was quickly getting dizzy.

"Batter up!" he cried, another phrase he'd wanted to say, as he smashed into another stone figure. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the end of his weapon as it finally broke apart from the blow, falling in pieces to the ground.

"Right, which one of you is going to be my next toy?" he asked, already reaching.

He stopped so suddenly he had to grab onto one of the figures to keep his balance. He promptly beheaded it before looking down and hissed. More hands had come out of the earth but instead of turning into more soldiers, they were just grabbing onto his legs and holding him fast.

"Damn it!" He tried shaking loose but they had a pretty firm grip on him. He reached down and managed to break the first hand loose but as soon as he did, another popped up and grabbed onto his arm instead. "Gah!" he cried and yanked his arm loose but his other arm was grabbed as well as his leg. To make it worse, the figures were now surrounding him and judging from those heavy thudding sounds, the giants weren't far behind.

"Come on, come on, come on," he muttered, desperately trying to free himself. But for every hand he broke apart, two more literally took its place like that stupid hydra. "Stupid demon hands! This is not- whoa!" he yelped as the figures completely surrounded him. "Wait! No! No!"

But it was too late. They all practically collapsed on top of him, holding him down. He twisted around as much as he could, punching everything within reach. He could feel stone shattering beneath his fists but it didn't seem to be making any difference.

Come on Emily! he thought desperately. He really needed some help now.

But even as he thought that, he knew it wouldn't do any good. There was no way Travis would be able to help him now, not against these stone soldiers. His speed wouldn't even faze them. And Emily wouldn't be much help either. He was stuck.

At least he could still breathe. He didn't feel any pressing weight against his chest or anything. And even though the soldiers were pulling on his limbs, there wasn't any real strain. So he was fine.

Then he felt the ground go thud again and he remembered the giants. Great, he thought. So he really was about to die now. He'd gotten involved again, just like his dad, and now he would pay the price. He could already imagine his mom and sister's faces. Their lives shattered all over again. All because he went and played hero.

No! He couldn't let that happen. He refused to die, to leave them alone like that. He would not be his father.

"GAHH!" he roared, pulling with all his strength. He felt the soldiers push back but this time he didn't stop. He didn't hold back. He felt his muscles, his power itself straining, but he kept pushing. He couldn't let limits stop him right now. He wouldn't let his family down.

He felt the pressure against him begin to buckle and he kept it up. He was starting to feel the burn a little so doubled down even more, still roaring at the top of his lungs. Then he felt something snap and with one last heave, he threw all the stone soldiers aside, the mob flying off of him, looking like leaves in the wind before they came crashing back down.

Franklin managed to get his feet just in time to see the giants bearing down on him, ready to strike with their fists raising high. "Right," he said, raising his fists in turn. "You ready? Cause I could do this all-"

The first giant's head suddenly exploded in a blast of orange light. Franklin jumped back, watching for a second as it began to scramble a little, reaching for a head that wasn't there. Then another orange light came, blasting straight through its chest. Two more took out its legs and it finally collapsed.

The other giant turned to attack but before it could, a massive, glowing, indigo fist struck it right in the face and knocked it to the ground.

"Hello there." Franklin looked up and saw Gabriela standing above him with a tired grin. "Need a hand?"