by Riley Tune
Once they all got settled in, Hunter opened his folder and passed each of them a sheet of paper. Power Prince looked at the paper and then looked at the only other person in the room. Standing no less than ten feet away from their table was a casually dressed man with brown skin.
He had on some loose blue jeans, a gray shirt, and a black jacket. “Gregory Turner.” Power Prince said casually. The young man nodded. “It’s just Greg,” he said in a relaxed voice. Hunter looked the man over and got a feeling already that he was different. All the previous auditions seemed to throw themselves at the New Lords.
They still had some fame around Atlas City after the Infinity incident, and many wanted to shake their hands, take selfies with them. A few even asked for autographs. Truthful, they didn’t act like heroes. This Greg guy was different. He didn’t even seem to care who they were.
“Alright Greg, give us the rundown. True Name, power, background, and why you want to join the New Lords.” Greg smiled. “So, you want me to tell you everything that is on the application in front of you?”
“I like him already,” Hunter said as he shifted in his seat. “Ditto,” Jen said. Greg cleared his throat as he clasped his hands together. “My name is Greg Turner. Originally from Regalville, and the number one graduate from Celestial Institute in my year.” Greg could see the smirk on Power Prince’s face. “That’s right, the rival school of the world-famous Paragon Academy. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you guys.” Greg said with a grin.
“Moving on, where was I? Did my internship under the Justice Heralds but was told I had some temper issues. Decided to work alone after that because I didn’t like the pack mentality of a supergroup. After what happened to my cousin, my mother suggested I join your team. That’s when she reached out to Gleam.”
Each member looked down at their applications in front of them. “I don’t see that last part on here.” Power Prince said. “What happened to your cousin?” Greg shook his head. “Wrong place at the wrong time. He was a target on Infinities hit list. You two were there when he died.” Greg said as he pointed towards Jen and Hunter.
Power Prince and Danielle looked at them and raised a brow. Hunter thought to himself about what Greg had said and then his mouth dropped open. “Young Pyro was your cousin?” Hunter suddenly found himself the one who was in awe.
“Indeed, he was. My mom didn’t want me running alone after that, and we decided the best place to be was with people that took down my cousin’s killer.” The room was silent for a moment before Power Prince gave Greg a nod.
“Right. Um, my True Name is Orbit Fury, and my power is that I’m a radial Elementalist.” This was the part they all truly waited for. Elementalists weren’t rare, in fact most supergroups had a few on staff.
A person controlling one element wasn’t really great. Two was better, but a person that could master them all was rare. Very rare. “Define what that means,” Jen said quickly. As Greg smirked, a bubble expanded from him. It wasn’t like a force field that Hunter could create. It was more so a heat haze in the air around them that that could see.
The bubble expanded around forty feet with Greg being at its center. Then suddenly, it began to snow. Danielle looked around and stuck her hand out as snow touched it, and then melted. Instantly the snow stopped and then the wind began to pick up with such strength that Hunter had to create a force field to protect them.
Next came rain, raging fires that seemed to dance around, and even the ground began to crack and move. In an instant, everything stopped and the heat haze of a bubble vanished. “Once I create the haze field, anything inside becomes my elemental playground,” Greg said.
“So, am I in?” Power Prince looked at his team and they all gave slight nods. “Welcome to the New Lords.” Power Prince said as Greg walked over and shook his hand. “You’ll have to complete some paperwork, and do a trial period, but in three months you’re a full- blown member.”
Greg did a slight bow and then began to shake their hands. The celebration was short lived as Prism blinked into existence again. The hologram made a fancy bow to Greg. “Welcome aboard, Young Lord.” Greg smiled, but looked at the team and then back to Prism.
“You’ll get used to it,” Power Prince said as he expected the hologram to leave, but it didn’t. “What’s wrong, Prism?” In response, the hologram waived its hand, and a screen appeared in the air.
It showed a city in chaos with an aerial view of a city being surrounded by military staff at the border. “That’s Regalville,” Greg said as he stiffened. “My mom’s there. What’s going on?”
He looked at Prism. “Apparently there is an Icon by the name of Wraith that has created quite the fuss.” “They’re locking down the city for a single Icon?” Hunter asked as he continued to watch the live feed. “It appears that this Icon is a necromancer.”
Everybody in the room looked at Prism. “Of the supreme level,” the hologram continued. “Necromancers don’t exist,” Danielle said slowly. “Do they?” “The people of Regalville seem to think so.” Prism said. “Our assistance has been requested.” The hologram continued. Power Prince took a deep breath and glanced at Greg, and then to Hunter. No words were exchanged as the white force field came into life around them. “I can get myself there. Thanks, though,” Greg said as Hunter pulled the force field in some and allowed Greg to step out.
His heat haze formed around him, and with it came winds so loud that they could be heard by the rest of the team. He slowly raised off the ground. “Prism.” Power Prince said. “On it, sir.”
The roof of the training arena opened and exposed them all to the open sky. Greg was the first to take off, being propelled by his own wind control. “We ready?” Hunter asked as he looked at the rest of his team. “Are you?” Power Prince asked. “This will be the first mission where you get to use your new powers fully. You’re our heavy hitter now that Flex is gone.” “No pressure, boo,” Danielle said with a smile.
Hunter smirked. “I was always the heavy hitter.” With those words, he lifted them all through the air with little effort as he slowly began to unleash his new power. With a slight pop, they exploded through the air to face this new enemy. This supposed necromancer. This, Wraith.
THE END
The New Lords will return in: Wraith: An Icon Story
