by Riley Tune
“Usually they save the big names for last,” Jen said as I stood up. “Yeah but usually they don’t call the big names’ abomination to their face, so I don’t fit the mold,” I said as I casually made my way to the floor.
I looked up to the private viewing box, and was surprised to see that several silhouettes were in the window looking down on me. Clearly the spawn of a hero and villain was known even to the upper level supergroups.
Even though the silence had faded, I knew several dozen cameras were on me. Across the world at various superbases, Icons were watching me to see the show I would put on. To see how the infamous half- villain, half- hero spawn would perform. I took a deep breath and decided to go all out and make it a display they wouldn’t soon forget. Could I have followed the rules and gone to each little station they had set up for me? Sure, I could have, but that would be dull.
I’d rather play in that gray zone again. I cracked my neck and looked over my shoulder to where Jen was sitting and watching. I winked at her and grinned, as I felt that smooth tingle as power flooded my body. Her eyes got wide and she shook her head from side to side.
I allowed my view of the inside of the building to turn blue, as energy began to illuminate my eyes. As I began to rise in the air, with a smile on my face from ear to ear, I looked down on the crowd. They had no idea how much fun I was about to have.
CHAPTER 6
FLEXING MY POWERS
S
o, what to do first? I was so excited that I almost rubbed my hands together and grinned like they did on cartoons. I had four stations that were assigned to me, all revolving around my powers. What I needed to do was find a way to show all I could do, without having to bring my force field up, or if I did bring it up, finding a way to make it larger instead of small would be ideal.
Flying was done first. As I rose higher in the air, I could still hear names being called, yet so many of the cameras in the building were set on me. Many of the projector screens were following me as I flew, with my eyes leaving a faint trail of blue in my wake. The wind as I zoomed around caused my hair to blow and I could feel my lips getting dry.
I stopped quickly in the air, and earned a gasped reaction from the crowd. I reached inside the pockets of my sweats and pulled out some Chapstick. To the people looking from below, no doubt this seemed cool. I’m sure they assumed that I was so unbothered by the demo, that I had time to casually apply lip protector. In reality, I just really hated chapped lips. I don’t know about other flyers, but it drove me crazy.
I put my Chapstick back into my pockets and gave my hands a shake to loosen them up, as I smiled and darted in the air towards the floating circles designed for the flyers to move through. In a few moments I had flown through the circles several times front to back so fast that they were now playing it in slow motion on the screens.
I didn’t collide with a single one of the floating circles. I flew from them then stopped in the air and looked at them. As I looked them over, I looked down below and saw a stretch of water. This was the area designed for people with swimming, or water manipulation based powers. The people who could breathe under water, or turn into water, stuff like that. The area had two people in it, swimming. Perfect. Just perfect.
I aimed my eyes at each of the floating circles and concentrated. My aim wasn’t the best, but the circles were so close together that luck was on my side. I released the blue energy from my eyes and let out two swift Impact Blasts. More gasps came from the audience of teachers and students.
“What in Atlas’s name is he doing?” Griles said over his microphone. My blast powered through the floating rings and caused them to crumble, sending chunks of whatever the rings were made of to come falling down. As the debris picked up speed, it was headed directly onto the two people in the water below, and as of yet, no other person had made any attempts to save them. Perfect.
“A little more,” I said to myself under my breath. The chunks continued to fall and just when they were only a few feet from the people in the water, I moved my hands. My pale blue force field sprung to life around the two random idiots in the water who didn’t even try to move to get to safety.
They looked around wildly as they found themselves trapped inside ball- shaped orbs of energy. One of them, a young girl with pale skin and red hair, actually slammed her fist on the force field. Before she could continue her pointless assault, the debris crashed down on them. When the smoke cleared and debris had stopped falling, they were still safely trapped in my force field.
I moved my hand around again and the force field flickered away. I’m glad the display was over fast. While it was easy to surround myself in a force field, but it was a strain to keep it up around others, especially when I wasn’t nearby .
“Monroe, come down here this instant,” I heard the screaming voice of Principal Griles. I wagged my finger to him and shook my head. Instead, I ran down my list out loud as my two victims got out of the pool. “So that’s flight, eye blast, and force field,” I said to myself. “Oh strength,” I said as I snapped my fingers. I looked around. What could I use instead of going to the strength station. Then it hit me.
There were several rings still floating in the air. May as well keep it all right here. I flew over to one of the rings and with a small Impact Blast, I let my beams fly from my eye and clip the top of the circle. The entire large, stone circle began to fall but it was falling in one piece this time.
These stone circles were a little bit of a wonder. They literally appeared to just be floating in the sky off on their own power. Nothing was visibly connecting them to the roof of the building, or any other attached structure, but as soon as they were damaged, they would fall.
As the stone circle fell to the ground, I gave it a second to increase distance from me, and then began to fly towards it. I picked up my speed as the circle began to fall faster. In the next seconds I was flying past the circle. The ground below me was coming up fast and I was cutting it close. I positioned myself under the falling circle and raised my hands up. As it touched my hands I could feel my arms bend.
An Icon like Flex or Mr. Impervious, could catch this with ease, hell even Lady Omega could do this easily, and while she had immense strength, she only had one arm. I myself was having a harder time. I was holding the circle up, but its weight was still pushing me down. I glanced over my shoulder at the ground, and the people on it were still approaching.
I could feel myself gritting my teeth, and pushing myself to fly up as the stone circle finally began to slow down. About fifteen feet in the air from the ground, I finally had control of the circle and gently placed it on the ground as I slowly descended.
Once the stone was on the ground, I allowed for the room to turn back to normal as I removed the energy from my eyes. Then, I took a fancy bow, and put both of my hands in the air. Much of the crowd actually clapped. Not a single teacher seemed amused by my stunt, and several students actually walked by me and glared. Two of them being the students that had been in the water. “Hey, I knew what I was doing,” I said to them as they passed.
I turned around and looked up to see that, somehow, all of the floating stones I had just destroyed, were replaced by copies of the previous stones that were there. It was as if I hadn’t destroyed anything. Hell, had not the rubble been scattered on the ground, it would have looked as if nothing even happened.
A firm hand was suddenly placed on my shoulder. “Go. Sit. Down,” Principal Griles said as he spoke through gritted teeth. Sweat was visible on his forehead and his eyes were bulging. “You okay?” I asked. “You look like you are about to have a heart attack.” His grip on my shoulder tightened as he began to breath hard.
I jerked my shoulder away from him. I didn’t think Griles had super strength, but for a moment it sure felt like it. I went and found my seat beside Jen again. As I sat down, I looked up to where the special viewing area was. The silhouettes from the Icons watching were gone now.
; I wonder if they were impressed with my abilities. I figured they were either so impressed that they were discussing who would get me, or so outraged, that they were hatching a plan to have me contained. Had I gone too far? I looked around the area. Everybody lived, and the debris was getting cleaned up now. Nope, not too far at all. Not a drop of blood was shed in the process, either.
“You know you could have just went to the stations like everybody else, but no. Hunter has to stand out.” Jen said as she rolled her eyes. “I just wanted to be memorable.” I replied with a smile. “You almost killed John and Heather.”
I grimaced. “Killed who?” Jen exhaled. “The two students in the water.” “Oh, you mean dumb student one, and dumb student two?” I let out a laugh at my own pet names I had created. “They didn’t even try to move. Do you really want Icons like that out there saving the world?” Think about that.” I said as I wagged a finger.
“You’re an idiot,” Jen said, but I couldn’t take her seriously because she was holding in a laugh. “I thought Griles was going to explode when you shot the circles.” I waved a hand. “He’ll live.” Jen glanced up into the sky as she looked at where the Icon judges were.
“I wonder what they thought of your little display. Matter of fact, I wonder what all of the supergroupswatching thought.” I shrugged. “I’m not sure,” I replied. “If anything, they know the abomination is a force to be reckoned with,” I said as I extended a fist to her. She shook her head. “Nope. I’m not helping you stroke your own ego.” We both laughed at her words.
A few moments went by and more students were called. One girl, who was easily over six feet tall, and had muscles like a statue and could actually become into any creature she wanted. Any creature, past, present, or future, she could turn into. One second she was a bear, the next she was a unicorn, and then to finish, she turned herself into a dinosaur. A real- life dinosaur. I didn’t know her name, but man, did she have a cool power. How had I been here so long and not have known about her?
Very few powers impressed me, but her’s did . In a real- life situations, I don’t know how much she would contribute, but that didn’t take away from the awesomeness of her power set. “Damn when is Griles going to call me?” Jen said as she balled her fist in the air.
I slapped her on the back. “Don’t worry about it, everybody knows they save the best for last.” “Shut up,” she quickly replied. “In other news,” I continued, “you coming with me to the Young Pyro concert? I saw the flyers in the hall. It’s in Downtown Atlas City. It’s either tomorrow or the day after. I forget, but I’ll find out before it happens. They are going to shut the street down, it’s going to be loaded with food, drinks, and mayhem.” I could feel the smile on my face as I gave her the details.
“So, you still have this man crush on Young Pyro, huh,” Jen said. She made air quotes with her fingers when she said the words man crush. “You should just come out of the closet already. It’s accepted now. “I don’t have a man crush on him, I just respect him.” “Sure,” Jen replied.
It was true, though I did respect him. More than I did most Icons. Young Pyro was almost a trend setter. He had fire- powers on a supreme scale. He could control it, create it, and was resistant to it. He was even a member of The Imperial Lords for a short moment, until he just quit.
According to the many magazine articles written about him, he decided to do what he loved and being a hero wasn’t that. He had a passion for music. Rap music, mainly. So, he followed that career. In the next two years he became both the first Icon to following a music career, and one of the most well- known rappers in the world.
Despite his ability to be a great Icon, his lyrical ability as a rapper was even more impressive. “I just like how he didn’t do what was expected of him. He followed the beat of his own drum so to speak, and it worked out just fine for him.” I waited for Jen to reply. I glanced at her, and she wasn’t even listening. She was talking to some blond sitting beside her.
“Jen. Jen.” she turned to me. “Are you listening?” Her eyes darted from side to side. “Sure. Young Pyro concert. Trend setter. Drums. I got it.” I shook my head. “So, you coming or not.? It’s free because it’s his homecoming special so it will be recorded.” I said.
Jen shook her head. “I’m down.” “Good,” I said as I stood up. “Wait where are you going?” she asked. “I’m leaving.” She stood up in protest. “You haven’t seen me go yet.” I turned my face up to her. “Seen you go?” I responded. “I was raised in the same house as you. I’ve been seeing you use, and abuse, your powers for years.” She moved her mouth to respond but I cut her off. “Years!” I said once more.
“Plus, you are being entertained anyway,” I added as I pointed my thumb to the blond girl who was now watching the current students on the screens. “Just make sure you figure out who we are assigned to before you come home.” She shook her head. As if we both didn’t know we would be with The Imperial Lords.
“Where are you going,” Jen asked as I grabbed my backpack. “I’m going to The Ebony District,” I replied. “Oh, to give the villain her gift,” Jen responded. “Yep. To which she will be so happy with that she will throw herself at me.” I smirked. “I have this all mapped out.”
Jen grimaced. “Don’t be too late getting home. We have to pack our stuff for the morning.” she added as she sat down. “Yes mom,” I said over my shoulder as I began to descend the bleachers and head out of the training building.
CHAPTER 7
EBONY DISTRICT
F
irst, let me say that I personally hate The Ebony District. Not because of the increase in crime, that didn’t bother me. It wasn’t even the eternal darkness. It was mostly the fact that there was always somebody, either Icon or Void, looking for a point to prove. Everybody wanted to be a tough guy. I hated it, and to avoid drawing attention to myself, I figured it was best to change clothes before I made my way to the darker side of Atlas City.
I usually kept a spare pair of jeans and an extra shirt in my locker at Purgatory. Most students just had a spare pair of the standard sweats and shirt given out by the school, but I didn’t always do what most kids at Purgatory did.
You never knew when you would spill some food, or have some sort of chemical from class splash against you. In either case, you’d want out of those clothes as soon as possible. Despite what movies and comics would have you believe, a random chemical on you doesn’t make you an Icon, it makes you sick, is what it does.
With my casual blue jeans, and white shirt on, I didn’t stand out as much as an Icon from school. To give myself the added look of a person from The Ebony District, I swung by a store on my way and grabbed a black leather jacket. At only one hundred bucks it was a bargain, and after almost dropping that much on a watch, I wanted to keep myself on a budget for the next few weeks. That’s how the rich go broke, spending with no regard. I can thank Mr. Reid for drilling that lesson in my head whenever we talked about my inheritance from my father.
As I walked down the street I saw several Icons fly at almost top speed in the same direction I was going. I couldn’t tell who they were, but they were all dressed in the same color of blue. That much I could make out. They must have been in the same supergroup. Not only that, but they were clearly headed to Ebony District. As usual, something must have been going on there.
I didn’t do much, but I knew enough to keep my head down and nose clean if I had to be in Ebony. I didn’t run from fights, but I didn’t go looking for them either. Not usually. More and more as I walked down the street, the ever shine of the Diamond District, slowly began to fade, and was replaced by a darkness that enveloped me with each of my footsteps.
Everything around me was changing the closer I got to The Ebony District. The expensive, flashy cars that were common in my District, were suddenly replaced by older, worn out vehicles. The buildings were gradually changing from skyscrapers of tomorrow, to semi run- down buildings, covered with graffit
i, and with boarded up windows. The only thing that remained the same as I walked were the trees.
On this road in particular, there were small trees planted along the side. Nothing that would grow to a significant height, just smaller trees for aesthetics, to make the area look appealing. While trees in Diamond District looked like these, they acted differently. In mdistrict, the trees would stretch as if to touch you. People were nicer there, so the trees were more open. However, in The Ebony District, as I casually walked by these trees I extended my arm as a sign of my nonaggressive nature, and the trees all leaned back out of my arm's reach.
It was as if they didn’t want to be touched. I wasn’t sure what they were used to in this District, but they avoided my hand like the plague. “Fine,” I grumbled as I finally made it fully into the darkness.
I turned and looked behind me one last time. I could see the shine of Diamond District from here. It looked about ten feet away. I took a breath and snuggly grabbed the straps of my backpack and headed to Danielle’s place.
I wanted to just fly there, but even that could attract attention from the wrong people. Especially if you were flying alone. That’s why those Icons from before were in a group and dressed alike. To show all who saw them that they were together. An attack on one of them was an attack on all of them.
It was smart, and sometimes the strength in numbers approach was needed. Other times Ebony was one of the best places to be. Some of the best dates Danielle and I have ever had were here in this very district.
In time, I found myself close to her apartment. I was glad because the stench of smoke and car fumes seemed to flood the air around here nonstop. “Finally,” I said to myself as her building came into view. I don’t know why but it felt like it had taken me forever to get here. Likely because I was so anxious to see her.
