Unhinged

Duperman left Otis in space and returned to Earth after being blasted by his new nemesis. With a vengeful grin, he tore open the door of his favorite restaurant, ‘Mama B’s’. The place was now filled to the brim with patrons, enjoying their meals. There were even people dining at the table where the ceiling was destroyed. They found their ways around the rubble, extremely unbothered and enjoying the undeniably great food. Duperman didn’t care how great the food was. What he desired was to know more of the man who ate his prized calzone so callously.

“Martha.”

“Oh, hey Duperman!” the middle-aged waitress lit up seeing the hero. He was one of her favorite regulars.

“Who made the Muong Calzone today?” Duperman skipped the pleasantries, though held a slight smile to not come across wrong.

“Some big shot. Literal BIG shot…” she held her arms out to indicate the size of the man. “...rented out the whole restaurant for half an hour.

He paid Ricky with a briefcase full of cash to get the Mhuong Calzone made for him.”

“You can do that?”

“Well you could. Not until next year now.”

Duperman stowed his fury. It was clear that the villain had orchestrated it all just to infuriate him. 

“Did you catch where he went?”

“No. We all got here after he was gone. Only person here was Casserolio.”

“Makes sense.” Duperman knew that the celebrity chef was the reason they only did the Calzone once a year. Casserolio preserved the sanctity of the dish by limiting its availability. “Thanks, Martha.”

“Of course, sweetheart. See you for dinner?”

“You know you will.” the big man smiled wide and reattached the door he had been holding like a purse. He flew to the set of ‘Casserolio Cooks!’ at Big City’s waterfront, overlooking the Cloud Corridor.

It was nearly midnight, Duperman opened the door to the set and Casserolio must not have noticed. The celebrity chef was floating in the room, sitting in a chair made of meatballs. He spun on his finger a dumpling of some sort and completely mesmerized by it.

“I’m here to speak with you and this is weird.” Duperman blurted.

“DUPERMAN! Good to see you!” Cass descended and directed his foods into the giant bowl in the set’s kitchen. “What’s the dealio, D?” he asked cheerfully as he approached. As he noticed Duperman’s demeanor, he said, “You seem a little frazzled… You hungry?” He conjured some kind of broth between them two and sent it closer to Duperman. The hero sipped the soup out of the air, careful to maintain his serious face. Once he finished, he spoke.

“First of all, how many times have I rescued you from being smothered under your own food?”

“Five.”

“And have I ever come to you for anything?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. And you’re aware that I have waited years for a chance to get the Muong Calzone?”

“Sure am.”

“Then why take the chance from me and serve it to that big beefus from Mama B’s? That thing blasted me into space, Cass. You fed that monster my dream meal.” Duperman’s voice cracked as he laid out the events.

“Aw, D-man. I didn’t think of it like that. It was time to cook the Calzone anyway and Charles called and said we had someone looking to make a large donation to my charity in exchange.” Casserolio explained. Duperman’s eyebrow raised at the mention of Charles Masters. The chef continued, “I feel bad for letting you down, but think of all the apes we saved with that money.”

“YOU KNOW I THINK OF THE APES.” Duperman replied strongly. “Sorry, you just know they’re biologically my closest relatives on your planet.”

“I know, I know.”

“Martha said you were the last one there. Did you see where the Calzone thief went?”

“I actually ended up leaving before him. I ran into the dining room when I heard the blast - not realizing it had anything to do with you - and I saw him standing through the ceiling. He was clearly dangerous, so I wasn’t sure if he’d come at me or something. Looked like he started to sit back down as I walked out.”

“Any idea where I can find him?”

“Here.” Casserolio pulled from his sleeve a tiny, bright-green parsley leaf. “This garnish belonged on the Calzone. I only realized after leaving that I forgot to place it on the dish. It seems to have a mind of its own. I suspect it seeks to claim its rightful place.”

Casserolio let go of the leaf and it flew slowly out of the set. Duperman grabbed the chef and kissed his forehead. “All is forgiven, Cass. Maybe next year.” He said excitedly as he followed the leaf out from the set.

There was no mistaking the trajectory of the parsley. It meandered through the air towards the Cloud Corridor and Duperman knew he wouldn’t like what it was soon to reveal. He realized he didn’t have to wait for the leaf, so he grabbed it and flew to the penthouse of Charles Masters. As suspected, it flew around the building to find an open door on the balcony. Duperman waited outside as he heard talking inside.

“Could you be wrong?” Charles’ voice asked.

“Wrong or right, the end result is the same.” a deep, familiar voice answered. Duperman knew it to be his foe, Dark Duperman.

“Then we begin now.”

“We’ve already begun-*COUGH*. Ugh, something just flew into my mouth.” Dark Duperman stated as the parsley had a wondrous joining with the partially digested food miracle that is the Muong Calzone.

Duperman hovered outside, but backed away. He trusted Charles Masters for many years. He’d worked with the trillionaire to save the planet on multiple occasions. Charles went to his birthday parties. Images of sleepovers together and grilling side by side flashed in his head (though neither ever happened - but they could have).

There wasn’t any reason to hide, or hold back, Duperman thought.

He grabbed the sides corner of the building and lifted, first pulling the entire skyscraper up slowly, then tearing at the concrete and metal beams. He tossed the top section of the building out into the ocean beside the island, exposing the meeting taking place below.

What he saw was far more disturbing than a simple betrayal. Charles stood over someone tinkering inside a metal saucer. Beside him was Dark Duperman, standing over a body that was laid out on the floor.

Duperman exploded with fury as he recognized what had taken place. His eyes shot bright light, his shirt vaporized from the light emanating off of his skin. His entire body pulsed with intense electricity and light from Big City was draining towards him as he bellowed a deafening scream. The fury in his heart spread outward and knocked over Charles and the tinkerer. Dark Duperman had to brace himself for the force of Duperman’s rage. He kept looking down and seeing U.F.Otis, so helpless, wondering what would possess these two to harm his best friend in the world. It was such a blatant attempt at getting to him that he felt guilt as he did when he lost his home planet.. But then the alien pilot lifted his head.

“Otis?”

“Wh-what are you doing, Duperman? These two saved me…” said the farmer.

Duperman calmed down and looked around. Helicopters whirred and circled. People screamed and evacuated the cloud corridor. Waves crashed upon the island’s shore. Ships capsized in the wake he caused. Now, he realized what the real goal was here. Dark Duperman turned him into the villain.