The Bully Buster

I glanced at my clock: 9:00 p.m. and counting. Time flies when you're reading a great book or two. After going through the oh-so-necessary teeth brushing and hair combing, I climbed into bed and began to think, one of my favorite pastimes. While I lay on my soft, cushy mattress, I descended into a surreal world of awe-inspiring wonder: the big city…

There I am, walking down the street, just another average, ordinary Joe heading to work. Suddenly, I hear a scream. No, that's not quite accurate; it's more of a shriek, like the noise a little girl makes when she loses her favorite toy or wants her parents to buy the whole department store. I notice the reverberations in the sidewalk, the very ground shaking around me. Glasses shatter, cars rattle, light poles snap in two. The entire city street is damaged by the shockwaves caused by none other than the Howling Hazer, my archenemy! He's clad in green-and-purple garb with no mask to hide his face. Hazer is so powerful that he doesn't worry about a secret identity, so all the world knows that he is truly...Freddy Brown! I slip into an alley and duck behind a dumpster, ripping off my civilian attire to reveal the colorful, dramatic costume of the Bully Buster! Hazer begins to shout: "There ain't none o' you strong enough to fight me. I'm the best there is!" "No, you're thinking of some other guy who's the best at what he does. You're just a chump!" I shout in an over-the-top superhero voice. Hazer sneers, "Well, well, if it ain't the brainless boy scout himself. I been waitin' for this some time, punk." Wasting no time with words, I whip out a net gun and fire it at Hazer. He effortlessly tears the net apart with his bare hands before jumping forward, picking up a car, and hurling it at me with immense force. I throw down a smoke bomb and step out of range. There's the sound of the car crashing on the ground in front of me as Hazer confidently begins to search for where he assumes my unconscious form lies. Fortunately, I'm completely unharmed and still full of fighting spirit. I circle behind my foe, shoot out a grapple gun, wrap Hazer's legs up, and hang him upside down from a light pole. He growls, then snaps through the steel cable with his feet and lands on the sidewalk with a thud! Without batting an eye, I throw a gas grenade at his feet, blinding him with chemicals and sending him into a rage. He charges through the gas cloud, blindly hoping to connect with a powerful blow and send me flying through a wall. I calmly sidestep him at the last moment and kick me foot out to the side, nailing him in the kidney. He doubles over in pain, but I'm not done yet. With a truly epic uppercut, I knock the Howling Hazer across the city, his senseless body flying far over all of the buildings. Everyone starts to cheer. Without a doubt, I am the hero of the hour. Before I can blink, I'm surrounded by a crowd of merry bystanders who want to touch my utility belt and feel my phenomenal muscles. However, only one spectator leaves an impression: Page. The crowd parts as she walks up to me, admiration in her eyes. Superhero that I am, I still can't help being stunned. She reaches up and puts her hand on my shoulder, smiling all the time. "Doesn’t the hero always get the girl?" she asked, gazing into my eyes. Ignoring the clichéd dialogue, I lean in to make my move. We're just inches apart, and my dreams are about to come true-- I sat up in bed. My dreams, my fantasies, my delusions, were just that—make-believe. Lying back down with a sigh, I shut my eyes and thought, Can I make this real?