One year later...

"Thank you so much for sitting down with us, Mr. O'Hara," the reporter for Vanity Fair said to me as the two of us sat in a private room of the YHA headquarters. "This past year has been full of challenges for you after the events regarding the disgraced hero formerly known as Velocity and what had transpired."

I inhaled deeply, nodding at her statement. "That's one way of putting it, Miss O'Reilley," I replied. "Then again, my life would be more tame yet boring if I hadn't known about the YHA or my godbrothers being superheroes. And that might not had ever happened if I hadn't went to the restroom that day. So I guess you can say that fate has a funny yet fantastic way of leading you to where you need to be in life."

"And now?"

I smiled faintly. "Well, you can say that I'm still adjusting to the new normal...even after I had to recover greatly that day."

That was the truth. And you may be wondering what happened in between me facing death's door and today. Well, here's a small summary.

1. I managed to wake up from a two-week coma with Drake/Blue Crush and Jorge/Green Wave relieved that I had survived.

2. Kendall's serum that would take away my powers did work...but it ended up being used on her instead of me since it turned out that Obsidian was double-crossing her from the start.

3. And speaking of which, it turns out that Obsidian/Enrique was actually part of an elite sector of the worldwide version of the YHA (turns out that the there are more branches of the YHA than I expected, but I digress) and that he was assigned to work on the case regarding Kendall and Greenlee.

4. Speaking of the ill-fated duo themselves, both Greenlee and Kendall were arrested, tried, and convicted of multiple counts (including four counts of capital murder and domestic terrorism). They were sentenced to death row, but they ended up beating everyone to their own game by offing themselves. No one attended their funerals and their families (including Kendall's devastated mother, a woman with work-worn hands, her middle-school sister Tiana, and her grandparents) quietly left town. That allowed me to lay my best friends and parents to rest and ensure that justice was administered.

5. Jorge and Drake decided to call off their engagement with me as they knew that polygamy with me would not work in their favor after all. Of course, they were still gay and had feelings for me, but they agreed that only one of them could be with me. They gave me time to work on myself while telling me that I could only choose one of them.

6. After spending several weeks going steady with each of them while catching up on classwork and filing college applications, I had made my decision during the Winter Formal where I was crowned Winter King while one of the dance-team members was crowned queen. Speaking of which...

Knock-knock.

"Who's there?" I asked.

In stepped a well-dressed Jorge with him giving me a wan grin. "How's kicks?" he greeted me with a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Better now that you're here," I replied. "And it's rude to crash an interview, you know?"

"Ah, but you forget that tonight's date night and we're calling it in early because graduation's tomorrow."

I shrugged my shoulders. "True."

That's right, folks. Jore and I were an official couple even though he and Drake were still my mentors with me still being their sidekicks. And the three of us, dubbed "The Trinity of Dallas," were giving new life to the Youth Hero Alliance while taking down bad guys and managing to finish high school. Even though he was a bit sad that I didn't choose him, he managed to recover after a week of depression and became the best friend. And much to everyone's surprise, he and Dominic managed to hit it off and became a couple themselves.

And the best part of it all? The guys- Drake, Jorge, Dominic, Rogelio, Brian, Jamal, and I were all set to attend SMU together while managing our superhero lifestyles. Of course, that would mean that we would have to pass the torches to the newest recruits of superheroes (male and female); but not without a thorough background check after the Kendall/Greenlee situation. Hey, the Alliance can't afford any more crazos around to cause unwanted drama. Me suffering from the secrecy and everything was enough to learn from the mistakes made.

Life was good, folks, and to think I almost missed out on everything if I hadn't gone to the restroom that week. Go figure. And now that I was with good friends and had a bright future...I know that I have no regrets.

Now, you could say that I had my happily-ever-after ending, but let's be clear: this was only the beginning of a brand new chapter. And you can say that things can still change without warning. Hey, I'm only eighteen.

THE END!

Novella started: 2/1/2025
Novella ended: 2/25/2025
GRAND TOTAL: 33,237 words.

And that's a wrap, fine folks! I told y'all that the ending would leave you all gagging and wanting more! I just never imagined that this story could turn out like this! I'll admit, I never imagined getting this far and all regarding a superhero theme regarding the ONC 2025 prompt that I've chosen. And I won't deny that I was a bit over my head with the theme and storyline. But I promised myself that I would see this through until the end, and I did. And now, here I am!

But, I won't be writing the novel version of this story. In fact, I plan to do something different with the characters and start fresh with a totally different story. And guess what, my fine friends, I'll be sharing it with you- the cover and official summary! That's coming up next, so don't miss out!

Media: "Brighter than the Sun" by Colbie Calliat. Dedicating this out to Venomis.

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