F for Failure (Patreon)

Back in 2008, there was an emerging Australian toku pilot called Defenders of the Earth. It didn’t go anywhere although there were some quality materials published online, including a music video on Youtube.
It’s a simple story with two high school siblings recruited as secret heroes of Rescue Force (rings a bell?) to fight evil. The first villain introduced was Carbon, but I’m sure the creators got more in mind.

Being high school students with superhero alter egos is hard, especially if evil has already infiltrated the classes. Failure in tests is not an option.

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Get in detention class, now!

A man was looking at the big whiteboard in the empty classroom. His hand moved to write words using the thick marker. Names were written in black ink.

When he made a full stop sign, there was a knock on the door. From the small window, the faces of two youngsters could be seen. One was a boy with dark brunette side-swept hair, the other was a girl with a little hair color. “Come in,” responded the man without looking at them. “Take a seat.”

The two students awkwardly entered and sat next to each other at the frontmost seats. The man continued his writing, but the words were obstructed by his figure. He kept writing and writing until the situation made the boy and girl feel unease.

“Uuh, Mr. Dover. We’re here because you called us,” started the boy with his usual Australian accent.

The man chuckled. Obviously, he was a teacher. “Ah yes, the detention students. Julian and Claire.”

“We have told our homeroom teachers about this. Our house is quite far and our bikes were not in the best condition. Sometimes, they’re just…”

“Fall apart,” added the boy to help. He nodded as if that would make his fictional alibi be more believable. “Just like today, the chains just detached themselves from the railing just because of small bumps on the road.”

“Small bumps of the road construction,” supported the girl with another layer of a lie. “We tried to take the backroad, but that just sent us passing the big new development area.”

The teacher giggled. “Students, we’re not here to talk about your tardiness.”

That got Julian confused. “We’re not? But, Ms-”

The man cut him short. “Well, that was the plan before. Since I’m the detention coordinator and my job usually involves putting unruly students back on their track. I could just give peep talk and boring advice, but that wouldn’t be appropriate with your case. You see, your case is unique.”

Claire’s eyebrow lifted. “Unique how?”

“Well, usually students are late due to slacking off. Sometimes, their house chores prevent them from being here on time. Sometimes, they don’t have the slightest motivation to attend classes. But the two of you, I know that you really want to study like everybody else.”

The words made Claire give a small nod to her brother. The teacher was too gullible. It’s not that they want to lie, but the truth would make it even more complicated to explain. The two waited as the teacher continued, waiting for the right moment to support his opinion that they didn’t need to be in detention.

“I think there’s only a small misunderstanding since I have known youngsters like you. I know that your personal life got in the way of your duty to upset the balance, Julian and Claire.”

It was a strange choice of words. “The balance, Sir?” asked the boy.

The teacher nodded. His back was against the two the whole time. Claire noted that he fixed his glasses, but nothing more of his face could be seen. “Yes, indeed. The two of you have a bigger responsibility than being simple high school students. You're active in organizations, correct?”

“Yes, Sir,” responded Claire with a dignified tone. “We’re both members of the student council.”

The teacher snorted. “Student council? Who cares about the student council? I’m talking about even bigger responsibility.”

The two students were alarmed, but there was nothing they could do. Two shadow figures that stood behind Julian and Claire all this time clamped their necks with heavy shackles. More figures surrounded them on the sides while bringing smaller metallic handcuffs.

Julian and Claire screamed as the thick choke collar electrocuted them. A strange magnetic force was produced and the other restraints flew to bind their wrists and ankles. The boy tried to move, but the pressure was too much. Their bodies were restricted to the point as if secured to the chairs. “I can’t move!”

“Me too!” grunted Claire. “Mr. Dover, what is this?!”

“That’s your special detention, Ms. McPherson. An appropriate punishment considering how far you have poked into our operation.”

“Operation?” Julian gave the teacher the deadly stare. “You’re not a teacher. You’re with Carbon!”

“Bravo, straight A for Julian. You should have noticed it earlier and it would have saved you from this little bondage.”

“Talk all you want, Villain. We’re not gonna stop defending our planet. You’re talking with two Rescue Force heroes. We never surrender.”

The evil teacher put in the marker into his breast pocket. He crossed his arms on the chest. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on. The bolder their spirit, the sweeter their downfall. How long do you think until the two of you little Rescue Heroes will lick my stinky feet?”

“You’re not gonna get away with this. Once we get out of this, we’re gonna beat all of your arses!” shouted Claire defiantly. Her defiance was matched with surging struggle to fight her shackles. So far, her attempt failed.

“It’s always fascinating to see delinquents fight with everything they have until they are depleted. But the two of you are more. Once I transformed you, Julian and Claire McPherson will be my greatest masterpiece.”

“The locks are too strong, Claire,” groaned Julian while pumping his biceps to remove the wrist shackle off the chair handle. The thing wouldn’t budge.

“We have to transform. It’s our only choice.” The girl then shouted her war cry. “Rescue Force! Defender of the Earth!”

“Defender of the Earth!” followed Julian with the same spirit.

There was a strong shockwave that knocked the surrounding chairs and tables. In addition, the shadow figures that encircled them tumbled backward by the energy. The teacher held himself using both hands on the whiteboard. The classroom window glasses shattered and the fire sprinklers burst out.

Claire was dumbfounded. She had transformed into the Blue Defender, but she somehow was still soaked by the sprinkler water.

The same happened to Julian with his soggy hair. “What’s going on?”

Their armor suits flickered in and out of existence as if the transformation process was incomplete. “The suit! It’s… It’s not-”

“It’s not there!” giggled Mr. Dover. “Do you really think that I will let you have your powers so easily? Once you are in my hands, you will be playing by my rules.”

“What are you doing to our suits?!” demanded Claire.

“See the shackles that hold you captive? Together, they produce a disruption field strong enough to bend even the strongest morphing energy to my will. Your suits are in a phased state. You can see and feel them, but they are no more useless in protecting the two of you from my influence than you are naked!” The teacher’s fingers tapped on the whiteboard. “Now, we can continue with the next part of our education.”

Julian and Claire expected the worst. Their suits are the main thing that made them superheroes. With the armors out of commission and simply there to hide their identity, they were essentially powerless to stop whatever this villain got in mind.

Mr. Dover grabbed new markers from both of his trouser pockets. He used them to draw strange patterns. The classroom lights that suddenly turned off enable Julian and Claire to see the glow in dark spirals.

They were captivated by it. They tried to look away. They tried to see the wall, the table, anything else but the spirals. It was futile. Their minds were quickly hooked by it like small victims of deep-sea anglerfish. The glow reflected of their glasses eyes. In the background, Mr. Dover laughed maniacally knowing that the two young heroes had no protection against his mental attack.

“It’s too beautiful…” mumbled Julian monotonously.

“I am trapped by it…”

“Twisting around…”

“Spiraling….”

“Falling down into the hole…”

“The world buries us over…”

There was a whistle. The classroom lights got turned back on. There was a change.

The two captured Defenders of the Earth were still in their seats. The shackles and choke collars still bound their bodies. Their suits were there but were nothing more than cosplay attires. The helmet visors were opened, showing Julian and Claire’s battered faces.

“What is this?!” yelped Claire in despair. She felt violated by the things she did herself.

“It’s taking control! I can’t stop!”

The two of them wrote things on the stack of paper provided to them of the table. The heroes revealed themselves to the villains. Julian and Claire wrote every technique, every mission, every secret they had as Defenders of the Earth and also known cadets of Rescue Force. All sensitive information has now belonged to the demons and monsters. The defenders had just become traitors.

“Two rats on the wall, spilling over their guts,” mocked Mr. Dover, still refusing to show himself. In his hand, he held a notebook. All of them scattered paper filled with juicy intelligence flew and integrated themselves into his book. Knowledge is power, and he felt VERY powerful.

Moreover, the Defenders became weaker and weaker the more they revealed their secrets. Julian felt anguish, Claire felt sorrow. As if everything that they had fought for was for nothing.

The agonizing brain drain lasted for too long. By the time they were finished, the Defenders had stopped fighting. They simply didn’t  have the strength to do it anymore.

“Now that you have confessed, it is time to make amend of yourself. You will apologize to the whole school.”

“What… What are you talking about?” asked the exhausted Claire.

The two young heroes screamed as their armored bodies were flung out of the classroom ceiling. For a moment, they were in the sky. For another moment, they were falling into the main schoolyard. The impact was not deadly, but still excruciating. Julian felt all of his muscles aching.

But it was just the beginning of their torment. Mr. Dover forced the two to kneel. In the open corridors of the surrounding school buildings, students stood to watch the Defenders. “Why… Why aren’t they doing anything?”

“Because they’re mine now,” answered the wicked teacher. This time, Mr. Dover showed his full form. At first glance, he looked like a normal teacher, albeit with the villainous twirled mustache. But half of his face and the rest of his front side cybernetic in nature with technological armor pieces protecting his heart. “Tell me, Boys and Girls. What’s my name?”

“Mr. B. Dover,” replied the students in unison like robots. “Mr. Ben Dover.”

“Ben Dover,” giggled the villain with his own lame pun name. “Get it?”

“How dare you enslave our friends…” muttered Julian with rage as he fought the restraining shackles without power. Like his sister next to him, Red Defender’s arms were bound behind his armored back.

“On the contrary, I made them join voluntarily because I offered them the best deal ever: join me and all of you can have the two pesky McPherson siblings as your servants all the way to graduation!”

Claire’s heart sunk. This was worse than she could imagine before. “What are you talking about…?”

“Don’t you see, you little bitch? You’re always the object of envy for the whole school,” said a feminine voice from the side. Three long-haired sassy girls approached Claire. “You’re so perfect even with your occasional record. You’re TOO perfect and there’s no room for perfection other than the ones we can own.”

“No, Lizzy. Listen, he’s controlling you. This is... This is not-”

“This is exactly what you think this is, you slut.” The girl on the left stepped in and slapped Claire’s helmet. Even if the pain didn’t hurt her, the humiliation did.

“You can kiss your hero-wannabe career goodbye, Claire. From now on, you will TRY to redeem yourself by becoming our restroom chattel!” Lizzy whipped the air with a strap before using the same item to lock the heroine’s shackle like a dog leash. “Let’s take her, girls!”

“No, please stop! Lizzy, please!” cried out Claire as she was dragged like a pathetic pet. Even when it was only her neck that was bound, something inside her weakened mind forced her to follow the girl.

“Claire, no!” shouted Julian. No matter how hard he tried to break the bond, it was useless. Instead, he got flashes of the previous glowing spiral. He could feel it dragging more and more of his power away from him. Even with his muscular body, he was being turned into a feeble slave.

“It’s so amazing of what we can do by twisting these children’s minds. All it takes was to create a target for their anxiety, their anger, their insecurity. I gave them the two of you as target. You most probably didn’t have any problem with any of them, but now they only see you as their source of problem.” Mr. Dover chuckled. “And all of them want a piece of you and your sister.”

“You sick monster! We’re gonna get you after this!”

“Life’s not fair. You keep telling yourself that,” mocked a big boy from the other side. The voice somehow made Julian felt dread. Three students with rugby team jackets stepped in. “Then we see you, Julian. Teacher’s pet even with your sloppy arse attendance. Best newcomer in the students’ council even with mediocre grades. Then I keep telling myself: life sucks, but we can change it.”

“Adam, no. You know me. We’re friends. Don’t let that monster turn you against me!” begged Julian. He never knew these boys before. He only knew them in passing. Then again, Mr. Dover added story details into his cursed notebook all he wanted.

“Look at you talking in need after mocking us with your presence the whole school year. We busted our asses in the team and you think you can take all of that away, just like that?”

“I… I don’t know the problem here, but I’m sure we can work this out!”

Adam spat on the concrete. “The only work that you will do is be our piss cleaner!”

The jock slammed Julian’s helmet to the side. His buddies kicked the young hero right on the guts over and over again. In the end, the Red Defender writhed in agony on the schoolyard.

“We got just the perfect place to train you into our little dog. Let’s go, boys!”

Julian’s refusal was pitiful. With both of his arms bound, he was helpless to stop the students from dragging one of his feet. The other foot felt like a dead weight with a restricting thick cuff on the ankle. The hero tried to use his helmet to dig into the concrete floor, but that only left marks.

The group stopped in front of the restroom door. Julian heard a familiar sound from the girl’s bathroom. It was the sound of Claire screaming. “Claire, no! Claire!”

“Don’t worry, you little doggy. You will enjoy your new life next door to her!” The rugby captain nodded to his bigger teammate. The bully grabbed Julian’s helmet and easily ripped it away. The head protector tumbled on the ground with a distinct metallic sound before stopping next to Claire’s broken helmet.

Julian was exposed, but that was the least of his problems. His screams became echoed by the restroom hallway as he was lugged by the boys.

Inside, the jocks just started to have fun. Julian got his face slammed against the big mirror above the faucet. His head was dragged across so that his saliva could smear all over it. “Nice slobber, perfect for an idiot like you.”

He was made to see his reflection. A broken hero, a broken youngster who had no future left. A grim life awaited him in that cursed restroom. At least everything was spanking clean.

Julian saw something else on his face. On his forehead.

In such a close distance, Julian could actually see the other room. In the girl’s restroom, his sister suffered the same predicament. Her face had already got tainted by her bully’s lipstick. Derogatory words were written on both of her cheeks. Her once-beautiful golden hair was shamelessly cut in random places. Her lips were smeared carelessly by her new owners.

The girls laughed at her. Their cellphone lights flashed over and over again as they took Claire’s embarrassing moments and spread them to the internet. Her spirit was devastated by each click, taken by the demonic gadgets. In her misery, she noticed something. Like her brother, there was a piece of paper on her forehead that showed her final score for today’s test.

The two parted ways as both of them were forced into a swirlie. The toilet opened by bullies and dominatrixes alike and Julian and Claire’s heads were thrust into water.

A grin grew in Mr. Dover’s oversized lips. He twirled his evil mustache as he said to himself, “F for Failure.”

Behind him, the school’s glass case displayed two additional achievements: twin trophies of Julian and Claire McPherson a.k.a. Degraded Dimwits of the Earth. Their worst photos, their faces filled with mocking writings and vulgar symbols, served as the humiliation’s centerpiece. No one wanted red and blue losers as their friends.