David's Mum was driving back home from work, with her colleague on the passenger's seat. Mum was looking very worried to the colleague. Worried seeing worried David's Mum, she asked;"Why are you worried? Did anything bad happen at work today?"
     "No! It's not related to our work. It's about my son", she replied, trying to stay focused in her driving.
     "What happened to him?", her colleague faced her.
     "I got a call earlier today that he ran out of school before session closed."
     "I'm surprised your son did that...it's unlike him. There must be a good reason behind it then."
     "I hope he's safe and sound. He doesn't take his cell phone to school so...I don't know how to reach out to him", she sighed heavily, removing all sorts of fear in her.
     After a moment of silence, the colleague brought up another discussion. "Uh-uh! You heard about the recent attack from that monster today?", she began.
     "I heard about it. God save us from such monster", Mum replied. She blew her car horn to people that wanted crossing the road without watching out.
     "I was a lucky survivor from that attack. That monster's ruthless, it broke the arms of Ratboy today", the colleague narrated. David's Mum looked at her in shock when she heard the news.
     "Yes! I saw it myself. It bent his hands so much, when it left them, Ratboy couldn't take his hands back to normal again", she added, feeling David's Mum was suspecting her of lying.
     David's Mum turned left to another road. "No! This is the road it invaded today", her colleague told her. They met the police, who were on the road, some behind and the rest in front of the barricades, obstructing the road.
     David's Mum stopped immediately and was signalled at to go back immediately by the police. She apologized to them, joining her hands together and bowing her head. The sight of the dead bodies all over the road as they were being carried and put into large cans scared her to the bones. She literally shivered in fear and her colleague saw it.
     She hesitated in reversing the vehicle...she was gazing at the corpses. She drove out of the road. "I'll use another route", she said. They went straight ahead...past that road.
     *                      *                       *
     Late in the evening by 8pm, David crept into the compound in severe pain. He couldn't walk perfectly and his hands were still very weakened.
     At the same time, his parents were in the living room watching the news on TV. They were also worried about their son, especially as the news was all about the death of the people earlier that day caused by Death. "I hope my son is safe and sound", Mum laid on Dad's shoulders, shedding tears, being comforted by him at the same time.
     People were crying in the local news, bereaved of their loved ones. Some cursed the monster, some begged God to end such nightmare...all on TV.
     Dad and Mum both heard a knock on the door and were alerted. "Could that be David knocking?", Mum hoped, suggesting they opened the door.
     Dad got up and walked to the door. The second knock was heard. Mum stood up and nodded her head to him, signifying for him to open the door.
     Dad opened the door, was very excited when he saw David again. The happiness was short lived though, as David wanted falling to the floor but he was quick to get him. "David!", Mum exclaimed and swiftly went to see him.
     "What's happened to you?", she lamented when she saw the bruises and injuries all over his body. David said no word, struggling to breathe.
     "Close the door while I carry him up and take him to his room", Dad said to her. She did just that...as he carried up David to his room, she locked the door and then quickly went after them.
*                      *                       *
     Mr Robinson had just dialed David's line and he was frustrated...David had not been picking up his calls. This was just the most recent try in reaching out to him. "School closes by 2pm here if I'm not mistaking, but this is past 8pm and David isn't home or what?", he wondered, walking to and fro in his lab, very worried.
     An idea came to his mind. "I think I should go to his home and find out what's happening", he thought. He decided to do so and hurriedly kept his phone there and zoomed out of the lab.
     *                       *                        *
     Dad laid David on the bed. "Your body's very warm", he said. David was shivering and sweating.
     "Is it probably malaria he's suffering from?", Mum turned to Dad.
     "Well...looks like it", he replied, bothered more about the injuries David had.
     "Who gave you these words?", he asked David calmly. David didn't know the perfect lie to cook up so, he kept silent. Mum looked at his hands vividly and suspected them to be broken. She only tried to raise one up and David yelled loudly in pain.
     "Your hands are broken?", she asked rhetorically.
     "You've just seen it Mum", David replied with difficulty.
     Mum immediately remembered her conversation with her colleague when she was driving back home from work. "...That monster's ruthless, it broke the hands of Ratboy today", was the statement she remembered clearly from the colleague.
     "Are you Ratboy?", she couldn't tell when she blurted out the question. Dad and David both got shocked on hearing the question.
     "What are you saying honey?", asked Dad.
     "How possible is that? Me? Ratboy?", David denied. He wasn't bold enough to look Mum in the eyes though, this confirmed to her he was lying.
     "You're lying Dave. Your arms are broken and a colleague of mine said Ratboy's arms were broken today by that ruthless monster", she said to him.
     "But how's she sure...", he tried denying again but Mum cut him short.
     "She saw it herself. She told me everything and your body state clearly matches with what she narrated to me", she raised her voice, annoyed by David's denial. David said nothing...
     Dad began to feel Mum was making sense in her claim. "Mum's right. Who else would beat you up black and blue? And why would they do that? You offended someone? Tell me", he demanded David for an answer.
     They heard a knock all yeah from entrance door. Surprised someone had paid them a visit that  late without expecting it, baffled by it, they lowered their voices very low...
     "I'll go check who's at the door", said Dad.
     "Be careful!", Mum replied with caution. He nodded his head in agreement and walked out of the room.
     He got close to the door and was creeping towards it. He heard another knock. "I'd anyone home?", asked the visitor.
     "The tone of the voice doesn't sound dangerous", he thought. He decided to open the door and find out who it was then.
     "Hi! I'm Mr Robinson. I live opposite and I want to find out if your Son is home", he said.
     "Uhmmm...", David's Dad became curious, "Who are you to David?", he questioned.
     "I'm a good friend of his. I've been calling him for hours and he hasn't been picking up. Is he okay? I came to check up on him...I mean no harm. I promise."
     David's Dad thought for a while about it and decided to give him some trust. "Come inside and follow me", he gestured.
     "You're always risking your life but I won't tolerate this one. It's asinine", Mum said to David right before Dad and Mr Robinson walked into the room.
     "Who's this?", she asked Dad.
     "I live opposite and I'm a close friend to your son", Mr Robinson answered, quickly going to check on David.
     "They know my secret already. My mum just found out I'm Ratboy", David told him, loud enough for everyone to hear.
     Mr Robinson turned back and saw David's parents gazing at him in surprise. "Uhh..you guys know the truth?", he asked to make sure. "The secret of David being Ratboy...yes!", Mum replied sharply, having a feeling he was behind everything.
     "Well...", he shrugged, "I'm his creator. I was sent down here to create a superhero that could save Calabar from Death by the SHC."
     "Who's Death?", asked Dad.
     "That's the monster destroying the people of this city", David replied immediately.
     "Why didn't you make yourself the superhero? Huh?", Mum attacked Mr Robinson with the question.
     "I'm not allowed to do that...I would have. The rule is to start with a teenager."
     "Is my Son even being paid for this?", she looked at her son's injuries.
     "Yes ma'am! He's being paid every hour", replied Mr Robinson.
     "With what we're seeing right now, he may have to quit", Dad spoke out, arms folded.
     "I understand the pain you guys are going through right now seeing your David in this condition, but someone has to treat him...which I'll do, so he'll save us from Death", Mr Robinson became apologetic.
     "I'm not risking my son's life again. Get that into your fucking skull dude", Mum replied to him harshly.
     "But Mum!", exclaimed David.
     "Don't intervene Dave. Your Dad and I are on the same side...don't argue", Mum replied angrily.
     "So you're saying I should sit down, let Death destroy the whole Calabar, instead of stopping it?", David, becoming so confused about everything.
     "A solution will come very soon.  Don't risk your life", Mum replied, still out of anger.
     "It beat me up today. I'll surely beat it up the next time we clash", David argued further.
     Mr Robinson nodded his head, in support of what David said;"Yeah! That's true."
     "You're in a cloudland cuckoo Dave...stop daydreaming", replied Dad.
     "If that's what this geezer's been telling you, don't listen to him...it's a trap", Mum said to David, pointing at Mr Robinson rudely.
     David wanted saying something another time but Mr Robinson told him to remain silent. Silence then reigned for a while, Mr Robinson taking time to what he had to say.
     "No problem then...David will no more be Ratboy. Let's just sit down and die one by one whenever Death comes to us LITERALLY", he stressed on the word.
     "David's Mum didn't like the way he replied to them and wanted to reprimand him but he gestured for her to keep quiet. "Uhmmm Dave! I'll cook up something I'll be giving you to make you better in no time", he looked at David. He then walked out of the room and Mum signalled to Dad to go lock the door.
     "You may be angry but bear in mind I'm doing this because I love you", Mum became calm and moody. David sighed and looked away, wasn't in the mood to see someone cry.