1 The Great Disappearance

August, 13th, 2017

It was so sudden-

I never would have known that one person could cause so much terror alone-

My name is Oliver Peddleton, My story begins when I was seventeen.

I was recruited into a military program based on my skill and knowledge in high school. I was put onto a team of three that we called Double A Batteries, I guess we never learned the actual name of the program but thats not the point.

There were two other people I was with, they later became my two best friends, Andrew was given the nickname of speedster since he had super-speed and Amir was known as Colossus as he piloted a mech, as for me, I was given a Holo-shield and given the name Defender, I didn't want to be a shield hero but I ended up working with it.

I was living a happy life in the military program, I was given a education and a place to live for a while and later down the road my teammates and I even met the most famous hero ever, Killerpatty the Fifth. Killerpatty in basic terms is a giant hamburger with human emotions.

It surprised the world to learn that there was an undiscovered island near the United Federation's East Coast that was inhabited with what people call Food people, they were a modern civilization and surprisingly when we met them, they didn't have a appetite to eat humans as my friend speedster tried to warn us about. Food People don't taste good eaten, don't ask how I know. Basically they taste bland as hell, not even salt will make it taste any good.

Months after having a good ol' time with the Food People, a disaster of some sorts was happening. It's widely known by many people as the Great Disappearance, when it struck Food People began to get beamed up and seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth, was it aliens? I have no clue, many people thought it was the end of humanity too but it was later discovered that the disaster only affected ninety percent of all food people but that didn't stop panic from spreading beforehand, no one knew what was happening, not even I knew what was happening, this is where my story begins.

Vroom! The engine sounded louder and louder as I floored the gas pedal,

"This is Oliver Peddleton, Killerpatty if you can hear this please respond back!", I yelled out the same sentence for the fifth time now through my ham radio, I was starting to get pissed off by now, "Why isn't he responding?! Some mysterious disaster is happening and the world's greatest hero can't even respond to a important call?!"

I told myself in a aggravated tone, later on I would find out that Killerpatty was one of the victims of the Great disappearance.

I tuned the radio into a channel that I knew Speedster was on, "Speedster, are you there over?" I said into the mic, things stayed strangely quiet for a bit but luckily I got a response, "Hear ya loud and clear, Defender." He said to me.

I was relieved thinking something bad happened to them too, "Listen closely man, I tried calling Killerpatty but I haven't had any luck, you got any clue as to where he is and what's going on right now?" I asked Speedster hoping for a solid answer but I got a answer I was kind of expecting, "No clue man, I've tried contacting him myself but to no avail either, right now Colossus and I are helping people seek safety as fast as possible." Speedster told me, "Damn." I thought to myself, "Alright, Im close to your current location, I'll be there soon." I said to him, as I was about to turn off the radio I could hear a gunshot come out of the speakers, I heard a voice scream in pain as the microphone on the other side was dropped.

"Speedster are you alright?!" I yelled at him hoping to get a response, I could hear the mic get shuffled around almost like someone was picking it up, "hmm, for a guy with super-speed he couldn't dodge a bullet, what a pathetic excuse for a hero." I hear a unfamiliar scratchy voice on the other side, "hello there!" The murderer responded to me, "I know you're listening, you're probably wondering what just happened, don't worry kiddo your friends are just a little bit dead at the moment." The murderer jokingly said to me.

I couldn't say anything, I was in a state of shock "yep had to put them down like a dog, consider yourself lucky that you weren't on the scene kid, probably would've had a far more gruesome and torturous death if you were hear just to show everyone how weak heroes can be." The voice said to me, I was beginning to feel sick, my thoughts were racing every moment I heard this guy on the radio, "why don't you turn back and go home defender... or should I say Oliver Peddleton." My heart sank to my stomach as the voice continued to talk, "and on the way back make sure to remember the name Grin Scurvy." Grin Scurvy said to me, "bye bye... kiddo." he said as he shut the radio off.

I stopped my car, I needed to think... but i couldn't, my mind was racing too much, I just sat there in my car staring into space, everything this Grin Scurvy said must have been a really believable prank... right? I sat there... on the verge of tears. Sadly, everything I heard was true.

I ultimately decided to drive to the last location Speedster and Colossus were at. When I pulled up to the bridge I was horrified to see what happened, everyone was dead. Bodies were laid all across the bridge and I could see clearly Speedster and Colossus' bodies hanging from the bridge, I wanted to throw up from the grizzly sight.

So many dead and it was all caused by one man, I knew I had to do something but I didn't know what. I needed to rest, I needed time to myself after seeing what happened. No hero should be tormented like I was.