Sep 24, 2025
Doolin, Ireland
Image by Max Malloy.
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Doolin, Ireland
Image by Max Malloy.
Day 218: Super Family (redraw)
Happy Father's day Everyone.
I figured it would be a good time to redraw this old drawing I did years ago. They're characters from a short story of mine. They are Max, his adopted son named Lucas and his boyfriend, Ben.
Only Human (Part 4)
The final part of this story. Hope people enjoyed it. I definitely have other stories planned to take place in this universe, and I might be able to come back to these characters. Time will tell I guess.
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Max stood on the corner, staring at the light. He felt exhausted from filling out more paperwork than he had ever seen. It didn’t help that he spent last night being too worried about this afternoon to get any sleep. He stared at the café across the street. There were so many things that were going to be changing today. He was still wondering if he was doing the right thing.
The light changed and he took a deep breath. There was no backing out of this now.
He slowly made his way across the street and up to the café where he found the waitress from yesterday waiting for him.
“Ah, Mr. Malloy,” the waitress said, with that fake smile still on her face. “Your brother is waiting for you.”
Max thought about correcting her but decided it wasn’t worth the time. He followed her to a table outside where his brother was sitting.
“Maxwell, it’s so nice to see you.” Michael smiled.
Max solemnly sat himself in the chair across from him.
Michael started to pull out a small stack of papers. “Now, there are a few forms to fill out before you can join the group. I assume you have taking care of leaving the other group right?”
“Yeah. About that…”
“I must say I was beginning to worry that you would never come to your senses.” Michael let out a little laugh. “I mean I have been trying for months to get you to leave that team, but I guess that doesn’t matter now.”
“Michael.”
“You will be so happy with this team. Your marksmanship alone makes you more than qualified. I’m sure...”
“I didn’t quit the team,” Max exclaimed. He could feel the weight of the words hit his brother with full force.
Only Human (Part 3)
Here’s the third part. I’ve been doing little updates here and there as I post these, but this one seemed to have the most. I’m still not fully sure if I’m happy with it. But it’s important so I’m posting it.
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Quick Warnings: Manipulation, Little Bit of Irresponsible Parenting (I mean he’s trying his best but still), Small Fire
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Max wandered through the hall. Out one of the windows, he could see the sky slowly shift from blue to orange as the sun reached the edge of the horizon. It didn’t provide him any comfort from the buzzing thoughts circling around in his head. He pounded his head on a nearby wall and let out a small groan. Then his phone started to ring. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and raised it so he could read the screen. The name Michael flashed across the screen. He let out another groan, a bit louder this time, turned to lean on the wall for support. He pushed the talk button.
“Hi Michael.”
“Maxwell,” the voice on the other end answered. It was definitely Michael. “How are you?”
“About as well I was when you last left me.” Max ran his fingers though his hair. He really did not want to be doing this right now. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to check up on my little brother. Is that so wrong?”
“You mean you wanted to see if I changed my mind yet.”
“Can’t I do both?” Michael sounded so smug. “I’m guessing that Sam has informed you about the division.”
“A bit.” Max frowned. Of course his brother knew that he would have asked Sam about the project.
“So have you changed your mind about the offer?”
“I don’t know.” Max didn’t really want to think about it. He didn’t really want to think about anything.
“Because I have the perfect position for you to fulfill.”
“And that would be?”
“My right hand man. Now mind you, I work directly with the leader so it’s not a thing to take lightly. The work will be difficult but it comes with quite a bit of respect, something I know you’ve been missing.”
Max paused. Thinking about how things had been going recently: the lack of field work, the countless times the others had pushed their paper work onto him, the lack of trust. “You know. Maybe I should join.”
“Really?” Michael sounded a bit surprised. “That’s… wonderful brother. I’ll start preparing immediately. I’m sure there is some paperwork to do on your end as well. We should meet up for lunch to discuss this further.”
“Yeah, sure thing.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Michael quickly hung up.
Max slammed his forehead into the wall again.
Only Human (Part 2)
The next part to this story. It includes one of my favorite characters to write, mostly because Ben is the best, but he needs to stop working so hard and take care of himself.
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Quick Warnings: Bad Eating Habits
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Max’s bare arms felt numb as walked the five blocks to the Super Squad base. The only warmth he felt was from the baby bundled in his jacket. It had taken a while, but it had calmed down and fallen asleep. He felt relieved when he spotted the base only a few blocks away. At first glance, it looked like every other skyscraper in the new district: reflective windows, white walls, clean court yard with a few small fountains. However, it did stand out with the helicopter pad on the top of the building and the large Super Squad logo. While it did not look impressive, Max knew better then to underestimate it. The place was covered in hidden cameras, each equipped with facial recognition and heat sensors. The security system was top of the line and if it failed, then there was the entire team to still be dealt with. The team worked, trained, and lived in the building, especially since several of the stories served as apartments for the team and their families to live in.
Max walks to the elevator and pushed the button next to it. A few moments later, a loud ping rang though the room and the elevator doors opened. He walked in and the doors closed shut. The elevator had no buttons just a camera and a scanner.
“Identification,” a voice female said. Max lifted his watch up to the scanner. “Malloy recognized. Destination?”
“Lab Level one.” He felt the elevator hum to life. That was the only noise Max heard as the elevator rose though the building. He was glad this elevator didn’t make a lot of noise like the older versions did. If it was any louder, he would be worried about waking the baby. He hadn’t realized how tightly he had been holding it until now. It might have been to help block the wind or maybe he had been clinging to the warmth. Not that the baby seemed to mind. It had curled up into the crook of his arms with its fist in its mouth. It looked so much happier than it had a few minutes ago.
The silence was cut with a ping and the doors opened to a long hallway. Max could feel the baby twitch and adjusted the jacket around it before stepping out of the elevator. The room had several windows and windowed doors on either side revealing several labs, although most of the rooms were dark, since it was around lunch time. Lab 1B was one of the few that were still lit. Though the window he could see a man in his early twenties with his back towards him. His curly dark hair fluffed out the way it did when it hadn’t been taken care of in a while. His lab coat had dark smudges from all the times he used it to clean his hands when they got dirty.
When Max entered the lab, the man didn’t even respond. As Max approached the workbench, he could see the man’s hands outstretched with pieces of electronic equipment floating in the space between them. His eyebrows were furrowed as he twisted his hand, causing the floating pieces to combine and disassemble. Max paused a breath to take in the sight: the small smudge on his caramel cheek, the way the over head lights caused his hair to look like a halo, the concentration that lingered in his dark eyes. He was in his natural habitat.
Max almost felt bad for disrupting him.
Only Human (Part 1)
This was my student thesis that I did back in college. It follows Max Malloy who is the only human on a team full of supers. He is struggling to figure out where where he’s supposed to belong when he finds something that complicates the matter. I’ll be posting it in pieces over the next few days.
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Quick warning: Manipulation, Child Neglect and Abandonment
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Max stood waiting for the light to change, again. It had already turned twice already, but he decided to wait a little bit longer. Across the street, there was a small corner café, snuggled in the bottom floor of one of the many skyscrapers that filled the city. Nothing really special about it. People went into it just as much as they passed it and the streets were crowded enough to never be empty but it still left enough room for outside seating. The café used to be a spot of joy when he was just a child. Now it was just another task to complete. Max looked down at the watch-like device on his wrist and saw that the red neon lights read 12:06. He was now six minutes late. He shifted his weight to his other foot. He would rather be punched through a wall then dealing with this.
The light finally changed and he took in a deep breath before crossing. A waitress stood outside of the café, with that hostess smile plastered across her face. Max wondered if she was really happy. She spotted him almost immediately.
“Oh, Mr. Malloy,” she said.
“Just Max is fine.” He wondered if she had been told to keep an eye out for him.
“Of course,” she replied. “Your brother is right over here.”
She led him to an outside table with a flourish. Sitting at the table was a man dressed in a police uniform. His blond hair was combed and styled neatly. He was staring at a half empty cup sitting in front of him like it had committed a crime within the last few minutes.
“Here you are, Mr. Malloy,” the waitress said.
“It’s Max.” Max sighed.
“I believe, dear brother, she was talking to me,” the man said. He gave a slight nod to Max. “Maxwell.”
“Michael,” Max said, returning the nod before sitting down.
“Will you want anything?” the waitress asked, pulling out a pad and pencil out from her apron pocket.
“Nope.”
“Come now, brother, this is on me,” Michael said.
“Don’t care.” Max leaned back in the chair.
“Fine then,” Michael replied. He held his cup up to the waitress. “I will get a refill if you do not mind.”
“Of course.” The waitress turned and retreated into the restaurant. Michael took another sip of coffee.
“Still over working you, I see,” Max remarked. “What is that, your tenth cup?”
Michael let the cup hit the saucer with a loud clack, making Max’s hand jolt. “It’s better than not doing anything at all.”
Max could feel his eye twitch. “Not all of us can be a yes man.”
“Being a Lieutenant is nothing to joke about.” He picked up a napkin and started cleaning up the drops of coffee that had spilled.
“Right of course.” He rolled his eyes slightly.
“Besides,” Michael said, folding the napkin and placing it to the side. “I’m not the one pretending to have powers.”
“Oh. My. God.” Max sat forward. “Are you really doing this?”
“I just want to make sure you understand.”
“Understand what? Why shouldn’t I be on it?”
“You are hardly qualified.”
“Excuse me?”
“That team is for people with powers. Last time I checked you do not have any. It is just not safe.”
“I am as safe as everyone else on the team is.” Max pressed his palm into his forehead, hoping to get rid of the headache. Or maybe get one bad enough so he could have an excuse to leave.
“Right, because having powers that make you immune to electricity or dodge bullets with ease, does not change anything.”
“I’m still alive aren’t I?” Max could hardly contain his anger. Sure his brother had implied this before, but he had never been so open about it before.
Michael took in a deep breath. “I am just trying to look out for you.”
“Sure you are.”
“We could use your skill set,” he stated.
Max could feel his anger give way to confusion. Just a bit. “What are you talking about?”
“We have recently started a new division. I would like you to be a part of it.”
“New division? For what?”
“To give us humans a fighting chance.”
“If I didn’t know any better,” Max could feel his hand creating a fist under the table, “I would say that you think supers are a threat.”
“You’re acting like they are not,” Michael exclaimed, a scowl flashing across his face.
“I’m not going to leave the Super Squad,” Max said, glaring at his brother.
“And why not? On this division you will be treated as an equal. Instead of some… mascot.”
“I’m hardly a mascot.”
“Please, stop deluding yourself. You are only on it because of our parents.”
“Leave. Them. Out of this.”
Michael looked like he was about to continue, but stopped when he saw the waitress emerge with a pot of coffee.
“Here you are Mr. Malloy.” She poured out some of the coffee into the cup and turned to Max. “Are you sure there is nothing I can get you?”
“I’m just fine,” he replied. His gaze didn’t leave his brother.
“Besides, he was about to leave. Isn’t that right, brother?” He spat the word slightly, making sure Max would notice the disapproval.
“It… looks like it,” Max replied, trying to push down any anger he had towards his brother. He could feel his hands twitch, a sign that they desperately wanted something, anything to do. He stood up abruptly, almost knocking the chair over. “See you around, Michael.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Michael called out after Max. “It is called Project Prometheus.”
Max paused to stared at his brother and immediately recognized the slight smirk on his face. He used it whenever he was winning at anything.
He raised his coffee cup at Max and took a sip from it. “I hope to see you alive again, Maxwell.”
“Please come again, Mr. Mallory,” the waitress called out.