He stared at the costume that sat in a heap on the other side of the room and the demons it created.

Emotion and color contorted before him as he lashed out...

The costume had laid there for two weeks now, unused, abandoned, and, for the most part, ignored, except for times like this.

"I never pictured you for the superhero type, Mikey..."

The costume, with the dried blood and stains...

Finnegan's mouth exploded in tooth shaped shrapnel and thick blood...

The night loomed outside, free and unrestrained.

Another blow and several more of Finnegan's ribs collapsed...

Pacific City suffered, it's protector having betrayed and abandoned it.

Holding the crippled man up with hand, he lashed out again and again, shattering bone and causing major damage to his internal organs.

The city, with the dried blood and stains.

A final blow shattered Finnegan's face...

Michael Manly lowered his head into his hands and cried like he had every day for the past two weeks.

The tears ran between the cracks in his fingers, falling silently against Jim Finnegan's tattered Millennium Man costume beneath.

Anthology Two Presents

Millennium Man
"Forsaken"
By Jason S. Kenney

"He needed help, but what did he get? He got beaten to death by an overpowered bully!"

"But, Doctor Havert, what Millennium Man did is justifiable self defense under current law."

"'Justifiable self defense'? The man is walking around with powers beyond most weapons, certainly beyond those of the small gun Finnegan was carrying. Does he not have a duty, a responsibility to show restraint? If he fails to do so, how is he any different than what he claims to be fighting against?"

"Without Millennium Man the police would have been forced to act and many more people may have died."

"In that one situation, perhaps, but let's go back beyond Finnegan's horrible and brutal beating, which, by the way, is beyond any act of police brutality I have ever seen. Surely you remember the Imperial Magistrate. Were there no Millennium Man we would not have seen the destruction cause by these people. Were Millennium Man truly concerned about the people of this city he would have taken the fight elsewhere. But, no, he put innocent lives at risk for the sake of posturing and posing for the camera. He's a gimmick, a fad. He's Hollywood gone wild and he's putting too many people in danger just for the sake of a little publicity.

"AND, it's a proven fact that crime has not decreased since his arrival. No, quite the opposite really. These characters ATTRACT the creatures the fight, the dangers they attempt to stop. They bring the fight to them and ultimately to us, the people who can not defend ourselves against these threats. How DARE they put us at risk?"

"Doctor Havert, without heroes like Millennium Man there would be nothing to stop super powered villains, period. Should we do away with our only line of defense against such things and open ourselves up to the risks?"

"Rock, what I'm saying is that there would be no risks with these 'heroes' out of the way. If they did not exist then the villains would not. What we are seeing is a cold war in crime. As one side builds up, so will the other, and it will continue at the expense of innocent lives. Someone must take the first step and it is up to these so called heroes to make the move. Otherwise we'll see more incidents like Finnegan's and we, the people, will be powerless to stop it."

She frowned as she looked out the window to the small gathering below. Ever since the Finnegan incident there had been some gathering outside, protesting her show, protesting HER.

Did they forget what happened?

Did they forget how Millennium Man had saved HER life, how SHE was the one at risk, how SHE was the one being held hostage, how SHE was the one Finnegan had fired at.

Yes, they must have, she thought as she watched them with their signs and their slogans.

Pacific City had turned against the man who had protected it, the man who had kept them safe.

Regina Darling felt alone in her defense of the man who saved their lives so many times.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid you're horribly over qualified."

Michael Manly didn't know how to feel. Proud that he was overqualified to work at McDonald's or heartbroken at being unable to even get a job at McDonald's.

"I know, but I need a job and no one's hiring right now. I don't care about qualifications, I just need something to do."

"Well, we're looking for someone more long term."

Manly looked at the kid interviewing him. He had to be, what, sixteen years old? Christ, Manly thought, being interviewed and rejected by a boy half his age.

"I'll give you long term," Manly said, "I'm not looking at going anywhere and I really need the job."

The kid looked at Manly's application and sighed.

"You know the pay is..."

"Anything," said Manly.

"Okay." The kid shook his head. "Welcome to the McDonald's family."

"Commissioner Jordan, sir, is it true that you and mayor are working on proposals concerning the activity of science heroes in Pacific City?"

"Without going into any details, the mayor and I are investigating the current situations concerning science heroes and their activities in Pacific City and how we can best protect the people."

"Sir, what measures are the police taking to make sure an event such as the one a couple weeks back concerning Millennium Man and a hostage situation never happens again?"

"Again, I can not go into any detail, but the mayor and I are addressing the concerns of the citizens of Pacific City and we will take necessary actions to ensure their safety."

"Commissioner, is the based on the current investigation into the hostage situation two weeks ago, is the District Attorney's office looking into bringing up any charges against Millennium Man?"

"I do not have that information at this time and would refer you to the DA's office."

"Sir, Commissioner Jordan, sir, would any actions taken by the city and the police against science heroes focus on Millennium Man or be a unilateral decree against all science heroes?"

"I can not say for sure at this time, but, again, as I have said, the mayor and I are looking into the matter and we will address the concerns of the citizens of Pacific City once we have conducted a thorough investigation and gone through all of the facts presented to us."

He stared at the costume that sat in a heap on the other side of the room and the demons it created.

Jim Finnegan screamed out as he took hold of his hand and crushed every bone in it...

He stood up and walked to the sliding glass door leading out to the balcony, opening it and stepping outside.

"...thought you were too self-obsessed to care much about saving the world..."

He looked across the city, it's lights breaking through the darkness to show signs of life.

"...but...it...looks...like...I...was...wrong..."

He looked across the city, the city he loved, the city he had protected.

"...now...I...know...why...you...always...looked...down...on...me..."

"Why, Jim?" he asked the darkness in barely a whisper.

"You were supposed to be my friend, Jim, I was supposed to trust you!"

He stepped up onto the railing of the balcony and opened his arms wide to embrace his city.

A final blow shattered Finnegan's face.

He looked down at the street below him, the cars that passed time to time, the few people who were out this time of night.

And, like every night for the last two weeks, he could not bring himself to commit to the act he set out to do.

Michael Manly fell backwards onto the balcony, pulled himself into a fetal position, and cried himself to sleep.

The explosion tore through the building and broke through the windows as the fires inside gasped for air. Police outside ducked and attempted to cover themselves from the debris that flew at them, some failing, other succeeding, all of them stunned.

A creature walked from the flames and towards the police, a heavy silhouette against the backdrop of the burning building.

"WHERE IS MILLENNIUM MAN?!?!!!" shouted the creature again, lifting one arm and pointing to a police car that promptly exploded.

"What the hell are we going to do?" screamed Officer Jonathan Peters to no one in particular. It was his third day as a uniformed officer in the Pacific City Police Department and he prayed it wouldn't be his last.

"Calm down, Johnny," said Officer Fred Thomas, his partner and a five year veteran. Thomas looked around as the man, creature, science thingy continued to walk from the flames and through the hail of bullets the police fired at it to no avail.

Two fire trucks were barreling towards the scene a few blocks back. Thomas leapt up and started running towards them.

The creature laughed as the cops wasted their ammunition firing upon him. His superheated body melted anything that came near him. He pointed towards one police officer who simply burst into flames. The officers around him panicked and the creature laughed again.

"You can not stop Combust!" he shouted. "NOW BRING ME MILLENNIUM MAN!!!!"

"HEY, COMPOST!" shouted a voice. The creature turned to see Thomas standing with a fire hose. The creature smiled as the water blasted towards him.

Steam rose as the water quickly evaporated as it got near Combust's body. The creature laughed at the pathetic display and lifted his hand to point at the foolish officer. His attention was averted by a second hose firing at him, its water turning to steam as it got near him, just like the first. Then came a third hose.

The creature reared back his head and laughed as a fourth and then fifth hose sprayed towards him.

"Is this the best you've got?" he shouted, continuing to walk forward, steam rising around him as the hoses continued to spray. Then the creature stopped as he noticed what was happening. The water was still steaming, but it was getting closer and closer.

"What?" he said as he took a couple steps back, the water continuing to get closer before it turned to steam. "No. NO!" The creature turned towards Thomas and lifted his arm. "YOU!"

Finally the water struck his body, still turning to steam, but striking him.

"NO!" he shouted as he cowered under the blasts of water.

"NOW!" shouted Thomas.

Combust fell as a hail of bullets cut through the sprays of water.

He stared at the costume that sat in a heap on the other side of the room.

"Why are you wasting me like this?"

"Wasting you?" said Manly with a short laugh. "Wasting you? How am I wasting you?"

"There is so much that we can give to this city, why do you deny it?"

"No, you killed a good man."

"Good man?" Now it laughed a short laugh. "It attempted to kill."

"A woman who destroyed him AND me."

"A woman whose work has led you to your true potential, to your true destiny."

"Working at McDonald's and living in a dump?" said Manly with a wide gesture at his apartment.

"To me. To us."

"I didn't ask for this."

"Destiny is rarely asked for."

"Destiny? This is not MY destiny! This was not meant for me, you were not meant for me!"

"But here I am, and here you are, and here we are. Here and now and forever, we are intertwined and this has become your destiny."

"YOU'RE A FUCKING COSTUME LAYING IN A HEAP IN THE CORNER OF MY ROOM!" shouted Manly as he leapt to his feet.

There was silence as the costume laid there.

He sat back on the bed and put his head in his hands.

I'm going nuts, he said to himself as he felt the tears welling up. This isn't right, this isn't healthy.

"No, it's not."

Manly looked up and immediately pushed himself back over the bed and leapt to his feet on the other side.

"Christ," he said barely above a whisper. "Jim?"

The costume was upright and filled, hanging poorly on a man who was beaten and battered.

He was not as bad off as Millennium Man had left him, but Jim Finnegan certainly did not look well.

Michael Manly closed his eyes and shook his head. When he reopened them, the costume was nothing more than a blood stained heap on the floor again.

Manly fell to his knees and started to cry.

"Where is Pacific City's savior?" Regina Darling looked deeply into the camera with eyes that screamed 'caring'. "Where is the Science Hero. And why have we forgotten all that he has done for us? How can we criticize him the way we have? Did he go overboard? Perhaps. But what would you have done in the same situation?

"I ask you, I ask all of Pacific City, what would you have done?

"Millennium Man has been granted such great powers and could have chosen any one of a number of paths. But he chose to be our protector, to use the great powers granted to him for good and what was right. He chose to watch over us.

"And we loved him, revered him, and many of us looked to him as a god. But he is only human, and we can not hold human faults against him. He acted to save lives, and for that we have crucified him."

The skies above Pacific City remained empty of its protector. Every now and then a stray pair of eyes would look up and search in vain for a man flying along, patrolling, keeping them safe. Every now and then those eyes would belong to a person who cursed what they sought.

Cursed him for failing to be there.

Cursed him for failing to meet their expectations.

Cursed him for failing to be the hero they needed.

Cursed him for failing to be the hero they felt they deserved.

And some simply missed him and hoped he was okay.

"And where was Millennium Man when this city needed him? NOWHERE! No, it took the brass balls of our very own Pacific City Police Department to put down a lunatic that threatened to burn down half the city. Even while this guy screamed for Millennium Man, he never showed.

"How can we count on someone who not only beats the crap outta people who need help but also ignores our cries for assistance against a foe that seems so much larger than us?

"If you ask me, we don't need those damn science heroes. They're nothing but trouble and there's nothing our police can't handle on their own."

Regina Darling leaned her head against the window as she stared from her apartment out over the city. She squinted and attempted to peer into the darkness, trying to see what was not there.

"Where are you, Millennium Man?" she asked the window, which did not reply.

"Millennium Man is dead."

"Now we're not."

"It's not we. You're a fucking costume. I'm the man, the Science Hero, and I say he's gone."

"Then why don't you throw me away."

The costume, all alone in the corner of his room, called out to him. Michael Manly pulled a pillow over his head and attempted to ignore it, lying on the couch in the other room, trying to distance himself from the demons.

He wished for sleep. He wished for dreams of a better time, a better place.

He wished for peace.

But it would not come.