May 12th 2020
     His short stick-like legs stumble out from the photo studio. Only 24 years old, trying to make his way in the world. He has two left feet and trips into a Canadian gutter. The photographed pictures of trees, grass, and smiling people slip out of his hand, fall, and get drenched in some kind of water.  Robbie Robin looks around embarrassed and tries to make out the photos from the gutter gunk.
     Robbie slowly drifts home, discouraged. Droplets of freshly gross waterfall in an exact pace, one right after the other, coming from both Robbie and the pictures. Miss Maple greets him at the door with puckered lips. With a flick of her wrist, she flashes a new, golden wedding band. Robbie quickly grabs her hand and pulls it closer to his lips. She pulls away.
     “What happened!?” Her eyes widen in disbelief.
     “The pictures,” He looks down, “they’re ruined.”
     “But what about you, Robbie?” Ms. Maple’s tall stature towers above Robbie’s. She grabs his neck and pulls him in for a hug.
     “I’m fine,” he gently pushes her away, “but our photos aren’t. This was the one chance to show your family that you could get a husband. I failed.”
    “It’s fine, I don’t care what my parents think! It’s just us that matters.”
     Robbie looks at his feet, makes a humble smile and moves his way into the kitchen for coffee. Miss Maple struts to the t.v., bends over almost too slowly, and cranks it on. The news is blaring.
     “BREAKING NEWS! The evil villain Squirrelly Master is at it again! He is now turning people into food! WE NEED THE HELP OF MAPLE MAN TO SAVE US ALLLLLL!!!!”
     “Robbie, did you hear that?” Miss Maple shouts. “Robbie? ROBBIE!!”
     Memories flood into Robbie’s head, his ears go silent, his eyes become glossy. The day all his powers came was a very tough day for Robbie. His junk food eating was out of control. Robbie drops his coffee, the mug shatters and the coffee splatters. He remembers that day very well. All was O.K. in Quebec, until that day. Robbie was just walking through the maple park. He remembers, a furrowed brow falls over his face, his mouth opens. There were so many trees, he was trying to avoid them, he hated maple. He had just gotten over his junk food addiction; the maple was too much for him. He wasn’t looking, it just happened. He looked down, remembering that moment, when there was a tree inside his leg! The maple was running, dripping, into his bloodstream. At first he couldn’t control his power, the shooting of maple out of his very hands and eyes. It took him years. Years, to master his new development. Finally he did it, he could control squirting liquid sugar all over. Until the great mishap happened. Robbie had a junk food relapse, the maple syrup didn’t stop, it was flowing, in what seemed like forever. Ms. Maple, was at the store that day, she had come home to find Robbie in his fatty state. He turned his hand and screamed,
    “Don’t look at me!!!!!” He shot the gooey goodness all over poor Miss. Maple’s slim body. She had got stuck right against the wall.
     Robbie promised himself he would never become Maple Man ever again after that horrid day. Ms. Maple forgave him soon after the incident, but Robbie never did. The images haunted him every day.
     Ms. Maple was still screaming. Robbie was now lying on the floor. He snapped back into consciousness. He looked to the t.v. screen and knew what he had to do: defend the Quebec province, and the whole world! 
     Ms. Maple sees the look in Robbie’s face and claps for him. Robbie runs into the Maple’s shared back yard, to their maple tree. He rips a piece of bark from the tree and sticks into his thigh. The syrup spreads quickly down his calf to his foot, he screams and clenches his hand. He drops the bark in fury. There’s fire in his eyes, he flies up into the air, his right hand extends 12 inches in front of his face. His muscles bulge up and nearly rip his red spandex shirt. The leaf printed on his torso elongates into a huge slice of foliage. His Canadian pride bellows within the whole town. Maple Man was himself once again.
     Maple Man flies right into the center of town. He glides down and softly lands, one foot at a time. He narrows his hand and put it upon his forehead.  His head turns left and right, almost 360 degrees each way. He looks up into the tallest building he could see, the mirrored glass reflects into his corneas. For moments, he was blinded. He hears a vile laugh. Squirrelly Master.
     “Haha, we meet again,” his voice suddenly turned cynical, “Maple Man.”
     “Where have you been all these years,” Maple Man stands his ground, “I haven’t seen you ruining citizen’s lives in ages. I haven’t had to save anyone for a long time.”
     Squirrelly Master looks into the sky. 
     “That’s because I’ve been saving this idea for a lifetime. I’ve been waiting for the right moment. And I know it will be hard for you to not eat these, juicy, crunchy, creamy food people.”
     Maple Man gulps. Squirrelly Master starts again,
     “You look nervous Maple Man. What’s your plan of attack? Are you gonna run home to your little wifey? Well you can’t!”
He points up into the mirrored building.
     Maple Man sees Ms. Maple. Her hands and feet tied, her ribs strained, her waist strives to become free.
     Maple Man looks down. His mouth opens to the slightest, with rage he grabs Squirrelly Master’s neck and flies straight into the sky. His muscles flare up as anger boils over in him.
     “Not my WIFE!”
     Squirrely Master’s bones tingle, his eyes widen. Maple Man dives into building after building crashing the glass behind Squirrelly Master. His grip is like fire itself. Squirrelly Master chokes for enough air to stay living. Maple Man’s eyes show the true meaning of tremor. Squirrelly Master  stays living long enough to take a swing at Maple Man. Maple Man, too drowned in animosity to notice. He hits the ground of the mirrored building, unconscious. 
     Maple Man’s eyes open, for a split second he forgets the last hour. The cavern surrounding him, is filled with tables which hold every widget and thingamabob you could ever depict in your mind
   He notices the strange feeling of restriction. His eyes look down before head does. He realizes that there are chains wrapped around his wrists and form. A  noise, almost a squeal, stretches from across the room over to Maple Man’s ears. He looks up. Ms. Maple was strapped onto an easel-like board. Maple Man forgets his predicament, and tries to struggle free. He remembers that he can’t move, and he sighs with pain and anger. Miss. Maple’s mouth had been concealed with duct tape. Maple Man discerns that his mouth was also varnished with the plastic, gooey, tape. He mumbles, and his pure fury itself extinguishes the tape placed over his mouth. He screams. Squirrelly Master taps Maple Man on the shoulder and startles him. Maple Man squinches his eyes.
     “You.” He says in a low whisper.
     “Me,” says Squirrelly Master in a looming tone.
     “What have you done? Do you really believe you can get away with this? With any of this?”
     “You’re wife’s process is almost finished.”
     “What do you mea-” Maple Man infliction suggests that he’s lost hope “the food people.” he looks down with a bitter face.
     All Squirrelly Master does is nod. A menacing grin grows over his mask. Maple Man takes a deep breath and looks down.
     “What can I do to stop you?” He looks up again.
Squirrelly Master surmises an idea in his mind. His eyes glow with a thought.
     “You can give me all of your strength, your powers,” he looks down, then back up, “your life.” 
     Maple Man looks at his wife, who is now shaking her head with all of her might. She screams and a mumbled “No, no, no!” slip from her lips. Without hesitation he says,
     “I’ll do it.”
     Ms. Maple exhales with affliction, knowing there was no way to change his mind now.  Squirrelly Master immediately walks over to Maple Man and unties his torso. Maple Man looks up to Ms. Maple. Little does he known that Ms. Maple had used her marriage band to scratch the chains until they were open. She escaped behind Squirrelly Master’s back.
     Squirrelly Master and Maple Man walk over to a device that reads “Power-Switch-a-Motor” in bright, bold sapphire letters. Squirrelly Master thrashes his arms wide open with blustering pride.
      “This is my machine. It will take the powers directly from your close core and inject the majesty of your virtue directly into my heart. You will stay living,” Squirrelly Master mutters under his breath “mostly.” 
     Maple Man reluctantly steps into the two chambered gadget. Squirrelly Master walk over to the button that ever so miraculously starts the Power-Switch-a-Motor. Maple Man clears his throat and speaks up confidently,
    “If you do this, you have to promise to change every person in the entire universe who you’ve changed into food, back into regular people; and agree to never start your reign of terror again! Then maybe we can all live in peace around here once more.”
     Ms. Maple hides behind the wall behind the machine. She blushes, knowing she chose the merited person to spend eternity with.
     Squirrelly Master nods his head with as much fake attitude as he could muster up. He walks over to the whopping, lustrous, crimson button. With a big lash, his hand smacks down on it. He quickly steps into the widget. The machine vibrates with clamoring intensity. Maple Man’s face instantly loses its vibrancy. His suit wraps around his ribs as if a boa constrictor is sucking the very life out of him. 
     Without thinking, Ms. Maple briskly grabs a wrench and dives to Squirrelly Master, and with a strong arm she bludgeons the wrench straight onto his nogan. He falls into unconsciousness. As she moves, her waist brushes against a switch that states “all power” and “half power”; she shifts the option of “all power” into “half power” not realizing it. She stands up tall, without comprehending that she’s at the other side of the “Power-Switch-a-Mator.” Her body gets full of muscle and power. the apples of her cheeks lift up with more beauty than they started with. She looks to her left and sees Maple Man being lifted up as well. The fullness in his face restores. He looks to his alluring wife and knows he truly loves her. Ms. Maple and Maple Man are both filled with half the endowment that Maple Man once had. Ms. Maple slowly scans over her arms and legs, built with three times as much strength as before. Maple Man looks over to Ms. Maple and grants her a grin. She returns the cheer. Maple Man’s smirk swiftly waxes into a fearful face. Ms. Maple follows in the dissapointment. Maple Man barely opens his mouth and speaks,
     “The food people.”
     His eyes scour through the room. he spots a sign almost too obvious to perceive. Maple Man’s lips recite the words,
     “Potion in Which Changes All Food People Back into Normal Humans.”
     A polished, rose colored knob directly underneath the words stood out like a sore thumb. Ms. Maple did the work of Maple Man and pressed the button. The world was saved!
     Maple Man and Ms. Maple both tie up Squirrel Butt’s limp body, not once breaking tender eye contact. Maple Man grasps Ms. Maple’s figure and tugs her in for a kiss. She kicks her right calf directly into the air. Ms. Maple looks up to the sky, still wrapped in a hug, and flies with her husband’s embrace…