Ever wonder why Brady Steel is called Monkeyrival? He was just a regular kid at Severe High School in Massachusetts until he got superpowers and decided to become a hero. This story is about how Brady Steel became Monkeyrival.
Brady is different from everyone else. He has ADHD and Tourette’s, and he’s not very socially active. He doesn’t go to parties or hang out with other people much. Instead, he spends most of his time playing video games on his Xbox.
On September 23, 2023, Brady was drinking a chocolate banana smoothie at home. Shortly after finishing the drink, he suddenly passed out. Unknown to him, someone had snuck a chemical into the banana before he bought it, contaminating it. An hour later, Brady woke up to his mom, Lauren Jackson, shaking him and asking, “Brady, are you alright?” He replied, “I’m fine—I gotta go.” He got out of bed, got dressed quickly, and headed out.
Brady went to Broadway to meet his friend Sam Carson and a few other friends. Sam is one of Brady’s closest friends. He’s short, with dark hair and blue eyes, and a freshman - two years younger than Brady. He’s always outside, loves to joke around, and spent a lot of time with Brady over the summer.
While they were hanging out, a group of guys walked over and started causing trouble. They teased and mocked Brady and his friends, with one of them saying, “Yo, is that Mr. Short-son?” Sam, who’s sensitive about his height, snapped back, “What did you say about my height? That’s not cool, man!”
As the guys continued making fun of them, Brady suddenly felt something strange; a weird impulse. His hands started shaking, and before he realized what was happening, he yelled, “Leave my friends alone!” and, to his confusion, shot a banana right out of his own hands at one of the guys, knocking him down.
The guy got back up, ready to fight. Since Brady didn’t know how to fight, he started getting beat up, but then he instinctively raised his arm, launching another banana that knocked the guy out. Confused but amused, Brady said, “Whoa, what the heck?” Without knowing how to control his powers, he accidentally shot vines from his hands, which latched onto a building and pulled him to the roof.
Realizing he had powers, Brady felt awesome—but he quickly learned that his abilities were unpredictable. He could only use them when he focused, and stress could block them entirely. Sam, shocked but excited, said, “Whoa, that’s sick!” Brady replied, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” Sam grinned, “I won’t. You know I got you, man.” Brady nodded, “Thanks.”
After that, Brady ran home until he got tired and then walked the rest of the way. When he got back, he hopped on his Xbox and played Minecraft, saying nothing about what had happened that day. ‘Just an ordinary day,’ he tried to convince himself.
That night, Brady had a strange dream. His conscience appeared to him—not just as a voice in his head, but as a mirage resembling an actual monkey standing in front of him. The monkey told Brady he would teach him how to use his powers. Brady found himself outside on the grassy hill near his house, where a secret trapdoor suddenly appeared. Confused, he asked, “What are we doing here? Are you kidnapping me?” The monkey replied, “No! Why would I do that? That’s weird.”
The monkey led him into a hidden base with targets and obstacle courses to help him train his powers. Brady wasn’t allowed to tell his parents about any of this. The monkey explained that it had always been a part of his life, but Brady could only hear it clearly now because of his powers.
The monkey instructed Brady to say a magical phrase: “Make me a jungle man!” Brady said the words and a suit wrapped itself around him. With his new costume, Brady was ready for his first mission. He decided to call himself “Monkeyrival” because of his monkey powers and his mission to fight evil.
His first official mission was to stop a bank robber at TD Bank before he escaped. Brady used his vines to swing from one point to another and arrived just in time. At first, he froze, unsure of what to do, but his conscience encouraged him to focus. Brady shot vines to tie up the robber until the cops arrived and arrested him. With that, Brady gained newfound confidence in his abilities.
This is how Brady Steel became Monkeyrival. After the incident, he was interviewed by the police, but this was only the beginning of his story. Brady knows he’ll need to prepare for the challenges he’ll face in the future.
To be continued…
Comments