Radar, after his break up with Gloria Summers aka Lady Liberty, heads back home. Short story.

Picking Up the Pieces
By Radar Nocturn

The rain poured down steadily as the bat strolled through the dark streets. Lamps lit up only the corners and he hunched over. He took no head of the other lost souls as he made his way past them. The prostitutes shunned him, not liking his looks as he trod the slick sidewalk. His gaze stayed downward, while he stepped past a mother hurrying home with her child before it got too late. He paused for a moment and looked back at the two only to let out a soft sigh as he resumed his path. At first, he didn’t know where he was headed; he merely paid no head to the others trapped inside the city of broken dreams.

He had left Colmation not long after his secrets were revealed. Nobody wanted him around, knowing that he had files on each and every one of them. None of them wanted to understand that he was merely preparing for the worst. Should any of those gods among men come to believe that it would be easier to enslave over saving, he would be ready to stop them. But none of them would admit that possibility, none of them even wanted to think it was even possible.

Nothing made him happy since he left that city, but then he never felt he truly belonged there anyway. It was too cheery, too far out of touch with the reality that he knew and trusted. It was like everything was out of a child’s comic book, when he knew the truth was as dingy and sour as an old black and white detective movie. The kind of movie where the hero doesn’t really win, he just pulls himself out of a jam only to find himself still stuck in the hell he was in before the movie started rolling.

The angel had left his side as he had cast her out, damning all the gods for the way they played with the world, treating the mortals like disposable toys. They lived by their own rules, and thought little of the laws that governed man, so he wished banishment upon them all. He thought and he pondered, and it did not take him long before he came upon a probable solution to keep the affairs of gods from affecting the lives of mortals.

His world would be world without gods, be they immortal or not. The people would have to step forward to save themselves he reasoned, but it would have to be done. The bat named Radar looked up as the rain slowly gave way, revealing the darkening horizon. A war would come he realized but it was a war that would be needed.

When he looked around, he realized that he was not far from the home his parents left him and he took off, wings unfurling as he took to the sky. He soared over the houses and the trees, slipping past the sad suburbs into the country side. It took him nearly an hour to get there, but by then, all his thoughts and ideas had come into place by the time he opened the front door.

It was all like he remembered when he was a child, and he slowly entered, flicking the kitchen light on. The light flickered a bit before it glowed and he made his way down the hallway and up the stairs. Once at the top, he kept walking, heading to the last room at the end of the hall, his old room. He gave a sigh, having not been there since his father died, and yet everything was as he remembered, except with a thick layer of dust on it all.

A tear fell from his eye as he sat on the bed, hearing the worn springs creak. His head tilted as he found an old stuffed toy from his youth, something he had held onto all these years for sentimental value. With a slight smile, he picked it up and set it upon the pillows, patting the toy on the head. The toy’s fur was matted and worn, having obviously seen much better days, but the love given by the child he had been was evident. He merely wished he could feel those same feelings of love again.

With one last glance back at the toy, he rose to his feet and made his way to the door. A sigh left his lips as he headed back down, towards the couch in the living room where he could always remember seeing his mother reading some book. With no other presence inside, the house just seemed so dark and empty, and it reminded him of his heart. He grasped the couch and gave a squeeze of the cushion, two little words escaping his lips.

“I’m home.”