"So, your girlfriend Grace Nightingale came up with the name Mr. Morale. What exactly was the issue with your last names?"
"As I said before you should already know this," Stanley said getting up from the arm chair.
"And as I said before I want to hear your thoughts on it."
Stanley let out an exhaustive sigh, "I don't want to talk about my parents."
"We don't have to. We can talk about everything but your parents."
Stanley paced around the room, "My whole life, I've felt like I never deserved anything I ever got. I was the son of killers, and because I was the son of killers, everyone treated me like some kind of bomb. We can't upset Stanley, he might kill us. Don't joke around with Stanley he might find it unfunny and kill us. Don't be friends with Stanley he might have a powerful oddity and get into a fight and need us as henchmen. Blah. Blah. Blah. Everyone faked their love for me just so I don't go siccing my father on them. Everyone was like that except for Grace."
Grace Nightingale was the daughter of Jeremy and Susan Nightingale. Jeremy and Susan was the world's worst arsonists. "Or best would be better to explain it. I say worst as in like evil. They used to burn orphanages, schools, any place a child went, they burned. Something about hating kids. Until they actually had one. Now all they do is build orphanages, schools, and daycares, etcetera. Grace used to tell me that she was the reason why her parents decided to be good. She considers herself a hero for that."
She was born February 14, 2002, "I was born a month later. Just like her birthday she was a real lover." She had a grand love for animals, people, and beautiful landscapes. She was a champion for going green and was even a vegan. She tried her best to be respectful of everyone, and she hated whenever someone was disrespectful. She attended pride parades, animal cruelty protests, she was an activist for more Odd rights. Although Stanley never really attended any of them, he respected her and all of her opinions. So did Grace with most of Stanley's, except for one.
"It was a couple weeks after the Derrick fight when she invited me over to meet her parents. She had been telling me that she wanted to do a mock wedding in a couple months, and I didn't question her. I just said sure."
While they were on the train ride over to her house, Stanley took the time to go take his medicine. "Why are you taking that," Grace asked him as he downed a couple pills with water.
"I have to, they're my oddity suppression pills."
"Yeah, I know, but why are you taking them," her radiant orange eyes encompassed Stanley while her words echoed in his mind. He saw a fire burn deep inside of her eyes as he felt his throat dry up. The very moisture in the air sapped away. Stanley suffocated under her next words, "It's bad for you, it's oppressive."
The ride was over before they both even knew it, and Stanley found himself a breath of fresh air. "Having lived in a mansion full of batshit crazy people, this" he paused and got closer to Dr. Thomas, he tried to make an outline of the house using his hands, "small home with a beautiful garden in the front. It completed her eyes like no other. I thought, wow. I wonder what it's like inside."
"Where was her house Stanley," Dr. Thomas asked as she wrote things down in a notepad that Stanley never noticed before.
"In the Crimson Village, but it's not like she was like the other people in Crimson Village. Everybody there is evil, except for her."
"You've seen these people do evil things and formed that opinion?"
"Well, no, it's just what I've heard. Actually, I have seen a couple gangs around."
"So why do vigilante work in Heaven's Kitchen? You should have been cleaning up Crimson Village or trying to clean up it's reputation. I'm sure that's what Grace would have done."
Stanley walked back to his seat and sat down on it, "That's not what she would have done."
"Do you think she would have become a villain like her father and mother?"
"That's not what she would have done either! I just- It's hard to talk about her in the best of lights, and I don't want to dim down her shine. But she always valued honesty and respect over anything. Doctor..." Stanley rubbed his eyes, "Is it disrespectful to speak the honesty of the dead. If I told all of her truths, she won't be seen as a hero anymore. She'll be the villain she's never wanted to be. What should I do?"
"Mr. Morale, honesty is the most important thing in these types of sessions" Dr. Thomas continued with the grace of daring mother. "Can you tell me how Grace died, and how it made you feel?"
August 12, 2016. Grace and Stanley were both 14 years old. They sat atop a beautiful rooftop in Heaven's Kitchen. The building was some office building where Stanley's mother used to work. During his mother's work days at the office, Stanley found secret ways to get up onto the roof without anybody knowing. "The roof comes after the 14th floor, but on the 13th floor there is a small little gap between boxes that lead to some kind of secret stairwell that can lead you to anywhere in the building."
He only taught the secret to Grace, who upon hearing it replied with, "That's odd innit." They both laughed. It was approximately 3:47 PM on a beautiful Friday afternoon. They had just finished their date and danced the devil's tango after tap-dancing around the devil that was Stanley's dad.
"Today is such a magical day, Stanley," Grace said as she stared at the ground beyond the short stone wall that caged the couple onto the roof.
"Aren't we supposed to be getting married today?"
"Not anymore. Death will do us part now." Stanley sat on top of the wall, his back to the ground below them, and turned his head to Grace who stood right next to him. "But at least we made the most of our time," Stanley replied with a straining smile.
"Stanley, what's your oddity? I've always wanted to see it."
"My oddity? You've never asked to see it before."
"Well you took pills so I always thought it was a touchy subject for you. Like with my oddity, I wanted to hide it from you the first time we met, but the way you always spoke about how being Odd is normal. It made me embrace it just a little more."
"Well I'll show you," Stanley hopped off the wall and landed on the rooftop, he turned to Grace and took a few steps backwards.
"Stanley do you remember Susie Longbottom?"
"She was that bitch that broke your ken doll as a kid right?"
"Yeah," Stanley watched as Grace began using her fingers to dance on the wall. He couldn't make out what exactly she was acting out, but if he were to go back in time and analyze it with his current brain he would describe it as, "Her living out some sort of frozen dream."
"I can make the ken doll for you if you'd like," Stanley said.
"Is that your oddity? I thought you said it was super strength before," Grace turned around and wore a stone cold face. Stanley looked down at his palms, he covered one palm with another and softly spoke, "Conscious creation." Suddenly between his palms, a light blue glow shined and warmed up Grace's face. The glow transformed into that of a mangled ken barbie doll. It looked as though a dog had chewed up the doll and spit it out. It was missing an arm, and the leg was bitten half off.
"Conscious creation lets me create anything I think of, but as you can see, I don't really have that creative of a mind. So I made the ken doll based off of my sister's," he dropped the doll. "I'm sorry it's not that good. I'm not good at using my powers."
"But it's so beautiful. Stanley," Grace begun, "if someone kills someone are they a villain in your opinion?"
"Yeah, that only makes sense, is this another one of those philosophical talks you want to have? I told you I'm not good at thinking that good."
"I know, I know, but this is important," Grace climbed up onto the wall of the rooftop, and began balancing herself on it.
"Grace, be careful you might fall," Stanley interjected moving closer to her.
"Stanley! If you kill a villain, are you a hero?"
"Yes, but get away from the edge. You're barely keeping balance," Stanley rushed to her side, and held onto her legs. She found her balance, chuckled, then looked down on Stanley, forcing out a smile. "I killed Susie, Stanley. With my disgusting oddity, I burned her to death for breaking my ken doll. I'm just like my parents."
"Grace, what are you talking about," Stanley asked looking up at Grace before grimacing at the tear drops hitting his face.
"I'm a villain, and my thoughts have just been getting worse and worse lately. I wanted to leave you a letter, but I sent you a scheduled text, and I had the selfish idea of spending my last day with you. I couldn't do this without you."
"Grace, let's get off the edge. Let's get off the roof and let's- let's just. Talk, we can keep talking! For as long as we have to- forever," Stanley gripped Grace's legs as he stumbled over his words.
Grace Nightingale had the oddity of the flame. Her oddity allowed her to transform parts of her body into a raging fire. She activated her oddity, the moment she felt Stanley's head rest on her legs and his arms tighten around them. He backed off of her instinctively, in which she said, "I love you Mr. Morale," before taking a step off of the edge, toward the ground below.
"I always wondered since that day. No, since that moment of her.. You know? Death. That, maybe I could have done something more to save her. I've always felt like maybe, like maybe, I was the villain for not doing more. Like- I pushed her off the edge myself."
"But it's not your fault Stanley," Dr. Thomas soothingly eased his ears with words that seemed to elevate his spirits. "You became a hero to save as many people as you could right? She indirectly saved them as well. Through her death she has pushed you to be a hero you never thought you could be. Her last final gesture to a world that treated her like a villain. Was to give the world the best superhero, but right now you're a vigilante. And right before our time is up for the day. I want you to tell me about why you jumped off that roof."