by Riley Tune
“I was just joking,” I said as I smacked him on the back. “I don’t care about being as famous as anybody. My fame has done nothing for me, but kept me in the public eye when I didn’t want to be.”
He said nothing but nodded and continued to walk up the hall. “You have to loosen up a bit,” I said as I looked at him. His jaw visibly clenched but still no additional reaction followed. “So, what's your deal?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” he replied. “Well I have always heard that you never leave the base.” “I have no reason to. We have everything here that I need.” I exhaled as we finally came to a door. “Remember what I said about loosening up a little?” he nodded. “You may want to do that sooner, rather than later. You’re giving off a serial killer vibe.” His eyes widened.
“Yeah. Creepy, follow you down a dark alley, stab you, serial killer vibe. Not to mention, with your powers you could be running this place when your dad retired.” He looked at me with a blank stare.
“I prefer to simply sketch. Time is slow, and that is how I spend it.” He turned to walk away. “Wait,” I said. He looked at me. “Look,” I stammered some. I didn’t know exactly how to ask him to show me his ability. It was just so rare that I had to see it, though. Having energy powers was common for Icons, so while seeing Kevin’s ability was cool, it was more of a quick way to charge my phone. Hell, even I had an energy based power with my Impact Blast, but what Picasso could do was, out of this world like and I had to see it. Had to.
“Could you draw me something?.” He took a deep breath and then looked down to his feet. “I suppose so, what would you like?” I thought about it for a moment, then my stomach growled. “A slice of pizza.” I replied finally. “You will ruin your dinner.” Picasso quickly said back. I shook my head.
“You have to learn this about me Picasso. In my book pizza is eternal. Anytime, is a time for pizza.” He bit his lip and then slowly nodded in agreement. He raised one hand, and extended his index finger, which now had a glowing tip.
“Holy shit.” I said as I watched the finger glow. It was so intense. As if a tiny sun was somehow trapped inside of it. He slowly moved his finger and as he did a line was created in the air. He drew a triangle, and then drew several circles inside the triangle.
Instantly the glowing triangle he drew in the air, turned into a slice of pizza. “Hurry,” he said. I quickly stuck my hands out and grabbed it. It was pizza. Real live, warm, cheesy, pepperoni pizza. I looked at the slice in my hand and then back to him. Even the smells were unreal. The aroma from the slice made my mouth water and my stomach all but screamed.
In a few large bites the pizza was gone, and was in fact the best pizza I had ever tasted. “So, anything?” I asked as I licked my fingers. His brow raised. “Anything,” I repeated. “Anything you draw, with your fingers becomes real. If what my school says is true, you’re the only reality warper ever documented.” He avoided my gaze. I could feel myself going full fanboy, but I couldn’t help it.
“By definition, you are literally one of the most powerful Icons alive. Not to mention who your dad is. Which, well hell you’re like Icon royalty.” He said nothing, but his finger began to fade back to normal.
“It’s almost like magic.” I finally said just to end the silence. “Magic isn’t real.” he replied quickly. I could feel my eyes roll. “I know magic isn’t real, I’m just saying. Like that is how amazing your powers are. You, nevermind, forget it.” I placed my hand on the doorknob to my room. “How long before dinner?” I asked.
Picasso had already started walking away from where we were. “Half an hour,” he said without looking back. “Prism will escort you there.” “Hey wait,” I shouted down the hall. He stopped walking. “Thanks for, you know, showing me. It took your serial killer vibe down a little. Now we just have to get you to actually want to leave the base.”
He nodded his head and then continued up the hall.
I entered my room to find that, surprisingly, it was an identical replica of my room back home. “How in,” I stopped mid- sentence. My bags were already on the bed. I didn’t know if I should have been confused, or comforted. It was weird, because I wasn’t sure how they even knew what my room at home looked like to copy, yet at the same time, I was enjoying being in a familiar setting.
I wondered if Jen and Zeva found replica rooms, too. I sat down on the bed, and checked my phone. I hadn’t heard from Danielle in a while. Maybe she finally got the hint that I didn’t want to talk. Was I missing her without even realizing it? Why else would I check the phone for a message from her?
I figured it was better to put my clothes away, Prism would be coming to get me soon. It was then that I realised that something was different about my replica room.
Every detail was perfect, even my attached bathroom was there. The major difference, was there were no windows. My room and bathroom back home had windows. Shitty views, but still I had windows. This room didn’t. Maybe they thought a window to the ocean would take away from the replica rooms’ appeal.
My hand touched the wall where my window would have been. “Young Lord,” I heard a voice say from behind me as I jumped. I turned around quickly with my eyes glowing blue. Prism laughed. “Really? Did you forget I wasn’t real?” The room turned to its normal colors.
“I know, but damn, announce yourself next time. Like from outside the door. What if I was doing something private with myself?” “Private with, yourself?” Prism repeated back to me. I shook my head. “Never mind.”
Prism looked at me with his holographic face passive. “Shall we go?” he said as he turned, and walked through my door. When I opened it, he was standing on the other side waiting for me. “This way, young Lord.”
I followed him and in a time shorter than it took for Picasso to show me my room, we were greeted by the smells of savory foods, and chatter. Despite having the slice of pizza earlier, my stomach was still growling like crazy. I had used my powers too much for one slice to tame the beast of my belly.
Prism stopped walking as we entered the room. I could hear people but I couldn’t see anything. I looked at Prism. “Just up there,” he said as his flickering form pointed to a set of four floating steps.
I placed my foot down on the first step slowly. It didn’t move. I didn’t know how it was staying afloat, or how it was able to support my weight, but it was. As I walked up the steps I could see a great hall before me full of people.
It was a scene almost like out of a movie. The walls all around the great hall had purple glowing lights cast on them while the main lights were turned down low. Different areas of the great hall were separated by walls of glass wrapped in a steel frame. One room had a few dozen tables, and several tables of food spread out. This was the room I wanted to enter first.
Another room had people dancing inside, and the final room had nothing at all going on . In the main room there were around a hundred people that were casually talking to each other and drinking. A waiter even walked around with food on trays for people to grab as they pleased.
“Hunter,” I heard a voice calling to me from inside the crowd. In a second, Mr. Reid showed up and was eating a mini hotdog, dressed in his Icon uniform. He stood beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. Thankfully it wasn’t the sore one that Flex bumped me in. “This is all for you three. The interns,” I nodded my head as he took a bite of his hotdog again.
“Who are all these people though?” I asked with a grimace. I didn’t mind people, but I hated tight spaces, and so many people here made me get that cramped spaces feeling. “Various assholes and important types,” Mr. Reid said. “Mainly people who donate money to the Lords.”
“Several faces you will know though, as you walk around.” he looked down at me. “Detach told me about your, incident when you arrived.” I snorted. “Incident? I punched him. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Mr. Reid shook his head. “Yeah, I know but you can’t go around punching people. You br
ing it to me or one of the Lords. I already have spoken to The Mechanic.” I looked at him as he finished his hotdog.
“You did?” He nodded as he grabbed a mini burger from a waiter walking by. “I told him if he puts my kids in jeopardy again, I’ll use my powers and drain the life from him.” “Damn. Can you really do that?” I asked him. He laughed slightly. “Nope. He doesn’t know that though. He got the point.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Just no more hitting.” Mr. Reid repeated. “This place is awesome, isn’t it,” I heard Jen say as she, once again became visible in front of us. I looked around expecting Zeva to be with her, but spotted her with Flex talking to some people across the room.
“Whoa. No cap?” I asked as I looked at Jen’s hair being exposed. She glared at Mr. Reid. “No. I was instructed to leave it behind.” He cleared his throat. “Make sure you guys eat before you take your oath,” and he quickly made his way through the crowd.
“Your room look like the one from home, too?” she asked me. “Yeah. Weird, isn’t it?” I said as I lead the way to the food room. Once inside the food area, Jen looked around as she decided what she wanted to put on her plate.
The fact that she had a plate was funny to me. “Amateur,” I said to her as I just began grabbing food and piling it in my mouth. Several rolls, chicken legs, slices of roast, three cookies, one slice of cake, and a small portion of broccoli later and I was finally feeling full again. I wiped my hands clean and finally noticed several people, including Jen, watching me in amazement.
I shrugged. “What, I was hungry.” “Yeah but you weren’t raised in a barn. Mom would go ape shit if she had witnessed you scarf all that down using just your hands.” Jen said as she wrapped a few cookies in a napkin and put them in her pocket.
I quickly grabbed a napkin and did the same thing. It’s always good to have snacks for later. As I selected my cookies, the chatter in the great hall suddenly stopped, and was replaced by clapping.
Jen and I turned to look through the glass wall of the room and saw what all the fuss was about. Mr. Impervious had finally made it to the dinner. Jen and I slowly made it out of the room full of food and to the main area again.
He could have been dressed in his uniform like the other members of the Imperial Lords, but instead he had on a navy- blue suit that, seeing as how it looked perfect on him, had to have been tailored. His white shirt that he wore with it had the top three buttons undone, so it exposed his salt and pepper- haired chest to the world.
Jen and I made our way to the edge of the crowd as he walked towards us. He stopped here and there to shake people's hands, to casually wave, and to even take pictures with those bold enough to ask.
We both knew of Mr. Impervious, but neither of us had ever seen him before this close. He was an Icon that few could compare to in popularity or power. While in his late fifties he still had the body of a college athlete. Perhaps the only person with a better physical build in the whole room was Flex. In reverse, Impervious was about the only person that could match pure strength with Flex.
He finally made it to Jen and I. He looked at us, well moreso me than Jen. He was about the same height as I was. His face and head were cowered with salt and pepper hair and even his teeth seemed to be impervious to outside damage. They were perfect in every way.
There were rumors that he wanted to retire and pass the torch, but seeing him in person now, he looked like he could go on kicking ass well into his eighties. “You two are the interns, right?” he said as he extended his hand to me.
Camera flashed around us as I shook his hand. “Life-Line’s kids.” he said as he shook Jens hand. “Yes sir.” she replied back. He looked at me once more and had an unusual look on his face. Like he wanted to say something but didn’t know the right words. The camera finally stopped flashing and the people around us went back to their fun.
“You look, a lot like him.” he finally said to me. Jen looked to me with a frown on her face. “Like who?” I asked. “Your father.” I felt myself swallow a lump in my throat. This was unexpected. I didn’t realize Impervious knew my dad. “You fought my father?” I asked slowly.
Mr. Impervious grinned and shook his head. “No. We raced before though. Before he chose the life that he did. The stories are true. He, to this day, has been the only Icon with speed greater than mine.”
It was weird. He spoke of my dad as if they were old friends. Maybe they were in school together or grew up together. The Reids knew so much about my mom, but my dad's life was always a footnote in my upbringing. Maybe Impervious could change that.
“Davis,” Flex said as he approached us with Zeva beside him. While Flex was dressed from head to toe in his traditional red and blue uniform, Zeva still had on the same clothes from when we arrived. Clearly Jen and I weren’t the only ones who didn’t have time to change.
“This is Z. I mean Zeva.” Mr. Impervious shook Zeva’s hand. “Nice to finally meet you. Flex brags about you more than himself.” Zeva smiled and I could feel my heart skip. Had I been this attracted to her in school and just suppressed it because of Danielle, or was this still a rebound attraction?
“Well since we are all here, let’s handle the oath. After that, you will be teamed up for your assignments so we can unleash a new group of heroes on the world.” He clapped his hands together and grinned at us all. Turning to the crowd, Impervious raised his hand, and the entire room fell silent. All I could hear was the AC system now.
Jen and I bumped fists. “Here we go,” I said to her as my heart began to race. It was our time now, and despite not knowing if I wanted to be a hero or villain, I was ready.
CHAPTER 14
THE REMATCH
A
s the room remained silent, Impervious lead the three of us to the only empty room in the great hall. Several people followed us, as they sipped drinks, ate food, or quickly whispered to each other. It felt off putting knowing they were all there for me. Or for us, I should say.
I saw Detach among them as I walked by, and Mr. Reid was among the crowd still, too. He took a bite out of a miniature burger that he held between his fingertips, and gave a slight wink to us. Even The Mechanic and, not surprisingly, several other Imperial Lords were there. Power Prince among them. Seems his television date was cut short.
It wasn’t just Icons of note, though. Several high- ranking officials, various teachers from the academy, and community leaders were among us. There were plenty of supergroups doing the same thing tonight I was sure, but none of them were The Imperial Lords, and none were led by the world's most popular hero. None were helmed by the man who ended The Battle of Ages.
I was already wealthy, but seeing all the well- paid people here to watch me take an oath, made me feel like I should have charged a fee. Especially with them gawking at me like they were now, as if I was on display. I wonder if Jen and Zeva were feeling the same way that I was right now.
Impervious walked into the room, and placed a small circular black dot on his throat. “Testing, testing,” he said as he spoke. To my surprise, his voice was not only heard through the room, but through the entire great hall itself. I saw The Mechanic give him a nod and a thumb’s up. This must have been another of his inventions.
I had the mixed urge to either punch him again or to apologize for hitting him. I knew apologizing was the best thing to do, but I felt like if I approached him, the punch would be delivered instead of an apology. So, I left it alone, and tried to avoid him.
When the three of us finally made it into the room, Jen went in first. Zeva stood at the door talking to Flex who was holding both of her shoulders and talking quickly, all while shaking his head. It looked like he was a coach telling his star player how to win the game for them. Zeva shook her head, loosened her shoulders some and then walked into the room occupied by Mr. Impervious, and Jen.
All that was left was me. Flex turned and looked at me. I still disliked the asshole, but I was trying to keep Mr. Reid’s and
Detach’s advice in my head. So instead of making eye contact with Flex, or using a variety of insults for him inside my head, I just casually tried to walk by him. “Excuse me,” I said as I turned some to slide by.
He didn’t move. “You sure you want to do this?” I didn’t say anything, because I had no idea what he was talking about. The room was still silent as people behind me, and the others in the room looked at Flex and I talking. Of all the faces I could see, Jen was the only one who looked nervous. She knew not only of the past between Flex and I, but she was the only one who knew why we truly got in a fight. I never even told Mr. and Mrs. Reid. He had insulted my parents. He had said things that no child should hear, or ever forgive, and here we were again. Face to face.
I was sure, the rest of people assumed he, an older and experienced member of the Imperial Lords was giving me advice. “I know people think you’re tough shit, with your four powers, but I don’t trust you. Not at all. I’m sure you’ll end up like your father. A waste of talent on the wrong side of what’s right, and when you do, trust and believe, I’ll personally bring you down.” He looked over his shoulder and then back to me.
I said nothing. I kept hearing Mr. Reid’s voice in my head. I pushed all of what I was feeling inside down, and simply shook my head. “Thanks for the advice Ken doll,” I said with a smile as I patted his shoulder. “Now, if you’re done being a dick, I have to go stand beside your sister and try to block out how delicious she smells while Itake my oath.”
I nudged by him and let myself bump into him as I did so. A point was made to put some force into it. I didn’t have his strength, but I still was able to exert myself. He bumped into the frame of the door as I nudged him, and several gasps came from the crowd around us.
“Just ignore him,” Jen said as I stood between her and Zeva. “Trying to,” I replied back without looking at her. All three of us were standing in front of Mr. Impervious now. He stood with his hands behind his back and beamed at us. I glanced at Zeva and could see sweat on her brow. Wow, she really was nervous. The room went cold, as the sweat on her brow froze. Zeva gasped a little and removed her pills from her pocket and placed two in her mouth. The chill in the room faded almost instantly.
