Skyler was baffled, his usually foolproof strategy had never let him down before.
"Maybe it's ‘cause of the little baby in her belly," he mused. "The baby hasn't done anything wrong. If Superman goes after Megan, the innocent little baby would kick the bucket too." That explanation seemed to make sense.
William let out a heavy sigh, "Guess we'll just have to wait until she pops the kid out before we slap her with the Reaper's Stamp." He didn't fancy Megan's kid becoming his brother or sister. Kane probably felt the same.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
Just then, Kane buzzed in, "Hey William, Mom's dropping by the Stirling Estate today. Wanna tag along?" "Sure thing." William nodded, planning to catch up with Kane after his lesson on hypnotism with Skyler.
Skyler dragged William off to the study for their session, but just as they were about to start, his phone pinged with a message.
[Hey Skyler, did your Reaper's Stamp go on the fritz yesterday? ] Geoffrey asked.
Skyler jolted at the text, [How did you know?] [I know everything. You ticked off Superman by not listening, and that's why your stamp conked out.] Skyler puffed his cheeks angrily, replying, [Megan's a big baddie. Once she finished giving birth to her baby, Superman will definitely set things right.] [Who's bad or not, | call the shots.] Skyler was fuming, hands on hips, glaring at his phone, "Geoffrey's a real piece of work too. Can't stand the guy." William glanced at the texts and patted his shoulder, "Skyler, it's better to rely on ourselves than others. If Superman doesn't dish out justice, we'll do it ourselves like before." Skyler nodded vigorously, "As champions of justice, we absolutely can't let a big baddie like Megan get away with it." Later in the afternoon, Aurelia came to fetch William, taking him to the Stirling Estate.
William decided to share his and Skyler's secret with Kane, having gotten the thumbs up from Skyler.
With the door closed, he gestured for silence, "Kane, I've got a secret to share, but you gotta swear, not a word to anyone, not even Uncle Leopold or Mom." "I swear | won't tell." Kane nodded solemnly.
William pulled out the stamp from his pocket, "You know what this is?" "Just a stamp," Kane replied.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
William wore a mysterious grin, "This isn't just any stamp. It's Superman's Reaper's Stamp." Kane's eyes widened slightly, "The Reaper's Stamp?" "Yep." William whispered into his ear, "If someone bullies you, just stamp ‘em with this, and Superman will send the Grim Reaper to take 'em away." Kane's eyes went as big as saucers, "Sounds like something straight out of Death Note. They really get taken away?" "For real. Back when Skyler was in school, some bullies got stamped, and the Grim Reaper hauled them off. I've used it too. Last vacation, some jerks were picking on the little kids, so | gave them the Reaper's Stamp, and they ended up brawling, both looking like they went ten rounds with Mike Tyson." Kane was gobsmacked, never having heard of such a wild thing.
He took the stamp, inspecting it closely. It seemed like a regular stamp, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Can stuff like this happen in the real world?" William sighed, "The thing has been on the blink recently." "Why's that?" Kane asked eagerly.
"The other day, we tried it on Megan, but she's still walking around, no sign of Superman's wrath. Skyler got a text from his brother Geoffrey, saying the Reaper's Stamp went kaput because Skyler didn't listen to him."