King of Superheroes, page 21
“And people will be clamoring to work with you,” Rhiannon said with a light smile. “Just like Amanda.”
“So, why wouldn’t you want that?” Hannah asked as every member of my team grinned at me.
“Well, when you put it like that…” I laughed and shook my head. “It does sound like a pretty great life, doesn’t it?”
“Well, as long as that extends to your carefully curated team of super friends.” Frank sighed heavily and then looked up at me with purposefully wide puppy dog-like eyes.
“Naturally,” I said with a smirk and kicked at him beneath the table. “I simply couldn’t do it without you all at my side.”
“Damn right.” Hannah grinned, and the blonde Dreamer looped her arm through mine.
The last Omega might’ve turned crazy with everything that he possessed, but who said I couldn’t use my power and status for good? I saw no reason why I couldn’t turn history on its head, and if being an Omega meant I was going to become rich and famous, then I was damn well ready for it.
I still had my concerns, but I was also surrounded by a fiercely supportive circle of friends, and I was categorically determined not to succumb to the same fate as my predecessor.
“We normally allow for a fair amount of time to prepare,” Somnia said as she addressed the common room, and I pulled myself out of my thoughts so I could pay attention to what our acting principal was saying. “But you’ve all shown an immense work ethic and an already impressive array of skills, so our benefactor is keen to see them in action.”
“Benefactor?” Danny repeated quietly.
“As you know, I am acting as a ‘principal’ for the Academy,” Somnia went on, and her smile grew wider as several whispers and mutters began to sound inside the common room like a bustling beehive. “But the famous and incredibly generous Dreamer, Mori, is truly the one who makes this Academy what it is.”
The room was immediately full of buzzing conversations at the mention of his name, and Somnia let us all chatter as Mori suddenly appeared behind her with his arms raised in greeting. That’s when the room drew in a surprised breath in unison, and a bout of even louder applause suddenly burst the shared bubble of excitement.
“Hello, fledglings.” Mori’s voice was surprisingly commanding in comparison to how chill he’d been when I’d had a private meeting with him, and he smiled widely at the large group of trainee superheroes.
“Holy shit!” Frank hissed as he continued to clap enthusiastically. “It’s actually him!”
“Did you think I was lying?” I snickered.
“No, I just…” Frank let out a whistle. “I just didn’t think he’d actually make an appearance here, to all of us.”
“Is he really that important?” Rhiannon asked curiously.
“Absolutely,” Hannah said. “Every Dreamer family knows who Mori is, and hell, everyone should. The man’s a legend, he’s the only one in history to access the astral plane.”
“See?” Frank nudged me with a proud grin. “I wasn’t lying, either.”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “You guys know way more than me, we’ve established that.”
“Sssh…” Hannah waved her hands and nodded to the front of the common area. “He’s about to speak!”
“I have kept close tabs on your work as fledglings,” Mori said, and his deep black eyes bored into each and every one of the trainees that stared reverently up at him. “You are representatives of the Federation, and you have all contributed to its stellar reputation. I thank you for that.”
The buzzing chatter still hovered in the air as the Dreamer paused for a moment before he started to address us again.
“The tournament the Academy holds is of great importance.” Mori’s voice was calm and level, and eventually a hush fell over the common room as everyone listened to the famous Dreamer. “It is where the greatest of you shall flourish, and it is a means for already established superheroes, as well as the civilians that work with them, to cherry-pick graduates. This tournament will be a way for you to showcase your abilities, so think of it as an extended job interview, and whomsoever triumphs and wins the coveted Super Fledgling Cup shall be rewarded by being selected for extensive missions, where the victor and their team can continue to prove their worth to the world.”
“It will be held tomorrow evening, on the eleventh floor where you usually train.” Somnia suddenly spoke up with an excited smile on her sharp face, and then she motioned to the back of the common area, to the wall opposite the dorms. “You can find your randomly assigned standings for the start of the tournament here. And with that in mind, I would advise you all to get some much-needed sleep!”
Both the white-haired acting principal and the sharp-dressed Mori took their leave of the fledgling quarters, but not one single superhero in training did as told and headed to bed. The common room erupted into excited chatter, and almost everyone quickly shot out of their seats and headed over to the wall opposite the dorms.
A huge white slab of plastic had been nailed to the wall and backlit with a wash of cool purple light. There were several magnetized squares attached to the wall, like the world’s biggest fantasy football draft board, each with a fledgling name etched in glowing purple ink. Like Somnia had said, we’d been randomly assigned our first battles, and my eyes quickly scoured the board in search of my name.
I’d wondered what exactly they’d do with me, since I didn’t necessarily belong to any one pillar, but when I eventually found my name among the others, I saw I’d been assigned my standing just as randomly as everyone else.
“Well, guess I just gotta battle my way through the masses.” I turned to my friends with a shrug. “I’m up against a Corps first, apparently.”
“Who?” Danny asked as he eagerly leaned forward.
“Someone called Billy,” I said. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” my healer friend said with a grin. “Easy win for you. Billy has super hearing.”
“That’s his ability?” I asked with a snort of laughter. “Meaning no disrespect to your pillar, Danny, but that really is easy winnings for me.”
“Don’t get big-headed now,” Rhiannon warned with a wry smile. “If you win, and if I win my first bout, too, we’re up against each other.”
“Oh, we are?” I raised an eyebrow as I inspected the standing board. “Huh, yeah, I guess you’re right. I bet you wished you’d never helped me with my telekinesis now, huh?”
“I regret my decision more and more every day,” Rhiannon said with an automatically flirty flourish. Then she blushed when she heard Hannah and Frank’s laughs, and Danny just shook his head knowingly.
I was in the second round, and Rhiannon was in the first, so I was going to be able to watch her do battle against her first opponent. I naturally wanted her to do well, but especially because it meant we’d have to do battle for real after we’d both won our first matches.
Danny and Frank were on completely opposite sides of the board, so I wasn’t due to come up against them unless they made it to the semifinal rounds, and Hannah and I weren’t due to come up against each other unless the both of us made it to the final.
The entire dormitory floor was alive with excitement as we prepared for the upcoming Super Fledgling Tournament, and I was convinced that not one of my fellow fledglings actually got a decent night’s sleep.
The morning came with the same level of anticipation, and as I crowded around our usual breakfast table with my so-called dream team, I could only manage a cup of coffee and a couple bites of fruit.
My stomach was full of nerves, but the good kind, and I was eager to really show my fledgling class what I could do. Most of them so far had only really seen me appear in their pillar’s training classes, and aside from the Conduit training, I’d looked like a total wash in the other three.
But I’d already learned a hell of a lot thanks to my chosen team, and I was looking forward to flexing my powers. If I was going to truly become an Omega, and potentially rule the supers, I needed to be able to prove myself.
I was sure that was really far down the line for me, but I’d be really pissed at myself if I ended up being the king of supers who lost his first ever tournament to someone who only possessed one power.
I lost myself in thought, and before I knew it, the entire class of fledglings was crowded into the eleventh floor training facility. The floor had been changed for the Super Fledgling Tournament, and the entire north side of the cavernous room was walled off by a huge sheet of glass.
There were several pockets of seating behind the glass wall, laid out similarly to high school bleachers, only far more comfortable. There were a number of people already sprawled in the plush leather armchairs and couches, and I recognized a number of faces.
I could see Amanda, the tiny blonde designer who’d created every single fledgling suit, sitting with an entourage of hilariously large men in sunglasses and black suits. She had a handful of her peers with her, who all certainly looked like fashion designers, and maybe they were eager to dip into the superhero field of fashion.
I could see Pyro sprawled across an entire couch to himself, and he was smoking a long pipe, holding a tumbler of whiskey, and looking as though he wanted to be literally anywhere else in the world right now.
I also spotted Anya, a famous talk show host who had a penchant for picking out the next big stars in film and television, and she had a group with her who looked like they’d walked straight off a movie set.
The entire north side of the training facility housed a spectators’ area that was full of North America’s most influential people, and I felt very exposed under their curious, watchful eyes.
There was also a huge LED screen nailed to the wall, like a gigantic version of the white and purple board that had been put up inside the fledgling common room, and I spotted my name glowing in a bright lilac beside the rest of my peers.
“Welcome, fledglings!” Somnia’s voice suddenly rang out across the training facility, and we all turned in unison as the icy-haired acting principal addressed us with her familiar warm smile. “And welcome, spectators!”
The group of famous attendees fell into a respectful hush as Somnia welcomed everyone to the Super Fledgling Tournament.
“We’ll begin with each pillar,” Somnia explained. “Until we have four Conduit victors, four Tempest victors, four Dreamer victors, and four Corps victors. The four representatives will then go up against randomly assigned fledglings from the opposing pillars, until we are left with just two. These last two fledglings will do battle, using everything they can to best their opponent, and the last fledgling standing will be declared the winner!”
A smattering of polite applause echoed from behind the thick glass spectator wall, but the rest of the fledglings remained silent and on edge as we listened intently to Somnia’s instructions.
I was apparently the only anomaly to the rules, considering I’d been randomly placed within the Corps pillar for the tournament, but I was perhaps even more confident in my ability thanks to that.
I wondered if Mori had done that deliberately, or whether it really had been random.
I could throw fire and move things with my mind, but Somnia made sure to announce that during the first few rounds, we were only allowed to use powers attributed to our pillar. This rule was obviously directed at me. I’d jokingly grumbled under my breath about it, but it was only fair.
Otherwise, it would’ve been a complete and total cakewalk for me.
The Conduits were up first, so I sat with the rest of the fledglings and watched intently as my original pillar did battle. Frank did surprisingly well, and I whooped and cheered along with Danny, Rhiannon, and Hannah as he bested a particularly obnoxious Zeus bro.
My East Coast buddy actually ended up successfully battling his way to the top four, along with Zach, the leader of the Zeus bros who could manipulate and control lightning, Layla whose skin became a literal livewire, and Jared who could throw the arena into complete and total darkness thanks to his ability to manipulate light.
The Dreamers were up next, and I found myself just as entertained as the famous spectators. Dreamer abilities were far more focused on the mind, and it was within this pillar that Amanda’s supersuits really had a chance to shine. Hannah’s suit was a particular highlight. She managed to outwit and outfight every single one of her opponents by successfully reading their minds and gauging their next move, all of which played out on the surface of her suit like a movie.
My blonde girlfriend also successfully worked her way to the top four, along with Damian who could control minds-- though not as successfully as he’d have liked I was sure, because the power seemed extremely volatile and not really reliable under his guidance-- Sophie who could manipulate people’s emotions and tricked her foes into doubting themselves so much that she didn’t have to do anything else before they simply gave up, and then there was Harry, a guy who looked no older than fourteen but could create illusions so realistic that his opponents believed they were trekking through the Amazon or hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Then it was my turn, along with the rest of the Corps pillar. I was first up against Billy, who absolutely did not stand a chance against me. Like Danny had said, his power was super hearing, so it did nothing to stop me flexing my superhuman strength on the guy. The poor guy tapped out pretty early after I’d given him a black eye, and I noticed how the spectators behind the glass wall all started to speak animatedly after I’d shown my affinity for the Corps pillar.
I didn’t get a chance to do battle again until I had an opponent to go against, so I watched the rest of the Corps pillar do their thing. Danny did surprisingly well, and he ended up winning by mentally exhausting his opponent. He was up against Liam, who was a burly fledgling with super strength, so Danny just let Liam beat the everliving shit out of him, over and over again, and then immediately healed himself.
Liam got so tuckered out that Danny ended up winning, and I gave my friend and teammate a well-deserved high five as he skipped over to me with a grin on his face.
“Pretty cool, right?” he said breathlessly. “I was racking my brain for ways to use my power defensively… Just wait ‘til my next round, I’ve got an interesting plan.”
“God, I hope it’s not with me, that confidence is almost terrifying,” I joked with my friend, but then we had to clamp our mouths shut as the next bout was announced.
We watched as a creepily pale girl called Ally turned herself invisible and bested her opponent by constantly sneaking up on them, and then another girl called Summer who won her battle because she could transform into a sleek black panther at will.
She was a member of the Corps pillar who’d taken on the attributes of her shapeshifting ability, and even in her human form she had black cat ears that poked out of her already very black hair, as well as a sleek black tail that curled around her shapely legs.
Then, finally, it was the Tempests’ turn.
Both Danny and I cheered loudly as Rhiannon took her place, and Hannah and Frank shared our enthusiasm from across the training space.
The brunette looked nervous, and the guy she was going up against possessed telekinesis. I felt an immediate pang of guilt as I watched them battle, because every single time Rhiannon tried to take flight, her telekinetic opponent dragged her back down to earth.
She tapped out pretty quickly after the second or third time he sent her hurtling to the ground, and she just shrugged at me and shook her head with a wry smile.
“We now have four victors from each pillar!” Somnia’s commanding voice pulled me out of my reverie. “These four victors will now be randomly assigned an opponent and will do battle with each other until one comes out victorious!”
The fledglings that hadn’t made it to their top fours were now just spectators, so Somnia’s words earned far more excited applause and animated whoops and hollers than before. Everyone seemed to have chosen a champion, and whenever someone’s name was called, there was a noticeable cheer that erupted from the group of eliminated fledglings.
Frank was first up, though he had to go up against a Tempest who could control the wind, so his pyromancy was almost immediately snuffed out. I clapped my friend on the back as he went to join the eliminated fledglings, and I just winked at both Danny and Hannah in anticipation.
I was pulled last, so I had to watch every single fight before I got to go again. This ended up being entirely in my favor, though, because I got to see exactly how my opponents squared up to theirs and could study their tells and their habits.
I was fully prepared to go up against the likes of Danny, or even Hannah who was still doing surprisingly well, but as luck would have it, I was paired with my fellow Conduit.
Zach, ringleader of the so-called Zeus bros, and the very asshole who’d started on me during our very first day at the Academy. There was something wonderfully synergistic about that, and I wondered whether Somnia had any control over the billings.
They looked to be assigned completely at random on the giant white and purple lit board, but maybe she had a little sway in the way that the names were called.
Zach looked just as eager to continue our sparring match, and he eyed me with a smug grin from the moment our names were paired together.
When Somnia called for us to take our positions, the entire Academy erupted as though it were a prize fight. We were only in the quarterfinals, and yet our battle seemed to have garnered quite the reaction.
The other fledglings, even if they’d lived with their heads under a rock, knew about our rivalry, and it must’ve been almost tangible because every single spectator behind the protective glass suddenly leaned forward in their seats.
Even Pyro sat up a little straighter and studied the makeshift sparring area with increased intrigue.
“Zach, master of electricity, and Mark, pyromancer with multiple abilities, both call the Conduit pillar their home!” Somnia announced, and I could even hear a slightly heightened excitement in her voice. “They’re the last two Conduits in the running, so this is sure to be a powerful battle! Gentlemen, at the sound of the bell, if you please.”
