King of superheroes, p.10
King of Superheroes, page 10
“What team thing?” I frowned as I stirred my coffee.
“My brother was a fledgling a few years back, they probably haven’t announced it yet, but… Once we’re done with basic training, and ride-alongs and all of this stuff, we have to form a dream team.”
“A dream team?” I repeated with a slightly disbelieving chuckle.
“Made up of one fledgling from each pillar,” Danny explained. “And I’m almost certain they’ll let you into a team of five, all things considered.”
“You want to be on my team?” I asked quickly. “I don’t really know any other Corps fledglings.”
“I’d be honored,” Danny said, and though his smile widened even more, his voice remained the same level. “I’m a healer, see. Figured I could come in useful, if you set yourself, or someone else, on fire.”
“That… Is actually a fair point.” I chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. “Sounds good to me, dude. Thanks for the heads-up.”
“Sure,” Danny said easily. “My brother kept making fun of me, saying I’d have the most boring introduction to the world of supers ever. Now I get to hang out with you.”
“Well, if my first couple of days are anything to go by, it’s gonna be anything but boring, I can promise you that,” I snickered.
A dream team did admittedly sound like a whole bunch of fun, and I was thankful for Danny giving me the lowdown. I was sure Somnia would eventually tell us, but my mind had already started to whir at other possibilities.
Well, it was a simple decision actually. Frank, my fellow pyromancer buddy from the Conduits, and my smoking hot blonde Dreamer Hannah were obvious picks. Now I had Danny the healer from the Corps pillar, and that just left the Tempests.
Who I was due to go out with the following day, so I knew I had to make a decision quickly.
Chapter Seven
“So, are you gonna spill the juicy details?” Frank asked as he took the world’s biggest bite of pancakes and then waggled his eyebrows at me.
“You are worse than a soccer mom.” I laughed at my friend and shook my head.
“It’s called being a good, supportive friend,” Frank mumbled around his mouthful of pancakes and widened his grin. “So, come on. How was the date?”
“I mean, it was great,” I said, and I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “Hannah’s awesome. She tried to teach me how to read her mind and stuff.”
Frank choked on his coffee at my words and stared at me with wide eyes.
“Did it work?” he asked once he’d finally caught his breath.
“Sort of,” I said with a shrug. “I could pick up like… Little hints of words. I had to really focus, though.”
“Holy shit, you really are an Omega,” Frank said in an awestruck voice.
“Shut up,” I hissed and quickly looked around to see if anyone had started up their torch and pitchforks.
I wasn’t sure how the superhero population would take to the first Omega in a century, and I wasn’t even one hundred percent positive of how I felt about the news myself yet.
Mori had only briefly touched upon the history of the last one, and it hadn’t been particularly pretty.
“What do you know about them?” I asked my friend tentatively. “Omegas?”
“They’re the most powerful of all superheroes,” Frank said reverently, though he kept his voice low, for which I was grateful. “The last one ruled like a king. So the stories go, anyway. It gets kinda hazy toward the end.”
“Why?” I asked. “What happened?”
“The guy sort’ve…” Frank’s eyes flitted up at me and then back down. “He went mad. With all the power I’m guessing. Think about how much mental stamina it takes for our powers. I can just about control sparks and stuff, I have no idea how your gray matter is coping with multiple powers rattling around in there.”
“Yeah…” I muttered darkly. “It’s a lot.”
“Hey,” Frank said as he slapped me supportively on the back. “At least you don’t have to worry about bringing the Antis down with your own two hands.”
“No, I just have to worry about going insane with power…” I said, but I shared a knowing grin with my friend as he just rolled his eyes at me.
“I’ll be sure to keep you in line,” he joked and nudged my shoulder.
The rest of the fledgling class paid us little to no attention as the morning rolled in at the Academy, and I fell silent while I got lost in my thoughts.
It was an overcast and dreary gray morning, and Frank and I were sitting at our usual table beside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the bay. The white foam caps of the ocean outside blended into the pale clouds so perfectly that I couldn’t tell where the horizon was, and a strong breeze had the palm trees swaying steadily.
I turned back to my friend as he shoveled another forkful of pancakes into his mouth, but he was still smirking at me as he chewed.
“What else happened?” he asked. “With the cute blonde?”
“Well, she got a little annoyed at me, because she couldn’t read my mind,” I said with a chuckle. “Which is kinda odd, because she seems like she has a hold on her power already. She can literally read everyone else like a book. But not me for some reason.”
“Hmm,” Frank murmured thoughtfully. “That is weird. Maybe you’re shielding?”
“Shielding?” I asked.
“Another Dreamer power,” Frank explained. “You can quite literally put up a mental block, it stops other Dreamer abilities from fucking with you.”
“Funny you should say that, I ended up looking right through an illusion art piece yesterday, too,” I remembered. “Huh, maybe that’s a thing.”
“Worth exploring, for sure.” Frank nodded eagerly. “But enough about how you’re the coolest person in this place, there’s only so much I can take. What happened with Hannah?”
“I told you, we kissed.” I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eyes, because I wouldn’t be able to hold in the giddy laugh that was perpetually caught in my throat at the mention of the blonde Dreamer. “A lot.”
“You’ve been here less than a week, and you’re already multi-powered and hitting it with the ladies.” Frank grinned wickedly. “How am I ever gonna keep up?”
“Hey, it’s not a competition,” I said as I wrapped my hands around the steaming cup of coffee I’d made for myself. “Luckily for you, because I’d be winning.”
“Yeah, yeah,” my fellow Conduit friend said with a huff, but he still had a smile slapped across his face.
But that was his general state of being.
“Hey, there’s Danny.” I suddenly spotted the Corps fledgling I’d befriended the day before, and I waved him over.
“Hi!” Danny smiled as he took a seat beside Frank. “Have Dart and Double suckered you into a television contract yet?”
“No,” I chuckled before I introduced my friends to each other. “Frank, this is Danny. He’s a Corps.”
“Nice to meet you,” Frank said and quickly stuck his hand out for Danny to shake.
“Likewise,” Danny said with a happy smile. “Did Mark tell you about the team up?”
“Wait, what team up?” Frank asked, and he shot me a pointed look.
“I was getting around to it,” I said defensively, but I couldn’t help but chuckle when Frank impatiently waved me on. “Danny’s older brother was a fledgling a few years back, and apparently he said we have to make a dream team from all four pillars, for when we go out on real-world missions.”
“Oh, shit, that’s pretty cool!” Frank gasped as he looked between me and the Corps fledgling. “So, is Danny on our team, then?”
“I haven’t even asked you yet,” I laughed.
“You didn’t need to,” Frank said as he finished his pancakes and then grinned across at me with both cheeks full, like a redheaded hamster.
“Right.” I smirked. “But yes, I asked Danny to be part of the squad.”
“Thank you, again.” Danny’s face became serious. “I genuinely thought I’d end up friendless here.”
“Not a chance,” Frank said as he finally finished his food, and he slapped the Corps fledgling on the shoulder with a friendly laugh before he turned back to me with another pointed look. “So, is Hannah your Dreamer pick?”
“Naturally.” My smirk widened. “But I haven’t asked her yet.”
“Haven’t asked me what?”
The three of us whipped our heads around so quickly that I was surprised I didn’t get whiplash, and I looked up to see Hannah standing over us, with her hands on her hips and a wide grin on her pixie face.
“Uhh…” I faltered for a moment, and both Frank and Danny had to hide their laughs behind their hands.
Hannah used my pause to take a seat opposite me on the table by the windows, and my two friends couldn’t hold in their snickers anymore.
“I was gonna ask if you wanted to be part of our team,” I said quickly.
“What team?” Hannah asked as she put her elbows against the table and instinctively leaned toward me, and I was suddenly lost inside her icy-blue eyes when she fixed me with a smile.
“Fledglings!”
The four of us looked up at the sudden sound of Somnia’s voice, and we watched as the famous Dreamer spread her arms wide to catch the attention of everyone else in the common room.
“This week, you’ve been going on so-called ‘ride-alongs’ with already established superheroes,” Somnia said as she smiled warmly at the group of students. “I hope this has given you some idea as to how we fit into society, what our roles are, and most importantly what our responsibilities are. You will continue to train within your respective pillars, but the time will soon come for you to put that training to good use.”
A buzz of excited chatter suddenly vibrated around the common area, and Somnia’s smile grew wider as she listened to the scattered voices.
“You will need to form a team of four, with one fledgling from each pillar.” Somnia explained. “You will also be assigned a mentor who will accompany you, because once you have created your team, you will be going on very real missions around the city.”
“So your brother was right!” I whispered to Danny, who just grinned back at me.
“Now, don’t worry too much, because these missions aren’t going to be drastically dangerous, world-saving, life-or-death situations,” Somnia explained. “You’re going to be taking on relatively low-level threats, assigned to you so that you can properly hone your skills. But just because they are deemed low-level, does not mean they aren’t important. You will still be actively working to save and help people.”
The hum of fervent whispers grew a little louder at our acting principal’s words.
“You have until the end of the week to compile your team, and then after the weekend you’ll begin taking on low-tier missions, with the help and guidance of your mentor.” Somnia clapped her hands together as the chatter grew louder. “I look forward to hearing about your successes!”
The principal Dreamer left the fledglings to talk amongst themselves as the babble of voices grew once again, and she made a beeline for our table.
“Mark,” she said warmly as she approached us. “Given your prowess, you’ll be creating a team of five.”
“I did wonder if that’d be the case,” I said with a grateful nod. “I understand.”
“It looks as though you have the makings of an interesting team already, though,” the Dreamer said as she smiled down at my table. “You’re going out with the Tempests today?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded. “I have my Conduit, Corps, and Dreamer already, the Tempests are the only ones I haven’t met yet.”
“Good,” Somnia said. “I’m impressed. Keep up the good work.”
With that, the icy-haired principal turned on her heel and left the fledgling common area, and Hannah, Frank, and Danny all turned to me with their eyebrows raised.
“You’re killing it,” Frank said.
“Careful,” Hannah said with a growing smirk. “He won’t be able to fit his head through the door soon.”
“I am nothing if not humble,” I said with a pious expression, and the four of us fell into laughter when I couldn’t hold it.
We spent the rest of the morning drinking probably far too much coffee and wondering who our mentor would be and what the real world missions would involve, until eventually it was time for me to go out with the Tempests.
I knew the Tempests held powers attributed to the air, but that was a very general term. Their abilities were movement based at their core, and it opened up a literal sea of possibilities.
My ability that had already presented itself from the Tempest pillar was telekinesis. I’d accidentally yanked the heavy velvet stage curtain down during the Pillar Placing Ceremony, and it had been that action that caused the entire Academy, plus a whole roster of real superheroes, to see I was different.
I’d also been able to flit around in my astral form during Mori’s tests, so I’d hoped flying would be the next Tempest ability that presented itself to me, but I was entirely unsure of it. I didn’t know where to draw the power from, so I was looking forward to going out with the last pillar and to see their abilities in action.
My first power, fire that drew from the Conduit pillar, felt the most natural to me. Probably because my parents were Conduits, and it had been the power I initially activated with, so I had far more of an understanding. Everything else was still blurred around the edges, though even in my first week at the Academy, I’d started to feel stronger.
The moment I’d passed Mori’s tests and accepted my potential, I’d realized just how powerful I could become, and I wanted nothing more than to learn as much as I possibly could.
I bade my friends goodbye, and Hannah gave me a lingering look as I reluctantly walked away and headed toward the group of Tempest fledglings who were getting ready to ride the elevators down to the lobby.
Aside from a few sidelong glances, none of them really paid me a great deal of attention, and I couldn’t really blame them. I certainly felt like an imposter, despite my obvious aptitude for all four pillars, and I felt like I had to prove myself over and over again to earn their acceptance.
I was ready and willing, though.
There was a large van parked outside the automatic double doors, big enough for the Tempest class of eleven including me, so I clambered into it along with the rest of the fledgling class. Then I found a seat and kept my nose almost pressed to the window as I watched the city of Miami flash past.
The early afternoon was still bland and overcast by the time the van stopped at our destination, but the strong winds had mostly died down to a light breeze, which was probably a good thing considering the powers the Tempests held.
We piled out of the vehicle and found ourselves standing outside a massive skyscraper right in the middle of the city, except it was only half-built. The structure was covered in a mess of metal scaffolding that snaked across the building like wild ivy, and there were several cranes in operation that were swinging long bars of steel through the air above us.
The construction site was abuzz with a swarm of workers dressed in high-vis jackets and hard hats, and a frazzled-looking woman in a tight gray pantsuit hurried out of the front doors to greet us.
Her wispy hair was scraped into a tight bun that made her hard hat sit at a comedic angle, and the grip she had on her clipboard made her knuckles almost white.
“Tempest fledglings?” she demanded in a breathless voice.
She waited until one or two of them nodded, and then she quickly scribbled something down on her paperwork as she wordlessly motioned for us to follow her.
I caught the eye of another Tempest, a beautiful brunette girl with big green eyes I’d sat behind in the minivan, and we shared a knowing smile as we followed the haggard-looking secretary into an industrial style elevator.
It was mostly just a metal box, with rickety grating that shuddered and clanged together as it shut, and I had to steady myself as the thing started to wobble and eventually haul us skyward.
We must’ve been at the very top of the half-built skyscraper by the time the elevator bounced to a stop, and as the secretary hauled the grating open and ushered us out, we were met with a booming voice.
“Welcome, fledglings!” a man said in an exuberant voice, and he spread his arms wide as we filed out of the elevator.
He was tall and muscular, with wide shoulders and a thick neck, and his obviously very expensive jacket strained against his bulky torso. His three-piece suit was tailored and a luxurious deep blue, and he had solid gold cufflinks as well as a gold tooth that glittered when he smiled.
Which seemed to be constantly, but he had a Stepford air about him, as though the perfect facade might crack at any second.
“My name is Kin,” the suited man said once he knew we were all paying attention to him. “I am a property developer, magnate some might say, but I started with humble beginnings.”
I shared another look with the green-eyed brunette girl, and I felt another smile tug at the corners of my mouth as we listened to Kin spout about himself.
“I trained at the Academy, much like yourselves, but decided my powers were far more suited to the property business. Naturally, I stay in touch if there are any large-scale threats that require all heroes to be drafted, but I like to think I’m more a man of the people.”
“I’m sure he does,” I muttered under my breath, and the brunette stifled a quiet laugh beside me.
“My power is telekinesis,” he went on as he puffed out his chest proudly. “I naturally started by performing all construction work myself, but as you can see, I no longer need to utilize my abilities too much. But I am very excited to have you here, as my guests, for today!”
“Free labor?” The brunette’s voice was quiet, but she smiled shyly at me as she made the joke.
I snorted a laugh and had to pretend I was just clearing my throat, but it made the brunette’s smile widen even more as she kept her green eyes facing Kin.
“I want to see how well all of you perform in a workplace setting such as this.” The property developer spread his arms to indicate that he was, in fact, after free labor, and I shook my head to stop myself from laughing again. “Eloise will just get you to sign a few bits of paperwork, and we can get started!”
