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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 8 months

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Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 4

Episode 19: Danger Things

~Henry's House~

Ah, Halloween. The season for all things spooky, creepy and a little bit weird, and this year was gonna be no different.

Henry had good memories of the holiday; ever since he was a little kid, he loved the candy, the costumes, the going out with his friends to throw eggs at snooty people's houses, but in recent years, things had been just a bit more special. No one could forget the first year he spent in the Man Cave and ever since then, he'd discovered that the "adults" there were as much of a sucker for Halloween as he was.

That year had been a good year, way back when Jasper tried to pretend to be Kid Danger for a girl who moved out of town three months later, but some good did come out of that crazy night and it was just his epic zombie tennis player 'stume. No, that was the night when Ray practically had a heart attack when (y/n) decided to be a superhero and went on her first "mission". Sure, Jeff wasn't exactly a difficult arrest but in some ways, that evening had been a twist of fate, some kind of weird premonition about what was to come, her destined path to the superhero's path, but that was her and Ray all over.

Those two were star-crossed in every way and were no doubt gonna be all over each other tonight considering that ever since that first confession, they'd taken to seizing every opportunity because for years they'd pushed away what was meant to be and had insisted that their fates lied elsewhere. Not anymore though, and Henry would be off to seem the Man Cave's hottest couple, and Schwoz, and Jasper, and Charlotte presently, just as soon as he finished this damn Jack-o'-lantern for Ray.

"Halloween, Halloween, Ha-allo-ween... Oh, what fun it is to shave a werewolf till he's clean, hey!" The boy sang halfheartedly as he sneakily used his laser to carve into the orange flesh. And this wasn't just a bog-standard, run-of-the-mill pumpkin, no, no, this was a special order, placed by Ray because Henry had some serious carving skills and the hero had a serious ego.

As per his instructions, the kid had spent all afternoon chipping away bits of pumpkin until his boss's face was illuminating the darkness around him. And adding a brown wig from Junk-N-Stuff just completed the wacky look and the kid was proud of his work, he just didn't know why Ray would want such a thing, well, apart from waning to be vain and have his finacé coo over how handsome he was. Just wait until (y/n) saw this...

"This pumpkin looks goooood!" Henry exclaimed as he referenced his work to the large, blown-up photo of Ray that the man himself had so graciously given him so he'd know what perfection was. Yeah, he'd done a pretty good job, it looked identical to the photo, but nothing would make the weirdness go away, he just hoped that his boss would be pleased with his services.

However, the only people who couldn't see his work and adore it were his parents and luckily for him, they just so happened to walk through the door, like God hated him and wanted them to find out what he was up to or something.

Reacting quickly, he threw his laser into the plant pots and turned the pumpkin around so they'd assume that he was just hacking at some regular lantern, nothing special to see here. God, how would he explain the precision of his cutting or why his boss needed to see his face all lit up? Quite simply, he wouldn't be able to.

"Hey! Sweet 'stumes! Let me guess, don't tell me...you are people who just got bitten by zombies but haven't turned into zombies yet." Henry grinned at his parents like nothing was wrong and automatically assumed that they were just gearing up for a night of spookiness and splendour like he was. Maybe their costumes were boring but hey, they were old, he could overlook it.

"We're not wearing 'stumes. We're leaving!" Mrs Hart exclaimed, not wanting to know what her son was up to since her night was gonna be pretty eventful by all accounts. Well, it would be if she and her husband ever left the house. It was probably not a good idea to leave her son in charge of the house, even if he was quite mature in some ways, but she couldn't find a housesitter now and not one that she liked enough to pay. She'd have to find one later.

"Like...forever?" Her son's tone was confusing as if he was torn between being sad and excited. On one hand, he had the prospect of being free from nagging parents, pressure about school progress and having to keep his room tidy. But then again, on the other hand, he'd have no money, he'd have to get a job and he'd be forced to cohabit with Piper with no backup for the rest of his days. Okay, that sounded sucky, he didn't want mommy and daddy to go...

"No, that would be ridiculous." And for once, Henry was relieved by what his father had to say. No more panicking about being stuck with his sister for the rest of eternity for him.

"We're spending the night at a haunted house because my rich uncle just died! And, whoever can stay the entire night at Hackney Manor will get his inheritance."

"Uncle Jimmy died?!" Well, for the kid, the news of such a tragic passing in the family wasn't a cause for clapping his hands together in delight like it was for his mother. Damn, he liked that kooky old guy, why did it have to be a free-for-all just because he was a gazillionaire or something?

"I know...so sad." Mrs Hart was quick to change her tune when she realised that she was being unduly chirpy about a recently deceased man, but as always, her husband was less tactful and less willing to hide his excitement. Jeez, you'd think he'd want to seem mournful and shocked by his uncle's death, y'know, show a little decorum, but nope. He just wanted a fat wad.

"Focus, Henry! I'm about to inherit a fortune!" Jake giggled gleefully, prompting his wife to do an excited jig as she couldn't contain it anymore and they quickly made a beeline for the car, not that Henry was gonna let them slip away so easily.

"Uh, okay, well, hang on a second, hang on a second, whoa, whoa, whoa! Who's gonna watch Piper while you're gone?" He asked. Just because his sister thought she could look after herself didn't mean that they were gonna let that happen. She was still a child, still young and full of mischief and Mr and Mrs Hart knew all too well about what she could get up to whilst they weren't around. But they couldn't miss this opportunity to get rich quick, and that's why they'd come up with a solution in planning.

"You are!"

"What?! No, no, no, no, no, I can't watch Piper tonight." Henry was quick to dismiss the idea for several reasons, numerous of which he couldn't tell his parents. First off, he'd rather carve out his eyeballs with a rusty spoon than spend the night being verbally abused by his pipsqueak sister.

Secondly, this was meant to be his night for fun; Halloween at "work" with his friends, hanging out, getting candy, staying up to see the sunset and that wouldn't happen with Piper, not that he could tell them that. So, he decided to bend the truth a bit, make it seem a bit less superhero-ish since he couldn't tell them that Captain Man had ordered a pumpkin of his face and was expecting its delivery promptly.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm supposed to go trick-or-treating with Charlotte and Jasper. Okay, we're going as funny exterminators from a very famous movie." Henry gestured to his costume and instantly his parents knew which movie, but that didn't matter, nor did it matter that he already had plans. Going out with Charlotte and Jasper was only part of the fun, no doubt (y/n) and Ray would have something to do as well and he didn't want to be the jerk that bailed on that, but his mom and dad were firm.

"Well, young man, you should've thought about that before Uncle Jimmy died!"

"What?!" Henry couldn't believe what utter bullshit he was hearing. How was he supposed to make plans around an entirely unpredictable event? If he had known that one of his loved ones was about to pass away then maybe he wouldn't have "double-booked" himself and he was almost about to scream that in their faces until someone beat him to it.

From inside the house, there was a piercing scream and the unmistakable shrill of it made it undoubtedly Piper, who was probably overreacting over something not that deep. Still, no one wanted to face her fury even if there was an emergency going on and Mrs Harts was eyeing up her exit route.

"Ooh, Piper sounds mad. Better go see what she wants!"

"Bye!" And with that, Mr and Mrs Hart were scampering away from their bewildered son with their luggage trailing behind them. That was not fair, they got to go off galavanting for a fortune, whilst Henry had to face a lipgloss-wearing dragon with nothing to protect him other than the measly excuse that siblings don't hurt siblings. Like that old chestnut would ever work...

"Yeah, great parenting! That was sarcastic..." He yelled after them, receiving nothing but a car horn honk for his trouble. Piper was their daughter, why couldn't they tackle her wrath? No, no, he was a superhero's sidekick, he could do this. It was just a matter of being a calm, kind older brother and sorting out whatever she needed. Then, he could go and enjoy All Hallows' Eve with his friends.

"Piper?" He called out as he entered the house, knowing he'd regret it soon but still he persevered. The second scream didn't give him much hope, but the girl wasn't being secretive, almost immediately giving up her location, so how bad could it be?

"I'm under the table..." Piper responded in a frightful tone and not using the brain cells he'd been blessed with, Henry, in a moment of stupidity, peered under the coffee table as if Piper could fit under there and even if she could, he would've noticed her the minute he walked in anyway. What a moron...

"The kitchen table!" She snapped at him when he failed to find her and suddenly, Henry felt a bit dumb. Right, right, those were her legs and judging by her kooky clothes, she was in her 'stume, so he couldn't for the life of him work out what was wrong with her or why she felt the need to duck under there to find comfort. She couldn't be scared, Piper was never scared, so what was it?

"Oh, right...well, uh, why are you under the table?"

"I messed up my hair!" Oh, that made sense. There was one thing Piper was scared of, now that he thought about it, and that was what other people thought about her. Her image was everything, she had followers to impress, friends to pretend to like, parties to go to, and she always had to feel confident and look good, but Henry was sure that it couldn't be that bad. Maybe she'd just over-teased it or used the wrong shampoo or something, surely, whatever had happened, it didn't warrant sitting under the table.

"Okay, come on, Piper, I'm sure it's not that--oh my god, what happened to your hair?!" And the supportive brother bit went flying out the window. Henry gasped and recoiled at the utter shambles that was Piper's hair, or what was left of it. For some bizarre, unknown reason, she'd cut ninety per cent of it off, leaving her with a buzzcut that on second thought, didn't look terrible, but it was a far cry from the long honey-brown curls she normally rocked.

"I tried to trim my hair just a little bit so I could be this Fresno Girl Doll for Halloween." The girl started to explain, gesturing to one of her favourite dollies, which had long, silky blonde hair, nothing like whatever Piper had done to hers. It was a shame really because she would've ended up looking quite nice had she cut her hair properly, but it was too little, too late for that kind of thinking.

"That would've been a sweet 'stume..."

"But after I trimmed it, I noticed that the right side was a little bit longer than the left side, so I trimmed a little off the right. But I trimmed too much, so then I tried to even it out on the left side but I trimmed too much again and it just kept happening!" She explained with remorse and desperation written all over her face. It was understandable that she wanted to go back in time to stop herself before she picked up those damn scissors, but that wasn't how life worked. She'd just have to wait until her hair grew out again.

"At least it's even." Yeah, Henry wasn't gonna be getting pats on the back for that line; more like rubbing salt in the wound than offering healing words of support.

"I look terrible! And my hair was one of my fifty best qualities!" Piper pointed out and on the plus side, at least she knew her worth, on the downside, Henry could see that this had severely knocked her confidence.

Hmmm, what to do? Well, the first thing to do would be to answer Charlotte, who was trying to call him on the cool walkie-talkie that the Man Cave team had all bought, thinking that it would be a cool addition to their costumes since most of them were dressed up as people who'd plausibly use the devices.

"Henry, this is Charlotte. Do you copy? This is a code-red, repeat, code-red!" The teen's voice came over the walkie-talkie and Piper fell silent as Henry went to answer the call since "code-red" sounded like it was something serious. The clever girl was back in the Man Cave, babysitting Ray as (y/n) changed into her "surprise costume", which she promised to be both adorable and weird, so there was no peeking from the man until she was good and ready. That left him begrudgingly in Charlotte's stead until she returned to kiss the pout off his handsome face.

"Hey, Charlotte! It's Henry..."

"You have to come to work right now! Code-red..." Charlotte told him, airing on the side of caution and not saying too much since she wasn't sure who was listening in apart from the obvious suspects already tuned into this frequency. Plus, she knew that talking about serious stuff was risky when anyone could overhear what was being said on the walkie-talkies, so it was just better if Hery got his ass over to the store, which would be easier said than done with Piper in tow.

"Copy. Hey, come on, we gotta go to Junk-N-Stuff."

"Code-red! I repeat, code-red!" Charlotte stressed as Henry stood up from kneeling next to Piper. Right, he needed to move if it was so important that she wouldn't drop it, but Piper was determined to stay in the house for the next six months or however long it took until her hair was at a normal length again.

"Yeah, got it. Code-red, we are on our way--come on, let's go!" Henry reached for Piper's elbow, hoping he could drag her out of the house without much fuss, but that was wishful thinking. Of course, his sister wasn't going to go quietly or go at all, she felt hideous and wanted something to cover what wasn't on her head and walking through the streets to that stupid store, in front of everyone who was trick-or-treating, wasn't gonna make her feel any better.

"No! I'm not going out of the house with my hair like this!" She stated firmly, causing Henry to sigh at how she didn't get the urgency of what Charlotte had just said.

"But I gotta go. You heard Charlotte, it's a code-red!"

"It's a code-red!" That had to be proof enough to move her butt. Something serious was going down, he didn't know if it was a silly emergency, such as (y/n)'s mystery costume, or a genuine emergency, such as something that required his services as Kid Danger. He just didn't know and that worried him, so they needed to leave and it's not like people would say stuff about Piper's hair or lack thereof. And if they did, they were the evil, mean ones, so who cares?

"And mom and dad said I have to watch your while they're gone, so let's go!" He made another excellent point; he was the boss in the absence of their parents and he wasn't gonna leave his sister alone to get kidnapped, hurt or killed by some terrible disaster, that would leave him grounded for the rest of his life. But Piper wasn't listening.

"I said, I'm not leaving!"

"Okay, hey, hey, look. There's uh, there's wigs at Junk-N-Stuff, right? We'll go to Junk-N-Stuff, get you a wig and you'll look exactly like that creepy doll. Let's go." Henry proposed and to Piper, the majority of it sounded pretty good. A wig didn't sound bad, not on the night of the year when it was socially acceptable to wear fake hair that looked nothing like your own. Yeah, no one would notice, her brother had said something smart for once, right up until he insulted her beloved Fresno Girl Doll.

"She's not creepy! She's beautiful! She's a Fresno Ten!" Piper bit back, stroking the doll's head like it had gotten upset by Henry's mean words, but honestly, he didn't care. The doll was creepy, similar to the kind he'd seen in horror movies when the eyes blinked by themselves or its head did a three-sixty. All he wanted to know was whether they had some realistic wigs in stock at Junk-N-Stuff.

"Hey, Charlotte, we have wigs at Junk-N-Stuff, right?"

"Yeah, we got wigs. I'm wearing a wig right now." However, the reply that came did not sound like his female friend's light, high-pitched tone. Instead, it was deep and easily recognised as his other friend, who'd been listening in the whole time and only chosen that moment to butt in since he was the official shopkeeper of Junk-N-Stuff. No matter if it was (y/n) and very occasionally Ray who did the stocktaking, he wanted to be the one who got the pride from the job.

"Jasper? Have you been listening?" Of course, it was him. Henry knew that voice anywhere and knew that he had a walkie-talkie too, he just didn't expect to hear him when having a "private" convo with Charlotte.

"Of course, I have. I heard Charlotte say it was a code-red."

"It is a code-red." The girl kept saying it, so it was inevitable that Jasper's attention would be piqued, but at least he was eavesdropping for a good reason. He might not be a superhero, but Jasper was still part of the team and if he was concerned too then it was all the more reason for Henry to get going.

"See? We'll go to Junk-N-Stuff, we'll get you a wig and everything will be just fine." Henry soothed Piper and reluctantly, she began to follow him, praying that all the kids and their parents had decided to start knocking on doors a little later this year. However, before they could leave, Jasper had a dumb question, which slowed them down even more.

"Why can't you just stay home with your parents?"

"They're gone! Okay, my dad's rich uncle died and now, he's staying overnight at this haunted mansion in order to claim the inheritance." Henry clarified as briefly as he could but the news came as a shock to Piper, who much like him, hadn't expected to hear such news in such an uncaring manner. Oh well, she'd get over it, he certainly did.

"Uncle Jimmy died?!"

"Focus, it's a code-red, Piper!" He told her firmly, wishing that people would stop interrupting him so they could actually get out of the house but then, someone else wanted to say something and for them, this interruption carried a highly important reminder.

"Hey, bring that pumpkin with my face on it." Ray's voice crackled to life over the frequency and for Henry, it was just another confusing thing to add to the pile. He definitely wasn't expecting to hear his boss, but he wouldn't forget the pumpkin now, especially when he guessed that the entire damn Man Cave had chosen to tune in to what was happening around him.

"Ray?"

"That's right." Dang it, this is why he shouldn't be left alone without (y/n)-supervision. He got weird and invasive, although little did he know, the smart ones had also taken a few liberties, which was surprising but come on. They were human too, plus, the woman in question had some inside knowledge to impart.

"Okay, is everybody on this channel?"

"Noooo..." Ugh, Schwoz too? Seriously? Why did he have to listen in? What purpose was he serving right now? Apart from being annoying, there was nothing, and Henry figured that it was best to leave the radio-ing before he was kept at his house all night but...

"By that he means yes. We are all listening and yes, we do have wigs at Junk-N-Stuff, we had a delivery last week." (y/n)'s gentle was added to the mix as she tuned in from her seat at her vanity unit, finishing the last of her makeup and adjusting her costume before going out to show her friends. She was particularly proud of this one just because of how funny it was, plus, it had just enough skin showing to satisfy her need to make her lover drool without being too conspicuous in front of several teens.

"(y/n)? You too?" Henry groaned, throwing his head back in frustration but at least with this one, Piper didn't mind too much. After all, she liked (y/n), she liked her a lot, and the same could be said for Ray, who was also happy to hear the melodious voice in his ears after going a whole hour of staying put. Seriously, it had taken him fifteen minutes to put on his hot sheriff's costume and rub a bit of bronzer onto his stubble to accentuate it, what was taking his sweet girl so long?

"Sweet girl, you ready to come out yet? I'm bored..." The man grumbled into his walkie-talkie, earning a glare from Charlotte as she sat across from him at the super-computer. All he had for entertainment was a dumb bowl of popcorn and the goddamn news, no lips to kiss or hair to stroke and certainly no hips to admire and run his hands over. Where was she? His neediness was killing him...

"Patience, sweetheart. I'll be out when Henry gets here..." The woman's smirk was evident in her voice, full of teasing since she knew exactly how her doofus was feeling and figured that he could wait for a little longer until the kid got here. It would all add to the effect and she was hoping that he liked what she'd bought, even if it was one of the weirdest 'stumes in the shop, but then again, if it showed her legs, boobs and hips off, then he'd like it.

"Ugh! Henry, get here right now!" Ray snapped impatiently, feeling the exact opposite of what his girl had said. Screw that virtue, he was feeling much more sinful and was eagerly anticipating what she was wearing. If it was anything like what she'd worn on Halloween a few years ago, or if it had the same effect, then he'd be drooling all night long.

"Dude!" Henry exclaimed exasperatedly. Honestly, didn't he see that that's what he'd been trying to do for the past five minutes?

~Fifteen minutes later~

The whole dropping Piper off with Jasper for her wig-fitting thing had gone smoothly, thank God. Frankly, the girl couldn't get into the shop or under the false strands quick enough since she felt the eyes of every child, teen, man and woman burning into her exposed scalp as she walked through the streets of Swellview and the way she saw it was the sooner she had a Fresno-esque wig on her head, the better.

And that left Henry to freely head down to Junk-N-Stuff in the elevator, his Ray lantern tucked safely into his arms with the brown hair and candle inside to boot. He still had no idea why there was such a big rush for him to get into the Man Cave, save for the pumpkin and the still yet to be revealed costume but here he was, ready to be wowed and/or informed.

"All right, let's make this quick. Piper's upstairs with Jasper, trying on wigs." He announced to Charlotte and Ray as he stepped out of the elevator and Ray, complete in all of his hot sheriff's uniform, which had (y/n) slavering from the moment he put it on. Seriously, she might have discovered that she had a thing for doofuses in uniform, but that was just gonna be kept between them.

"First thing first, show me my face-o'-lantern!" The man instructed his sidekick, who happily presented his work to his boss. Well, the kid had lived up to his carving reputation, Ray was thoroughly impressed and if he wasn't already deeply in love with the sweetest girl on the planet then he might have fallen for his own face because daaaaamn.

"Here you go, man." Henry grinned and handed the heavy pumpkin over, happy to see Ray so satisfied with what had taken him hours in his backyard under the highest secrecy. He'd lost blood, sweat and tears to make that thing but damn, it was a thing of beauty.

"Ah, yes. I am handsome..." He smirked at the kid, who rolled his eyes at the egotistical comment but didn't say anything. It was just expected from the man now, he jumped at any opportunity to remind everyone that his chiselled jaw and crystal blue eyes had earned him trophies and as usual, the job of confirming it fell to the person who appreciated it more than anyone.

"You'll get no arguing from me on that one but I still can't believe you got Henry to make you that thing." (y/n)'s voice came from the top of the stairs as she exited from the sprocket, a soft smile on her face from hearing every word that her doofus had said upon receiving the lantern, which she thought was a bit stupid considering that it was a masterpiece destined to rot, but whatever. She was more interested in admiring how she wouldn't say no to bumping into Sheriff Manchester in the middle of the woods, and Ray's thoughts weren't too far from that...

Okay, maybe they were a bit different, mainly because (y/n) hadn't opted for what most girls would. She wasn't a stereotypical Barbie-bitten-by-a-zombie girl or a Playboy bunny or a school girl or a witch or a nurse or E.T under a bedsheet, she'd picked the most ludicrous yet cutest thing she could find, the costume that she was sure was shunned by most girls, but saying that, she wasn't most girls.

She was a goldfish. A cute yet oddly attractive in the weirdest way goldfish. Don't ask why or how she'd bought a goldfish costume but she loved it in its entirety, from the peculiar headband to the flouncy skirt to the neon orange heels. She wasn't sure why a goldfish would wear heels but she wore them anyway and had painted her eyelids a vibrant copper to match, her lips a deep scarlet to make them pop. It was crazy but Ray instantly fell in love with it too.

*you have no idea how long i've been saving this. isn't it cute in a weird way?*

"What are you?" And Henry spoiled the mood. Ugh, Charlotte could see what she was, well, to be fair, she'd been told in advance. Being the woman's maid of honour carried its hidden benefits, such as being privy to what the woman was planning on wearing for Halloween. And with that knowledge, she could see that she definitely was a goldfish, but on second thought, she could understand the confusion. It was quite a singular idea.

"Duh! I'm a goldfish! Look, I have scaley, fin...things." The woman poked at the voile tassels that were secured around her arms, which she assumed were supposed to imitate elegant fins that floated in the water as the fish swam.

Oh well, she wasn't out to impress Henry, even if she did compliment him on a job well done for his, Charlotte and Jasper's trio-inspired 'stume, a throwback to her childhood by all accounts. No, the man in front of him was who she was trying to entice and one long raking of his eyes down her body and a gulp of his throat told her everything. Ray liked it. Success.

"What do you think, Ray?"

"You look adorable, sweet girl...or should I say my sweet goldfish." He smiled as she walked over to him from the sprocket, expertly dodging the fake cobwebs she'd stretched across the place to make things look spooky. Her grin was wider though as one hand landed on her waist to bring her closer, although not as close as she'd prefer since she was sharing her doofus with a pumpkin. Still, kisses were still possible, right? Yeah...

"Well, the description on the packaging says that it's meant to be weird, cute and hot all rolled into one and I think that sums me up perfectly." (y/n) joked as her arms went around his neck to pull his lips down to hers, an action that Ray gratefully threw himself into after going without for a full sixty minutes. The man couldn't survive on no kisses, not when he was addicted to the sugar rush for the rest of his life.

"Definitely look hot to me..." Ray murmured against her lips, careful to not drop his beloved pumpkin, despite how hard it was to focus his mind on anything that wasn't his sweet girl's kiss or the flashes of her costume in his mind. Did he dare tell her that she couldn't have chosen better because this showed off everything he adored about her? Her body, her personality, how different she was to every other girl who'd stumbled across his path before it crossed with hers? Hell yeah, he did...well, until Henry rudely interrupted.

"Seriously? You guys are the grossest people I know..." Henry complained, his nose screwed up, which earned him an amused huff from Charlotte. Yeah, he didn't mean that, well, he did but at the same time, everyone knew that figuratively, he was cheering them on at every given opportunity. If there was ever a demonstration of those two's relationship, he'd be there with a foam finger, a banner and a horn just to prove how much he wanted them to stay together forever. The kid just wasn't good at showing it.

"Anyray..." The hero cleared his throat as he pulled back from the kiss before it could get any more passionate because that only led to one thing and (y/n) wasn't ready to sacrifice her makeup yet. However, there was one thing niggling at her and it was the goddamn new thing that Ray had going on, his new catchphrase, speech pattern, funny, little, annoying, ego thing.

"Do you have to say that?" She groaned, flopping her forehead onto his chest as he smirked at her reaction. He only did it to wind her up, normally it resulted in her kissing him to shut him up or something equally irresistible, so he kept doing it, much to her chagrin. For (y/n), it sounded so...cheesy, so big-headed and she put up with a lot of that when it came to her doofus, but there were two pet peeves that she attached to the man.

His incessant naming of everything to include "Man" somewhere in the title and this that he'd started doing. "Anyray" was just the start, he'd come up with new things later, mark her words.

"Anyray...Charlotte's worried about a bunch of missing dogs or something." Ray moved on, ensuring that he stressed the first word to make his girl screw up her nose cutely. With his heart melting at the sight, he dropped a kiss on her hairline, but when the girl replied, (y/n) became infinitely more worried because as usual, Ray had the story wrong.

"What? It's not a bunch of missing dogs, it's a bunch of missing kids!" Charlotte corrected sharply, causing (y/n)'s head to snap from her direction to Ray's, a serious look in her eye. Seriously? Why didn't he tell her about that? Had she known that children were vanishing in the city then she wouldn't have done the whole costume reveal thing. Naturally, she would've been at the computer trying to help the girl out, not trying to make her fiancé want her as much as she wanted him.

"Wha--missing kids?! Raymond, why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't know! That's way more serious!" Instantly, Ray was behind her, stepping over to the supercomputer so they could get all the latest information and because missing kids take precedent, he no longer cared about the dumb lantern hindering the way he curled around his girl. Instead, he threw the big orange squash to the floor, leaving it unwanted as it cracked on the tiles and spilt its guts everywhere, much to Henry's distress.

"Dude, I worked all day on that!" He cried, staring at his ruined masterpiece with a heartbroken expression. All that carving, all that skill and hard work that had gone into getting the face just right were ruined in a matter of seconds. Sure, Henry knew that the pumpkin wouldn't; last forever but he had hoped that it would stick around for Halloween night at least.

"Hey! They're talking about it on the news." Charlotte interrupted his whining with the important statement and turned the monitor on to reveal Mary Gaperman's cheerful expression. As usual, Ray had both arms around (y/n)'s waist as they watched, her back pressed snuggly to his front so her head could tilt back against his body and breathe in his cologne, whilst he pressed his lips to her temple, cheek, exposed neck, any patch of skin that looked lonely.

"Happy Halloween, Swellview!"

"Halloween or Hallow-missing-tweens..." Well, that was a dramatic way to begin the program. Mary and Trent weren't messing around, their happy smiles dropped into serious expressions the moment the man mentioned the abducted children, although perhaps wordplay wasn't appropriate at a time like this.

"It's both, Trent. Today is Halloween and it's making some kids in Swellview say boo...hoo because they're missing."

"That's right, Mary. They're gone. So far, ten children have disappeared without a trace...unless you consider the puffs of smoke, the screaming and the eyewitness accounts of a terrifying monster appearing out of nowhere, a trace. If you do, then those things are traces." Trent blabbered on and Mary's puns weren't helping. There were probably parents out there worried sick, praying for their children's return from the clutches of this so-called monster and here they were making jokes. Typical KLVY.

"Ten kids, that's a juggler's dozen."

"That's right, Mary. The big question is who's going to be eleven..." That was the big question, who indeed? Perhaps they'd be a total stranger, just another kid who'd played in the city and was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe, just maybe, this one would hit closer to home for the Man Cave team.

"There, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there and there. Those were the ten places the kids were last seen." Charlotte addressed her friends, namely Henry, Ray and (y/n), who were all sitting or rather, snuggling for some, on the couch.

They had called an emergency meeting sort of thing, any ideas of Halloween fun being terminated since they had a job to do and it was Charlotte's job to plot the disappearances. Y'know, 'cause she was good at all that stuff, unlike Henry, who was interested but not smart enough to know how grid references and distance, time and speed were relevant. Ray was in a similar situation and he found himself preoccupied with something he deemed much more interesting.

As for (y/n), well, she was highly interested, hanging off her every "there", but when you had Ray clamped to your side, his arms around your waist and his lips on your neck, it was kinda difficult to stand up and work. He had her in a koala bear hold, hands deadlocked around her waist so he could keep her securely in his lap and his nose nudged into her hair. Call him selfish but he got the feeling that he wouldn't get many more opportunities tonight and she just looked so cute, he couldn't help but want her all to himself.

"Does anyone else see a pattern?"

"Oooh, ooh, pick me, pick--!" (y/n) tried to raise her hand, as if she was the student and Charlotte was the teacher calling on her wisdom. To her, it was obvious what the map showed and she found herself feeling like she was back in school when all the other kids were clueless and she had all the answers. The nerd in her demanded satisfaction and Charlotte was about to give it to her, right up until Ray took it upon himself to be the smart one. Because everyone knows that he was one of those.

"I've got this, sweet girl. I know..." He butted in, gently picking her up and depositing her in the space he'd been occupying. It was a shame that he had to separate himself from her, but he could see what the map was showing, plain as day and the woman would be perfectly fine with Henry. In fact, she was sharing a look with him, probably because they knew how big his genius was and how he was certainly gonna get it right, not because they knew he should've left it to the smarties.

Swapping places with Charlotte, who sat down on the edge of the couch when (y/n) budged up to give her room, Ray stood next to the screen and began to randomly draw a squiggly line to connect the dots in an utterly incomprehensible manner.

"This...is the pattern." He told them, drawing what looked more like spaghetti than what (y/n) and Charlotte had been picturing and it just showed why Ray was an adorable doofus, not a wise professor. How were they supposed to make sense of that?

"Uhhhh..."

"Uhhhh, you sure?" Henry and Charlotte frowned, wondering what was going through his mind and how he could possibly think that that mess was a pattern, what with all the loops and turns he was making.

"Uh, doofus, it just looks like you're drawing random--" (y/n) tried to advise him, wishing that he'd just sat still and continued to trail his hands around her stomach and down to her thighs, at least then she would've been able to correctly say what it was. But no, Ray was being a doofus again and wouldn't listen to anything they said.

"Then, it goes this way, round here, then it goes into the hole, back over the top and finally, brings us back to here and finally, as you can see, the pattern is clear...boom." Ray didn't stop until the entire board was covered in a large, red scribble and whilst every dot had been thoroughly covered, whatever pattern he was seeing didn't exist for everyone else. The teens and his sweet girl waited impatiently for him to finish, feeling like they were just wasting time. Time that could've been spent looking for the missing kids.

"Or, doofus..." (y/n) started, waiting for Henry to climb up next to the screen since in the time it had taken Ray to draw his "pattern", the boy had put two and two together and worked out what the girls were thinking about. Right, he could draw it, she could explain it, after all, Ray never listened to anybody else. "...It's an X."

"Aw, baby, you're so smart but...I'm not seeing." Ray smiled at his fianceé softly, reaching out to cup her cheeks and squish them together at how hot her brain was, so much smarter than he ever was, but because of that, it meant he couldn't see what they were talking about. Or rather, he could, he was just too stubborn to see it after Henry erased his scribble.

"I did it! I made a device that can find all of those missing dogs!" And here came Schwoz to add to the confusion. He too was in costume, although no one could quite place who he was meant to be, what with his mullet-esque wig, normal shirt and jeans. He just looked like a blast from the eighties, and for the life of them, his friends couldn't work out who he was dressed as nor did they know what the odd-looking device in his hands did.

"Not dogs, it's kids," Ray replied darkly, still feeling moody that his big theory about the pattern being a squiggle was a dud. The severity of the situation also didn't help; as much as he hated looking soppy and soft, Ray didn't like bastards who kidnapped children and found himself feeling rather concerned. Maybe it was because he was reaching that point in his life where he liked the idea of having his own family and since he was in love with the only person he'd ever consider that with, kids were sounding quite nice to him and his paternal side was coming out.

"Oh...well, then. This thing is useless." Schwoz sounded dejected as if he'd spent his entire night figuring out the blueprints and then assembling the machine. It certainly looked like something he would build, complicated and brilliant, meaning Charlotte was hoping that it could be repurposed for something else.

"Actually, my neighbour's dog is missing, so can we--" She started, hoping that all of Schwoz's hard work wouldn't have to go to waste, but then he just threw it to the ground with a stony face. It was trash to him, as worthless as the ruined pumpkin that it landed in, circuits mixing with orange, fleshy guts. Looks like that dog would have to stay lost. "--I guess not..."

"Hey, sweet 'stume. Who are you supposed to be?" Henry took a moment to analyse Schwoz's costume with a smile, appreciating that whoever he was, he'd done it well. In the corner of his eye, he could also see Ray coming to stand closer to him, or rather, he was just putting an arm around (y/n) and flickering his eyes over her before looking back at Schwoz. She looked happy and he knew that there was no better sight.

"Oh, I am Schteve." The genius responded with a bright smile but that information went over his friends' heads. Schteve? Steve? Steve who? He just looked like a regular guy, no one famous or recognisable and Henry, Charlotte, Ray and (y/n) just gave him blank expressions in return.

"I don't know any Steves..."

"Schteve Geldershy, my friend from college. He looks just like this...see!" Schwoz turned to the computer and brought up a picture of some dude from the late eighties, who was dressed identically to how Schwoz was and throwing up finger guns. Well, he'd nailed the costume, he certainly looked like this "Schteve" guy, but why would you dress up like a normal person?

"Aw, Steve looks nice..." (y/n) told Schwoz, glad that he had friends somewhere in the world because lord knows that Schwoz was what some might call odd. Ray scrunched his nose up at her words, knowing that it was unfounded but he now disliked Steve by just a smidge because she was studying his features.

Silly doofus, her gaze was soon back on him when she felt the muscly arm around her shoulders tense and with a peck to his frowning lips, he was soon perking up again, although not for long. The moment (y/n) pulled back to give him a raised eyebrow for prickling over a guy she was never gonna meet or even like in that way, Jasper came stumbling from the elevator, looking like he'd been in a fight.

"Gwuys! Gwuys! We have a sthuper stherious emergenthy!" The boy panted as he briskly walked over to them and immediately, (y/n) was concerned for several reasons. The most obvious was one was that Jasper had somehow split his lip, meaning every word was painful as his lips moved and stretched, and subsequently, it gave him a rather unfortunate lisp. For Schwoz, it was hilarious because the kid couldn't say anything right, but the others got the sense that something wasn't right. After all, Jasper wouldn't come in like that if it wasn't important.

"Jasper, you sound ridiculous!" Schwoz chuckled and pointed at him, earning the small man several dry looks just because of how ironic it was. This was coming from the man who found the simplest of English words impossible to pronounce, did he need reminding of the "byergurr" incident?

"I think that's the pot calling the kettle black..." The goldfish girl told him with his hands on her hips before turning to Jasper. She was close enough to see the small streak of blood covering his top lip, just below his nose and her instinct to protect the kid came flooding in. Right, where was her first aid kit?

"Curly, what happened? Why are you talking like that?"

"I smasthed my fathe on the door in Junk-N-Sthuff when I tried to run down here to tell you that your sthisther, Piper, disthappeared!" Suddenly, no one was laughing. Piper was gone? What? She'd been upstairs with him, trying on wigs to go with her costume, how could she have disappeared?

This must've been just another Jasper misunderstanding because Henry couldn't cope with the idea of something happening to his sister. Yeah, she was a brat but at the end of the day, she was his family.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Charlotte asked in concern as everyone gathered closer, (y/n)'s hands pausing before she could assess his lip. Okay, that didn't sound good, not for the girl she was so fond of and her hand dropped to rest on one of Ray's folded ones since she wanted something to hold onto. Why was her git feeling so heavy?

"A monsther snatched her and then disthappeared in a puff of sthmoke!"

"What?" Henry gasped at that, purely because of how outlandish it seem. When he said monster, he pictured something you'd seen in a child's fairytale book or perhaps even something in the shops right now considering it was Halloween. But then again, Henry had long been open to the impossible, when it came to his job, he had to be, but a monster, really?

"Yes, exactly. I can't understand a word you're saying." Ray looked at Jasper with a sceptical look. Come on, this kid was known for stretching the truth and his lisp wasn't making him any more believable. Henry's rotten sister had probably just walked off or something because everyone knows that monsters don't come and go in puffs of smoke.

"He's said that a monster appeared in a puff of smoke and took Henry's sister, doofus." (y/n) translated for him, knowing that Ray was just letting his ignorance cloud his judgement. If he didn't want to believe something, he'd just stick his head in the sand and wait for everything to blow over, only this time, she got the feeling that this wasn't going to go away easily.

"Just like those other ten kids," Charlotte exclaimed, gesturing to the map and all the other locations where kids had been snatched from. Something peculiar was happening here and Piper's case was fitting in with the others, causing Henry's face to grow pale as he realised that everything was connected.

"So, Piper is eleven..."

"Precisthely. The stwangest thing..." Jasper spoke soft with a hint of mystery in his tone, but Henry didn't have the time to ponder what he could be referring to. If his sister had been taken then he was gonna go find her and hopefully all the other kids, and he didn't care if Captain Man wasn't behind him. But, y'know, it would be nice to have company...

"Come on, man, we gotta go find my sister."

"Well, how are we supposed to do that? We don't know where this monster went, we have no way of knowing." Ray argued. Sure, he was up for a rescue mission but he was also trying to be realistic. In his experience, trying to find someone went really well when he had somewhere to start, a clue or fact that could point him in the right direction, but they had nothing. They didn't even know if this monster was real or just some asshole in a costume, everything was against them, unless...

"Uh, doofus, you might wanna come look at this." (y/n) told her fiancé over her shoulder, tilting her head as she thought about what she was seeing on the map. Huh, who would've thought it? not Ray or Henry, that's for sure and she and Charlotte desperately wanted them to come and see what they were seeing but as always, the boys had thick skulls and their eyes closed.

"Not now, sweet girl. I don't know where to begin to look. Nobody does...you just gotta let her go." Ray turned away from his frustrated lover and back to Henry, who he thought needed words of comfort and a warm hand on his shoulder during this trying time. It was all looking so pointless, so hopeless and he didn't see how they were gonna find a girl in the infinite, sprawling universe so he wasn't trying to be rude or insensitive. It was just his way of trying to be supportive.

"Raymond...we think we know where she is." (y/n) pressed on in a sing-song voice, trying to get her dumb doofus to listen to her, although considering how far his head was up his ass, that was gonna be difficult. God, he pissed her off so much sometimes and it made her want to shout and tear her hair out because, on one hand, she wanted to be angry at him and punch him for being such a moron, but then on the other, she loved him too much to do that.

It was a never-ending cycle of permanently being frustrated and tired mixed with being utterly in love with the man. He was an idiot but a well-meaning one. Her doofus.

"(y/n), please, he is trying to grieve." Ray pointed to the kid's stony face and mistook it for heartache from the assumed death of Piper. However, it was really just Henry's way of letting his boss's words wash over him and drain away because that was a load of bullshit.

He wasn't gonna let his sister go and live with a monster for the rest of her life, he was gonna find her and take her home. So, ignoring Ray, he stepped passed him and looked at the girls who clearly knew what they were doing and prayed that they could give him a solution for finding a Piper in a haystack.

"Yeah, sure he is. Charlotte, you take this one." (y/n) told the girl in a bored voice, giving her lover a defiant stare with her arms folded before looking back at the map. It was right there, staring at them in the face, why did he have to be so adorable and so idiotic at the same time?

"Remember earlier when we figured out that if you plot the locations of all those kids that disappeared on the map, it creates an X?" Charlotte refreshed their memories. Even though it had only been a few minutes, there was no doubt that for some people, those few minutes would've been like a lifetime and this information would be old news by now. Speaking of some people...

"Well, I saw a different shape but go on." Ray felt the need to add that just because a small, stubborn part of him wanted to believe that his stupid scribble could be a pattern, although he was more tempted to drop it when his sweet girl gave him one of her warning stares. Sheesh, he knew that look.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so?"

"Look where Junk-N-Stuff," Charlotte told them all, thinking they'd all do what any normal person would and look at the map that she minutely gestured to. But no, like the morons they were, Jasper, Schwoz, Henry and Ray tilted their heads to look at the ceiling, knowing that half a mile up, Junk-N-Stuff was eerily quiet after this apparent kidnapping. Honestly, it was like the girls were working with children.

"On the map, you idiots! Look at where Junk-N-Stuff is on the map!" (y/n) hissed, wilding gesturing to the board, what they should've looked at in the first place. The boys' mumbling continued as they located the right street for Ray's beloved store and Charlotte took a deep breath before continuing. Today was not the day to strangle someone.

"Junk-N-Stuff is also on the X, and check out what's right in the middle of the X." She smirked and gently tapped the screen. This was the biggie, the fact that would leave the all blown away because it was so obvious in her and (y/n)'s eyes. A tag appeared in the centre, showing the name of some company and sweet cheese, it couldn't have been more suspicious.

"Place called Evil Science Corp." Henry read out and everyone gulped. Well, with a name like that, they had to be involved in the disappearances, it was like they were trying to stand out so much they blended in. Not that it was working.

"Well, I don't like the sound of that." Ray chuckled nervously, trying not to sound scared but jeez, he'd stake his superhero career on that place having something to do with it. Maybe if he asked nicely, his sweet girl would let him hold her hand, y'know, just for support, not because he was frightened or anything like that.

"Neither do I. Do you think that's where the kids went missing?" Henry asked Charlotte and (y/n), who didn't have those sorts of answers. All they had was what they'd found and their gut instincts telling them that this needed investigating; they couldn't tell Henry any more than that, nothing about Piper or anything that would quell his worries.

"We don't know, but come on, with a name like that, it must be a good place to start." (y/n) shrugged and Henry got the message, loud and clear. Right, they weren't gonna learn anything just standing around laughing at how funny Jasper sounded or listening to Professor Manchester and his bright ideas, they had to get moving before something terrible happened.

"Yeah, let's go. Let's go, let's go, let's go!" The boy gestured for her to start shifting and Ray rolled his eyes at how he, the boss, Captain Man, the proprietor of everything around them and the payer of Henry's wages, was now taking orders.

"All right, all right, I'm hurrying. What's your beef, jerky?" What was all the fuss about? The sooner they had to transform, the sooner he had to lose the precious sight of his sweet girl in her goldfish costume and he didn't see why they had to go so quickly without even a final kiss.

"What's my--my beef is that my sister's been kidnapped by some monster and we've no idea where she is, but wherever she is, it's probably dark and horrible and scary..." Henry theorised and he could see it now. This sicko probably had torture chambers and filthy, squalid cages where he locked up his victims before murdering them. Or maybe he toyed with them for a while, played some twisted game and forced them to live in fear--oh god, it didn't bear thinking about.

Wherever she was, Piper was in trouble, he just knew it. And so help him, Henry was gonna find her, starting with the Evil Science Corp.

~Evil Science Corp~

On the face of it, the building looked quite normal. Just another regular office building in the middle of the business district of Swellview, ugly, made from sun-bleached bricks and no doubt filled with under-paid yet over-worked workers. At least, that's what they wanted people to think.

Striding through the building, Ray, (y/n) and Henry, all now dressed in the super suits, burst into the room of what they had been told was the boss's office. They didn't want the workers, they wanted the big dog, although what they found upon entering in their super-cool, super-intimidating fashion, was little more than some filing cabinet, a desk, a hat stand and a pretty, young secretary singing under her breath as she worked. Huh, so far, so normal...

"Hi..." She smirked at the boys, her eyes raking down Captain Man's body as she stepped towards her with a scowl on his face, fists clenched. Well, she would be having a double helping of him, even if it was a surprise to see Kid Danger there too, kicking down the door and walking into her workplace like they meant business. Come on, everyone woman in the city fancied him, but only one got to love him.

One glare from Miss Danger had the secretary looking away sheepishly and rubbing her freshly manicured hands together like they'd been slapped away from reaching for something forbidden. She was rather pretty, very pretty, in fact, and (y/n) could see that she was quite used to male attention judging by the perfectly rehearsed and practised way she reclined into her chair and crossed her legs, her work no longer important, but she had her sussed. The secretary could do whatever she liked, she just didn't want her to get the idea that she actually stood a chance with Captain Man, not when he was already happily taken.

"Do you have an appointment?" The woman cooly asked the three heroes who stood in front of her as if it was a normal thing for her. God, she looked so cocky, almost like she was inviting (y/n)'s challenge, taunting her for the way she so readily protected what was dearest to her, but the woman held her nerve and merely slipped her hand into Ray's. A small gesture but it spoke volumes and the secretary backed off, even if it was just because Henry was on the warpath too.

"NO!" He growled, wanting to make it clear that if he had to kick down some doors, break into a few buildings to save Piper then he was going to.

"Yes!" Ray, on the other hand, wanted to add a cool factor. Because everything was about being cool.

"We do?" (y/n) asked and looked at him with knitted eyebrows, wondering if he'd taken the initiative and phoned the company himself. He never did that, in some ways, she was like his private secretary, always sorting things out for him, although she'd never let him know it. Had her doofus done something for himself for once and taken the quiet, subtle route into a problem?

"With justice!" No, but it sure did sound cool. (y/n) struggled to hold back her grin at that, Henry didn't even bother to hide it, not when his boss was so stupidly brilliant. Aw, he was adorable, a true showoff until the end and for being the doofus she loved, (y/n) awarded him a kiss to his killer jawline.

"Good one, dude... We got an appointment with justice!" Henry reiterated, picking up on Ray's strong, masculine voice that showed they meant business and when the phone rang, the hero answered it before the secretary could even move. That was the kind of pumped-up mood they were in.

"She'll call you back!" Yeah, there's no way to show dominance in an office like slamming the hideously beige phone down into the cradle. Seriously, why was everything about this building so brown?

"Listen, love, we want to talk to whoever's in charge around here!" (y/n) demanded, tapping her nail on the wooden no desk to emphasise every word. Henry scrunched up a random sheet of paper that he found there too and threw it to the floor, knowing that if it was important and needed, then they'd just have to pick it back up and unwrinkle it. He was living dangerously until the man they were looking for appeared next to them like a goddamn phantom.

"Well, that would be me." The three gasped and felt their hearts pound when suddenly, a guy spoke and when they looked, he was standing there like he'd been with them the entire time. Ray physically jolted as his body assumed this sudden stranger was a threat and his arms curled around (y/n) to keep her safe, her ear pulled tightly up against his chest so she could hear his frantic heart rate until they realised that it wasn't a demon come to suck out their souls, it was just a man. A very normal-looking man.

"Dude!"

"Where'd you come from?" Henry and Ray asked as they tried to calm back down, the couple separating a little awkwardly since they always seemed to wind up in each other's arms when it wasn't necessarily appropriate. They could practically feel the green-eyed disdain radiating from the secretary, who, like most, had read all about their blossoming relationship in Swellview's gossip columns and wept when she realised that her microscopic chance of dating Captain Man was gone, thanks to the appearance of Miss Danger.

"Well, I'm originally from a small town in Idaho called Bellevue--" The man--boss, they assumed since that's what he'd said--started, although Ray didn't want an entire life story from the guy. He just wanted to know how he'd snuck up on him, Captain Man, the man who made it his innate ability to detect someone sneaking around.

"I meant just now!"

"From over there. I'm wearing silent shoes. See..." The man stamped his foot, proving that his shoes had some kind of noise-cancelling technology built into them, meaning that no matter how much force he used, he made no sound. It was quite a cool invention, even if it scared the wits out of people who didn't notice him coming.

"You should call those sneakers..." (y/n) joked, ignoring how the shoes weren't exactly sporty, more like the stiff, formal loafers that a man had to wear to seem smart in the office, but still, it made her chuckle.

Ray seemed to like it too considering how a smile broke out on his face and his lips grazed her hairline before returning to his tough stance when the shoe guy seemed to be equally amused. Hey, this guy was bad news, he just knew it, he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hearing the cutest jokes coming from the sweetest woman in the world.

"I invented them. I'm Bill Evil, chairman of the Evil Science Corp."

"Oh, yeah? Bill? You also invent that monster that's going around stealing kids?" Captain man's fury was terrifying as Bill faced him, Kid Danger and Miss Danger by himself. Yeah, he had the face of a guilty person and was starting to shake at their demanding questions, although for now, he was gonna uphold his innocence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Oh, don't play dumb, Bill. We know you're in the centre of the X!" Henry was quick to beat down his proclamations that he'd done nothing because he wasn't in the mood to play games, not when his swee--horrible sister was still missing. To be fair to Bill Evil though, spouting stuff about the X did sound a bit crazy, but no one found it in themselves to calm him down.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The X!"

"It's a pattern on the board that I noticed by myself." Ray snapped after they all pointed out the highly suspicious pattern that was centring on this man's company. Dear, sweet ray, he believed what he wanted to and much to the amusement of his sidekicks, he liked to twist the story to make himself feel and seem better.

"Well...you tried, sweetheart." (y/n) gave him a half-smile and patted his cheek, knowing that what he'd say was complete rubbish but right now, that didn't matter. All they needed to focus on was how to break Evil into squealing about what he and his minions were up to in his dingy little factory.

"Guys, I promise you, we're just a normal science lab that makes things like quiet shoes. There is absolutely nothing strange going on." Bill gave them a soft smile as an attempt to reassure them that all was well within his company and for a moment, the heroes very nearly bought it. That was until a highly panicked man in a full hazmat suit, gas mask and rubber gloves came bursting through the double doors behind them with pure fear in his eyes. Normal their asses.

"The portal is outta control! And it's definitely connected to that monster that going around stealing kids!" The unknown scientist disappeared as quickly as he burst in, only taking the time to tear off his mask and relay the information before vanishing to tackle whatever chaos was happening behind that door. And whatever was up, Captain Man and his sidekicks wanted answers about this portal thing because Bill Evil had been caught lying and Ray hated when people lied to him.

"We're doing some construction..." Was the lamest excuse they'd ever heard as Bill offered them a nervous twitch of his lips as if nothing was happening in his factory. He just wanted these damn heroes and their morals to go away because he couldn't explain what was happening or control it, but he wasn't going to get what he wanted. Not by a long shot.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, pal." (y/n) muttered and turned to go and open the door that the scientist had opened, Ray and Henry hot on her heels. She didn't care about whatever that coward had to say or whatever pathetic excuses he could come up with, she had eleven children to find, one of whom was rather special to her and if anything happened to that girl then Henry wouldn't be the only one out for blood.

"Let me go first, sweet girl," Ray told her as she reached for the door handle, her fingertips leaving the cool metal as his indestructible frame took the lead. It was obvious what he was doing, investigating the danger first, not in order of seniority or anything like that. More like the order of who was the squishiest, who would be turned into jelly if there was something terrible behind that reinforced steel.

So, Ray went first for obvious reasons, the first in the line of human meat shields; then it was his precious girl because he would never fully warm up to the fact that she was now following him into peril wherever he found it, but if he could protect her in any way then he would; and finally, it was Henry, the kid who could dodge almost anything but if something did happen to explode, he'd need all the protection he could get. It just made sense to do it that way and it made Ray feel a bit better about who he was taking into a dangerous fight.

"No, no, no, don't go in there! Uh, let's go to the parking lot! Besides, there's nothing of interest in this room! Why don't I show you a different room, where we make the quiet shoes? You won't believe what you don't hear!" No matter how much Bill rambled, the heroes weren't buying. It was impossible to believe him, not when they were seeing the terrible truth for themselves.

For starters, for a room with nothing of interest, there was a hell of a lot going on in it. It wasn't even a room, not from what (y/n) could see; she knew a laboratory anywhere and even for Ray and Henry, who both regularly renounced anything nerdy or geeky, the sight of the cables, equipment and terrified scientists was also a dead giveaway. And they were terrified for a good reason.

Ignoring the mess of flying papers scattering on the floor and the men and women trying to find a solution, the trio couldn't help but notice the portal that the scientist had mentioned, mainly because it was huge, ugly and stuck to the side of the wall like some kind of mutant growth. The entire left wall was covered in what looked like decay of extraterrestrial fungus but what was really interesting, or petrifying depending on how you looked at it, was the swirling abyss in the centre, a gateway to another world that was as fiery as hell. And it looked like that's where it led to.

"We wanna know what that giant wall nostril is, Bill!" Ray demanded, staring at the portal with a mortified expression. Jeez, talk about illegal science, this shit took the biscuit and he ensured that (y/n) and Henry were a good three-foot or more away from that thing, dreading to think about what could happen if they touched it. For one thing, it did not look friendly.

"Yeah, Bill! We also wanna know about that monster!" Henry added, turning to stare at the man with one of the most serious expressions that had ever crossed his face. Bill had to start talking soon, otherwise, he was gonna split his head open and find the answer for himself. It was surprising just how much he'd do for Piper, given how much grief she'd given him over the years.

"Yeah! And what happened to all those missing kids?! Plus, the shoes! You know, the sneakers? They're actually pretty cool and interesting too..." (y/n) tried her best with her argument but come on, it was science! It was inventing! It was engineering! That was her thing and yes, she was worried about the kids, they took precedent, of course, but...a little information about the shoes couldn't hurt. She might even find herself inspired by the technology.

"Yeah, but maybe answer the other questions first!" Ray's hand found its home in the small of her back, a small reminder that they had a job to do, although he did recognise that she too was prone to getting a little off-topic sometimes. Henry's flaw was balancing his normal life with his hero one, hers was science and sometimes a crippling sense of shyness and his was moms. Specifically hot ones. They were working through their issues but old habits die hard, no matter how much you try to change.

"Right..."

Okay, if I tell you, do you promise to keep it a secret?" Bill asked, fearing the consequences of his company's actions. He knew full well what they doing was illegal and stupidly dangerous, it probably broke some federal laws or something but he was hoping that Captain Man would give him a bit of rope and some of that famous mercy of his so he could perhaps wiggle away from prosecution with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. But then again, these supers had stupid morals and things...

"No!"

"We're not stupid..."

"Absolutely not!" Three, resounding no's. This would be interesting.

"Do you promise that I won't be in trouble?" After the first answer, the chairman could already guess the answer, but nobody could blame the guy for trying. He was looking at spending the rest of his life answering for his crime of creating a wackjob portal thing in Downtown Swellview, it was understandable that he was shitting himself.

"I can't promise that..."

"You're screwed either way..."

"You're already in a lot of trouble." Yeah, that was what he'd been fearing and with their guarantee that he wasn't gonna get away with this, Evil knew that there was nothing he could do now except to spill the hard, naked truth.

"Fine. Earlier today, we were playing god. As all scientists do, by the way, it's not just us!" To be fair, he had a point with that one. (y/n) knew it all too well and not just from her dealings picking apart atoms and watching them create chain reactions or mutate into new life. Even the good scientists, the ones that want to cure the world's worst diseases or find a way to stop famines and droughts forever mess with the natural order, bend the rules to get what they want, it's just how people find the answers to life.

"Yeah, fine, we'll give you that one..."

"So, it seems that we accidentally opened a portal to another dimension and it also seems that there is a monster from that dimension that crossed over into our dimension and is currently abducting children," Bill explained succinctly. Well, when he put it like that, what was there to worry about? No reason to panic or get worried about some beast from another world snatching kids to eat them or hold them hostage. What a moron...why did he sound so calm?

"Oh, and Miss Danger, the shoes are made from a space-age polymer. That's pretty much it..." He concluded and the heroes shared a worried look and not just because of how the situation was worse than they had previously thought. Somehow, things went from worse to...really worse when a chilling groaning, gurgling, rumbling sound followed by the shrill blare of an emergency siren sounded in the room, causing Bill Evil to pale yet again.

"Uh-oh, you might wanna grab onto something!" He warned them, his eyes scanning the room for anything solid enough to take his weight.

"What? Why?" Henry did not like the panic in his voice nor the alarm that wouldn't quit it and he guessed that it was a fire drill or something. Shit was going down and he knew that Ray was starting to sense it by the way his hand latched onto (y/n)'s hand and refused to let go; a lifeline onto the person he refused to lose.

"Because the wall nostril makes that sound every time it's about to suck something inside!" That did not sound good. That did not sound good at all. Sensing that for once in his life, Bill was telling the truth the first time around, Henry quickly grabbed onto a yellow post that was firmly welded and bolted into the floor, (y/n) doing the same as Ray came up behind her. His arms encircled her before grabbing onto the post too, another safety precaution since he figured that if for whatever reason she let go, God forbid, all she'd hit was his chest and he sure as hell wasn't gonna let her go.

The "suction" began and the chairman wasn't wrong. Anything that was nailed down or holding on for dear life was quickly pulled into the portal like it was a vacuum cleaner. An aluminium chair was the first to go and as swiftly as it started the suction stopped, but it was replaced by something much more horrifying. The rumbling sound was replaced by the shrieks and squeals of what could only be described as children fearing for their lives.

"What is that sound?" Henry asked as everyone relaxed for the moment and let go of their solid objects, Miss Danger sparing a glance for her hero and giving him a gentle kiss as his arms unwound from her sides now that he knew that she wasn't going to be whisked away to another dimension. Still, the time to be tender could wait, the noises coming from the portal had them storming over to investigate in a matter of moments, too concerned at how they seemed to pierce their bodies to the boot get too caught in each other.

"We assume that it's the sound of the terrified children being tortured by the monster..." Bill answered sheepishly, shuffling his feet in those stupid quiet shoes of his as Ray, (y/n) and Henry went from concerned to outraged in point five of a second. What did he mean they assumed? That implied that the whole lot of them were too cowardly to go and investigate and Ray couldn't stand cowards.

"Have any of you actually gone through the portal to see what's going in the other dimension?" The hero asked furiously, wondering what the hell they were playing at. Maybe it was his paternal side coming out again or perhaps it was just his moral code screaming to save the kids as they screamed and throttle these assholes who couldn't be bothered to go and check it out. Surely, that would be anyone's first thought, to go and see if the truth really was as horrible as it seemed.

"Nooooo! No, no, no, that is way too scary! We hear a lot of screaming coming from that thing." Bill laughed off their concern, further fanning the flames of their anger. He didn't know who he was dealing with he and he wasn't aware of their personal connection either so his words were careless as well as insensitive and it took everything in the heroes to not wrap their hands around his throat. "See? There it is again! It's terrifying!"

The screaming intensified as the seconds passed and it reached the point where Henry couldn't take it anymore. If these weaklings were gonna shun their duties and ignore the plight of these kids, including his sister, then dammit, he was going in. Something was happening in there, something awful, he just knew it and whilst he wasn't the biggest fan of leading his friends into battle, he knew that they'd be up for it. Well, (y/n) would want to, but Ray would want her to stay put but he could work with that.

"You hear that? We gotta go in and save them!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you do! Go, go, go, go ahead! I'll stay here and keep Miss Danger safe!" Ray stammered, pushing one sidekick forward towards the portal and the other one behind his back as she frowned. Not this shit again, (y/n) was grateful for the concern and found his protective streak flattering and cute...and annoying sometimes. When was he going to accept that where Captain Man and Kid Danger went, Miss Danger would follow? She wanted this, she wanted him, no matter what she had to face to have him.

"What?!"

"Captain Man, explain, please." The woman and boy stared at him with disappointment and disbelief in their eyes. That made Ray pause but he felt that he had a good reason to refuse to go in.

It wasn't that he was scared or a coward or unsure of himself in his fighting capabilities, he just wasn't certain that he would be able to keep them safe. He had a young boy and his entire world to keep safe when they went on regular missions, but they didn't know what was on the other side of that thing. He just couldn't be certain that they'd come home and it might have been selfish and possibly traitorous but...he wanted to stay here and keep his wife safe so he'd stand a chance of being able to call her that.

"You heard the scientists. Only one person can through the portal!" Ray lied, hoping that Henry would be blinded by his need to save Plopper or whatever her name was to see that he was making it all up. However, even if Henry was that stupid, (y/n) wasn't and the scientists were better listeners than he had first anticipated.

"We have never said that..." Bill piped up, causing (y/n) to stare at Ray with a raised eyebrow. He could see it in her eyes, the disappointment being kicked away by the hope that he'd make things right and agree to come with them because she wasn't going to let Henry go alone, so that left him with an ultimatum. Stay and leave her open to a violent death or be brave and protect her to the best of his ability whilst they rescued some children.

"Captain Man, please..." She whispered, brushing their fingers together to try and persuade him, using every trick she knew to get him to cave. From her battering eyelashes to her big doe eyes to how her hand was lightly holding his, she did it all and Henry just hoped it would work. He needed the Captain on his side and he was sorry that he was putting the man's fiancée in harm's way, but then again he wasn't. They were superheroes, this was what they did.

"All right, fine! We go in, we kick some monster butt, we get the kids and we get outta there!" Ray couldn't resist even if he wanted to. The moral compass, the paternal instinct, his need to make her proud, it was all telling him that he'd be facing these demons one way or another and he couldn't get away from that. They were going and he was going with them it seemed, so his plan had to be simple and limit the chance of his life falling apart.

"Sounds gooood!" Henry smiled at his boss and returned his eyes to the portal, the place he'd be diving into in four, three, two--and he took the plunge. Not wanting to dilly or dally, the kid just went for it, crawling into the swirly, slimy orange stuff that was coming from the hole, leaving Ray and (y/n) to follow.

"Come on, sweet girl. Let's go save some kids--" Ray sighed, squeezing her hand tighter so he could lead her to the portal too. He didn't want to, he still preferred to wrap her in cotton wool and give her the most comfortable life anyone could imagine, but with Henry gone, his choice had been made. The kid was his sidekick, the youngest and most innocent, he'd do anything for either of them, but just before they went in...

"Wait!" (y/n) stopped dead in her tracks, her heeled boots digging into the floor to tug him back to her before he breached the wall nostril. Ray looked back at her in concern, thinking that she was having second doubts or something, but that didn't make sense. She wasn't afraid of a fight, not when she was fighting with Captain Man and Kid Danger, so he couldn't figure out what was going on until she continued, "--before we go...I love you, Captain Man."

His heart melted at that, he should've known. Before any dangerous or potentially life-threatening situation, she always took a moment to ground herself with the three little words that took a decade to leave her lips, but now, she'd never let him forget it. If they were gonna get stuck forever or die then she wanted him to remember how she was with him until the end, even if they didn't get to complete most of their plans.

"I love you too, Miss Danger. Always have, always will." Ray smiled down at her, dropping a kiss on her lips after the words left his mouth, sealing the promise most sweetly. It certainly made whatever was on the other side more bearable, he could die a happy man knowing that he'd had the privilege of calling her his after waiting for so long. Hopefully, it wouldn't go like that and they'd live long, happy lives with two or three kids, a dog and a nice house in the country after they retired, that was the dream.

"Right, let's go save these kids. All in a day's work, right?" She grinned as she pulled back, hearing him chuckle as she dropped to her knees to begin crawling. There was a funny smell coming from the portal, sweet and familiar like something she knew but couldn't possibly place.

Oh well, it would all be fine, at least that's what they both told themselves as they followed behind Henry and boldly entered the world where they expected to find scenes of horror and squalor. The place where a monster would live.

~The other dimension~

Or not. Henry was the first to be freed from the portal with the couple right behind him since it just seemed to bundle them all together and spit them back out all at the same time. Blinking at the brightness of the place, something unexpected since they assumed that the other dimension would be dark and grisly, they found themselves staring at an equally shocking scene. And not from the horror of it all.

It was a lot...nicer than they had expected. Instead of blood, guts and weapons for torturing innocents, the room was like every child's dreamland. Bright colours, soft carpets, plushie toys, rainbows and flowers everywhere and to say that they'd been kidnapped, the kids didn't look like they were in trouble at all.

Still, what did stand out to them was the hideous, frankly terrifying creature that stood amongst them. The most. And boy was he, tall, fanged and clawed to slice open stomachs and eat the innards, and had a face that only a mother monster could love, not to mention what seemed like blood coating his torso and arms. Dear God, that savage, he was wearing the blood of his victims because now that they looked closer, it seemed like the children were also covered in the red substance and that's when Ray's need to protect them went from five to five hundred.

"Get the kids!" He screamed, gearing up to face the beast himself, that way his sweet girl and Henry would be able to stay away from the violence and guide the children to safety. One quick shove through the portal and they'd be fine, but first, he had a monster to fight.

"Would you like a hug?" He--it asked, extending its arms in a friendly manner that greatly confused the heroes but they didn't trust it. In their minds, the monster was probably just luring them in with false smiles and kind words so he could hurt them too, that's probably what the weird room was about. Y'know, get the kids to lower their guards so he could swoop in when they least expected it.

"Die, you foul beast!" Ray cried, not taking any chances and without further ado, he flew towards the monster in a raging tackle, taking it to the floor with his full body weight. The kids started to scream at the sudden violence but Henry and (y/n) weren't gonna wait around whilst Ray put himself in danger with that thing.

"All right, come, get out of here!"

"Let's go! Come on, we're here to save you!" They told the kids as they each began grabbing whoever they saw and taking them to the portal's mouth so they could crawl back through. With any hope, Bill Evil and his team of scientists could keep them safe until they were done here, well, they hoped it wasn't too much to ask from those morons.

With a punch to the face, the monster thing wasn't going anywhere, to be honest, Ray had that shit under control as he continued to beat him--it--whatever to the ground and kept it there. Sure, the kids seemed a bit dazed and confused, mortified, in fact, but they just put that down to the stress of the kidnappings as Henry finally found his sister--his priority.

"No, stop--"

"We'll get you outta here, don't worry!" He silenced her complaints as he pushed her through the portal, followed by a boy that (y/n) had managed to grab hold of. The numbers were slowly dwindling and the more Ray kicked that thing's butt the better because there were still quite a few scared children on the outskirts of the room.

"Come on, pumpkin head, let's go!" (y/n) exclaimed as she shoved a kid dressed as a pumpkin towards the exit, whilst Ray was preoccupied with grabbing the monster. The sneaky little thing tried to make his escape by climbing up a ladder, but Captain Man was too clever for him. He ripped the freak's body away and pushed him to the ground, knocking over a cabinet full of candy as he went. Poisoned candy no doubt.

When he tried to defend himself with a doughnut-shaped beanbag, Ray just kept punching. He'd been fighting for years, he'd been practising with and without a strike shield, he knew what he was doing and no beanbag was gonna stand in his way. As he was punching it out of the way, his sidekicks were escorting the final few kids to safety and then, the monster decided to try and argue his case.

"No! It's just jelly from the doughnuts!" He tried to explain, gesturing to the blood-red mush dripping from his teeth and claws, but Ray didn't buy that for a second. Like he was gonna trust a villainous beast who'd stolen children from his dimension and being a seasoned fighter, he knew a blood-like liquid when he saw it.

"Spare me your lies, you vile creature!" Ray bellowed and pulled him over his shoulder, causing the monster to groan when his back thumped against the brightly patterned rugs on the floor. "Stay down, monster!"

"Let me explain!"

"I said stay down!" The hero growled when the monster dared to raise his head and meet his eyes. A strong jab on the nose swiftly sorted him down and this time, it took a wise choice, not wanting to face the man's wrath or his fist after such a savage beating. And as much as she loved to watch him fight, y'know, considering how insanely hot he was as he used nothing but his raw strength, Miss Danger and Kid Danger had cleared the room, meaning the show was over.

"Captain Man, let's go!" (y/n) held her hand out to Ray as she and Henry paused next to the portal, not wanting to leave their favourite doofus behind. She refused to go without him and Ray immediately took the hand she offered, pressing a kiss to it, which he saw as a well-earned reward after doing all the heavy work.

Wait!" Ray suddenly said, making them frown in confusion. Why would he want to wait? They had no idea why, all they could work out was that he was studying the portal with some kind of serious thought, and that was a rare thing for the man.

"Wait for what, doofus?!"

"We have to close this portal permanently," Ray told them both and instantly, they knew he was right. They couldn't risk this sort of thing happening again, those children had been through enough, but they sure hoped he had a plan for doing that because they had no clue. Seriously, Henry was barely passing science in school and even (y/n) with her damn degree didn't know how to close a tear in the fabric of space.

"Well, how are we gonna do that?" Henry asked, worried that with every passing second, the monster was gaining the strength for round two.

"With this!" Ray exclaimed, having come prepared. Reaching behind him, he pulled a rather large device from his belt or maybe it had been shoved down his pants because it seemingly came from nowhere. The man had his talents, even if it was baffling to work out how he was able to pull it off. "An explosive seismic charge!"

"Where the hell were you hiding that?" (y/n) asked as she looked at the huge device, feeling that she would've noticed it earlier had it been on his person. She...appreciated his body, looked at him quite often and had a few sneaky glances at his ass so she was certain that it hadn't been there before, but whatever. If it got them out of trouble she was willing to push that thought to the back of her mind.

"Who cares? Just make it quick!" Henry told him and vanished through the portal so he could make it back to safety or however safe Evil Science Corp could be. He knew the couple would be right behind him, Ray would make sure that (y/n) made it too and she wasn't about to let him stay with the freak.

"Get through the portal, sweet girl!" The man ordered his sidekick as he pressed the seismic charge onto the mouth of the vortex, wanting to ensure that she was safe before the explosion. Sure, the weapon was primed and ready to go but right now, (y/n) didn't feel like a sidekick nor did she feel like taking commands. Right now, she was a girl waiting for her husband and she didn't want to lose him before she had the chance to actually call him that.

"Not until you come too--arghhh!" (y/n) started arguing back until she felt a warm yet freakishly large hand rest on her shoulder and upon turning around, she knew why Ray's eyes darkened with terror and fury. Her gaze met the monsters and in her fear, she interrupted his cordial grin as a snarl and she squeaked out a yelp.

"Miss, if I could just explain myself..." The monster began, hoping that the nice-looking lady was the more reasonable of the three and she was, but the sound of initial fear and shock that left her lips spurred Ray into action. How dare this thing lay a hand on the woman he loved, how dare he make her feel scared when she was next to him, this thing was going to pay.

"Silence, demon!" He growled and forced himself in between the woman and monster so he could backhand it harshly, causing the creature to stumble in confusion as (y/n) clutched at her chest from the incident. Sweet cheese, that had given her a shock and before she knew it, Ray had her crushed to his chest and face-to-face with their ticket home.

"Into the portal, now!" Ray instructed her, not caring about being bossy or curt with her, all he cared about was his fiancée's safety and how she'd almost been taken or eaten by a demon, not to mention blown to smithereens by a bomb he'd set to blow in less than a minute.

Not wanting to argue, (y/n) started crawling, feeling him right behind her as they passed through the swirling mist, leaving all the danger and the faint beeping of the charge behind them. Honestly, the science lab couldn't have looked more welcoming, even if the children and scientists alike looked miserable.

Upon exiting, several people stepped forward to help them out, which they had thankfully done with the kids too. At least they'd redeemed themselves in that way. The bizarre thing though was that after passing through, all the children and heroes were left coated in some kind of weird, purple, space, portal goo stuff. It was all over them too, head, uniform, hands, everywhere and suddenly, a shower sounded quite appealing too.

"Nice work..." Henry told his boss as he helped (y/n) to her feet, their hands almost glued together by the stuff covering them. The kid was grateful, however, thanks to Ray's quick thinking, they'd not only saved the kids, but any moment now, they'd ensure the problem wouldn't happen again and in his mind, that was a job well done.

"Thanks. You okay, babe?" Ray nodded at the boy before looking down at his fiancée to see if she was injured or anything after that monster grabbed her, but it seemed like all she could concentrate on was the sludge in her hair and on her skirt.

"Yeah, but what is this stuff?" She asked, not expecting a definitive answer since they weren't scientists and a proper test would have to be done to find some that'd stick, but still. She just hope that whatever it was, a hot wash would remove the stain and that she didn't wake up tomorrow morning with crazy hair.

Uh, some kind of interdimensional goo. You still look hot, though." Ray smirked, making a smile break out on her face at how he could flirt in the strangest of situations. He would've probably kissed her by now if it wasn't for the fact that instead of her usual red, her lips were now painted with a deep purple, complimentary from the workings of the universe. For once, it had pulled them apart instead of pushing them together. Or had it. All this meant was that they needed to shower when they got home...together, to save water, of course.

"Captain Man, Miss Danger, Kid Danger..." Piper suddenly appeared at their side, shocking the couple into decency as they realised that the girl was talking to them. Right, work now, private stuff later; even if their super suits were goo-covered, they still had responsibility when wearing them and couldn't get too carried away, especially when the girl gave them such a stern look. What was up with her?

"Ooh, no need to thank us." Ray held his hands up modestly because he couldn't think of what else it could be. He and his sidekicks had just saved her life, she was most likely trying to express her sincere gratitude that they'd been brave enough to crawl into that place and get her out. Yeah, that was it.

"Thank you?" And when Piper said that, they didn't pick up on her interrogative intonation and assumed that she was saying it to be nice. Her frown meant nothing, right? They were smiling for the proper reasons, right? Well...

"That monster was nice! His name was Kevin, he was just lonely and wanted some friends!"

Yeah, we could've left at any time!"

"We wanted to stay!" Piper explained with the help of a boy dressed as an explorer or something and all of a sudden, the room felt quite awkward. Right...all those times he wanted to explain, the cute decoration, his frankly adorable name, that was all just because he was genuinely trying to be friendly. Not a murderer, not a torturer, not a kidnapper, just a funny-looking guy who'd grown tired of a cold, lonely planet. Shit.

"Uhhhh..."

"That is new information..."

"Would've been nice to know that before..." Henry, Ray and (y/n) struggled to find the words to respond to her, to find an explanation that would excuse what they had done. Perhaps it would've been better to ask questions first and punch later, rather than just wildly attacking the monster--Kevin before he'd had a chance to say his side of the story.

"Hey, uh, how long did you set the timer for the seismic charge?" Henry turned to his boss, praying that there might be a chance to go back and pause it, but that depended on whether Ray had given them a few minutes or a matter of seconds.

"Ummmm..." The man slowly looked back at the portal, gulping when he realised that he'd gone for the latter option. Everyone backed away, hiding behind Captain Man and Miss Danger's backs as the goddamn portal imploded, the work of the seismic charge, which was enough to force the thing to collapse in on itself in a burst of yellow, pink, orange and blue.

The kids watched with sadness written all over their faces as the decay, tentacle growth stuff began to retreat from the wall. It shrank and shrank until there was nothing left; no vortex, no mist, no sounds, no hideous brown stuff, just a smooth, tiled wall like the rest of the room. Kevin had been lost forever.

"That's a solid wall, dude."

"Yeah, it's just a wall now..." Henry and (y/n) stated awkwardly, rapping their knuckles against the wall to check if everything was back to normal and it was. Whatever had caused the portal was now long gone and even though the children were heartbroken at how their playroom had been lost, their job was done. Well, come on, nothing good lasts forever...

"You're welcome!" Ray wasn't gonna stick around to hear their complaints either. Acting quickly if a bit stiffly, he grabbed his girl's hand and began to lead her to the exit, Henry following after them since he was sure that he'd hear what Piper had to say when he got home. He didn't need to hear it twice.

"Happy Halloween, everybody!" He told the kids as they sauntered away, owning their mistake as they walked out. Bill could clean up the mess and pay for the taxi rides home, after all, he'd started all of this when he decided to see if he could change what shouldn't be messed with.

"We did a bad thing back there." (y/n) mumbled to her lover as they practically ran out of the building, worried that if they took any longer, someone would run after them and they'd have to do some serious explaining.

That wasn't Captain Man's style, he didn't do explanations, but for his sweet girl, he sure as hell did reassurances. He could see that she was worried, otherwise, she would have certainly given that dumb secretary a final glare as her eyes lingered on his back when they passed her desk. Hmmm, how would he handle this one?

"Yeah, well, it means I get to shower with you when we get back. Silver lining, sweet girl." Ray smirked as they wound their way through the boring beige corridors, heading for the parking lot and the Man Van that would whisk them back to such a luxury. Maybe it was a cheeky shot, but it made her smile and in his books, that was good enough, more than enough actually.

"True, I really need to get this gunk out of my hair..." (y/n) complained, stroking a finger through her locks and wrinkling her nose when she found that the stuff was starting to thicken and dry. That was the last thing she needed, this goop turning to space cement and after such a long, stressful evening, she was looking forward to relaxing with her doofus. Perhaps the first five minutes of a horror movie since she could never get through them and it always left them cuddling closely for the rest of the night.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to get it all out." He replied smugly, chuckling when a blush lightly dusted her cheeks and she failed to hide her smile. He was dumb but when he was so cute, she couldn't find herself rolling her eyes as she did for all those cheesy lines in her favourite romcoms. He just made her happy when he tried his best and she couldn't ask for more, not when he was perfect.

"Ugh, you guys are the worst..." Henry muttered as he speedily walked past the lovey-dovey couple, happy to leave them to their mushy stuff since it was starting to rot his teeth. It's like they never got sick of it, they'd never left the honeymoon phase and he sometimes wondered how they did it. And certainly, he'd never stop teasing them, not for the world.

"I think you mean she's the best, kid! She's perfect..." Ray called after him, satisfied with sounding like a big softie since (y/n)'s blush went from a faint pink to a deep red in a matter of seconds. He never lied about that kind of stuff, he couldn't, hurting her was like sacrilege and in a way, it was kinda like they were teasing the boy right back. If it embarrassed him so much to see them so deeply in love, then they'd relish in that, see how much they could make him squirm and shudder.

But if only they saw the way Henry hid his proud smile.

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