"...and Mike and Jake want to come, too, so I told them they could, but only if they didn't bring their girlfriends, cause I swear, Tiffany is sooo annoying and—"

"Now, Cooper, that's not nice of you, I mean, if Jake likes her, then maybe you should—"

"No! No! No!" the little boy yelling interrupted Mom's and Cooper's conversation in a particularly high-pitched voice as he threw the bags of frozen vegetables out of the shopping cart. "It's raining eggs!" he sang, grabbing the box full of eggs, ready to drop them from his lifted arm.

"Blaine, sweetie, stop that already," Mom pledged forcing patience, hurrying to take the box from his youngest son's hand. She took him in her arms and took him away from the cart. She picked up the bags from the floor and sighed exhaustedly. "Cooper, please take your brother see the toys while I finish?"

Coop held his hand out to his brother's small hand and started walking away in the opposite direction, not sure in what aisle the toys were in a store where they constantly changed the location of their products.

Blaine was happy to leave the cart; a walk down the supermarket was always a very pleasant and enjoyablestroll and, honestly, he could use a break from all the evil-defeating.

"Look buddy, I still don't get why you hate vegetables so much. You should eat them more often 'cause I tell ya," he chuckled. "If you keep on eating so much candy you'll proba-"

Cooper froze and Blaine was pulled back by the sudden impulse.

"They... They hav—Oh my God," he walked slowly towards the shelves where, amidst all of his beloved products, there it was... "It's back," he choked, eyes wide and eyebrows wiggling. "Cover Boy Gel," he whimpered, taking the bottle of hair gel as though it was made of pure gold, begging him to be grabbed.

Blaine looked up at his amazed brother from a few steps behind, not really paying much attention. His eyes started to wander around the ceilings and walls and stacks of products, when something that had an odd aura caught his eye. He knew something was just not right.

A certain terrible image was at plain sight in the following corner. He ran towards it as close as he could, still staying at a prudent distance from it, and hid behind a shelf with a loud gasp. It seemed like it was an army of some sort since there were soldiers everywhere.

Blaine immediately knew that it was a job for Nightbird.

He went back a few aisles and held onto a blue towel, pulling it firmly from it to bring it down. Since he hadn't thought of bringing his costume; that would have to do. (Maybe he should start wearing it beneath all of his clothes like Superman, he realized)

Blaine tied the corners of the towel around his neck and hid behind it as he went back to what seemed like Doctor Soy Burger's headquarters. If he wanted to save all the innocent civilians there, he'd have to do this swiftly. However, he still needed a weapon. He spin in his place, scanning the place to find something he could use and—

"Yeah..." he nodded repeatedly and slowly with a triumphant smirk on his face.

He had little time, he was aware. He approached the corner into the danger zone, breathed deeply and repeated the plan inside his head one last time. He peeked again, this could only work if it was done properly. It was time.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" his war cry echoed in the whole place as he covered all the vegetables in the counter with chocolate fudge. These things weren't like Bob. They were manipulative and heartless. The only way to beat them was to drown them in an immeasurable amount of sugar and hope for the best. "Run! Run for your lives!" he exclaimed at the people surrounding him who were staring at him in complete shock. Probably amazed of his bravery, he was almost sure. It looked like they were prisoners, judging by the quantity of repulsive vegetables that they were grabbing with their bare hands... or at least that was what they thought. It was obvious the vegetables were forcing them to take them so they could land safely in their homes and attack at dinner time.

He was just about to get to the fruit section when he felt his feet lift from the ground. "Whaa..." the boy was confused, and turned his head to find a man in an all-red uniform holding him in the air.

---

Mom was trying to find the correct brand of bleach when something the voice from the speakers said caught her attention. Something about a boy waiting for his parents somewhere; and also something about urgency. Poor boy, she could only imagine how scared the little boy must've been, turning to his mother and finding her gone, probably just into the next aisle.

"Momomomomomompleasebuymethis," Cooper came running and begging and holding a bottle of that unnecessarily expensive hair gel between his hands. And completely Blaine-less.

"Cooper, where is your brother?" She asked in response, already knowing the answer and fear bubbling inside of her.

The boy's eyes opened wide like plates. "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh..."

"Coope-" Mom's beginning of a reprimand was interrupted by the male voice from the speakers.

"Dear customers, there is an unattended young boy waiting for his parents or tutors in thestore management office. Please come pick him up urgently," the man spelled the last word carefully, and Mom was sure she heard some unsettlingly familiar yelling in the back.

Seconds after the message finished, staring at the speaker, she lowered her glower at him, nostrils flaring.

Cooper was looking at her, eyes wide. He giggled nervously and after carefully placing the bottle in the cart, ran away towards the entrance of the grocery store as he heard his mother yell something at him that he didn't quite understand. It was probably a scold, anyways. And if she was telling him something about no Cover Boy Gel, then he really didn't want to hear it. He was having a really rough day as it was.

"LET GO OF NIGHTBIRD!" the four-year-old screamed as he shook violently in the grip of an exhausted –clearly running out of patience- employee. "I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU ALL! YOU'RE DOOMED WITHOUT ME!"

"For Christ's sakes, kid, what is wrong with you?" Cooper asked to himself as he reached the counter.

"Cooper! You must help me, there is a whole legion of vegetables about to attack, they're under the control of Dr. Soy Burger! Call Captain Oreo immediately!"

"Ummm... I'll just," Cooper extended his arms to the hateful employee holding Blaine to take him himself and hold him tightly. He undid with difficulty the knot in Blaine's neck as he kept on talking. "We'll just go away quietly, I promise this won't happen again, ever," he threw the towel against the counter and basically shouted the last words as he walked fast in direction to the main doors, and right before crossing them, he gestured car movements to his mom inside, trying to tell her that they'd be waiting for her, completely ignoring her fierce and persistent glare and running a hand dramatically through his hair, insisting on his need for the Cover Boy Hair Gel.

"Captain, what are you doing?!" Blaine couldn't understand what was going on, he tried to stop them by pressing his heels into the concrete floor of the parking lot. Didn't he want to save those people too?

"Great, now we will never be able to shop in this store ever again... and mom's gonna kill me," he realized, ignoring his younger brother. "Mom's gonna kill me slowly and painfully, enjoying the torture. Thanks, kid," Cooper sighed and tensed his jaw, just catching a small glimpse of what his life would become.

The older boy got to the car and sat Blaine on the hood since they didn't have the keys to get in.

Cooper started walking around in circles, thinking of a not-so-stupid excuse so he wouldn't get in trouble and muttering stuff to himself. After a few minutes, he looked up and found his little brother playing with his hands and looking down where he had left him. "Blainers..."

Blaine looked at him through his amazingly long eyelashes and Coop's heart broke in half.

"Look, kiddo. You shouldn't have done that," he started, sitting next to him and running a comforting hand up and down his brother's small back. "I know its fun and I bet those vegetables deserved it. But something bad could have happened to you while you were alone... Maybe we should keep our superhero and astoundingly good looking sidekick in the house... whatcha think? Or more of a secret, you know? A little more low profile," he emphasized.

"But..." Blaine complained, but he couldn't find a reason to. He nodded defeated and swung his tiny feet. "Okay..."

"I know it's sad," Cooper shrugged and pouted a bit. "But mom is taking some of those ugly vegetables home and someone has to bring them down. Do you think that is a mission for Nightbird?"

Blaine had looked up at him gleaming with a smile and expectant eyes. He brought his feet up and stood on the car. "And for Captain Oreo too!"

"Cool," he fist-bumped his brother and saw the excitement in him drain completely. He turned around to see his mom carrying too many bags and with a –more like so-not-happy- look on her face. Oh, boy, was he in trouble.