Stephen sat down across the table from John.
"You look rough, Stephen!” Stephen could always count on John to be brutally honest with him. He wasn't trying to be mean, he was just very direct.
“Yeah, I haven't slept well the last few nights,” Stephen said with a heavy sigh.
“Now, why is that, soldier?” (John, who was a few more years older than Stephen was able to get away with calling Stephen "soldier", even though he did not like it very much.)
“I don't know. I’ve been thinking a lot about,” he paused and looked around, “You know, Sprocket Man. I’ve just been thinking a lot about how things could have gone differently.”
John’s eyes suddenly became sad, "I understand, Stephen. That is a thought that a lot of us old-timers have. At least you faded into obscurity, my retirement came after a scandal!
John did not talk about it much, but he had been forced into retirement from superhero work for three main reasons: First, his alter ego was overtly patriotic, which fell out of favor in recent times. Second, John had a nifty device called a Curvoscope which allowed him to see anywhere he wanted. This proved to be very problematic and led to some outlandish accusations. Third, Captain Courageous was gaining popularity and being another superhero with the name “Captain" made John seem like a cheap knockoff, even though he had come first.
“I feel trapped, John. I love working with my daughter, but everyday, as I fix bicycles, I wonder if I could be doing something that would actually make a difference in people's lives.
John pulled in a sharp breath, "Are you saying you want to get back into the game? We aren't as young as we used to be-“
Stephen quickly responded, "I don’t know what I want. All I know is that I feel like I have no purpose. And even if I did decide to get back into superheroing how would I have any room to operate? Captain Courageous seems to be everywhere, and he actually has superpowers!”
John grimaced at the mention of Captain Courageous’ name.
"Speaking of Captain Courageous,” John said as he lowered his voice, “The rumor is that he is selling out, I’ve heard that he might ink a deal with Nile Inc.”
“The shipping and delivery company?”
John nodded, “He could make millions!”
Stephen didn’t know what to think about all of that, but there was one thing he knew, one thing that kept burning inside of him: he wanted to make a difference in his community but he did not know how.
After an hour more of conversation Stephen and John went about their separate ways. It had been good to catch up with his friend, but now Stephen felt more lost than ever before.
Are you lost? Are you wondering how we got here? Go ahead and read chapters 1, 2, and 3.