Legend
" " = people talking
italics = people thinking
* * = sounds
' ' = people talking within telepathy
CAPS = Power usage
Book 1: Chapter 1: A Moonlight Dinner
“I’m sorry sir but the VIP section is occupied already and there isn’t any room” -???
If looks could kill then the poor host standing in front of Nick would already be dead. But alas he isn’t a criminal and killing this man who is just doing his job would definitely count as a crime and land him in the big house making Nick rethink his actions before he speaks.
“What do you mean the VIP section is occupied! I paid good money to be able to sit there whenever I like” –Nick
Using his brain to commute everything he knows about the VIP section he realizes that not only does it have the best view in the city of Central Park, it is also an area with exactly three seating areas meaning more than one party could potentially be there at the same time. Thinking quickly he remembers there are two tables that fit ten each and his own personal seat at the window that seats two (after all, he only ever needs two seats, one for him, one for whichever girl he fancies at the time).
“I’m sorry sir but a group of high class VIPs came in earlier and are now occupying the Veranda.” –Host
“Before I get really upset I have a couple of questions. Are there 22 occupants currently in the VIP section?” –Nick
“Well uh, no. There are only 5 guests up there at this current time…” –Host
“Then that means my seat by the window is unoccupied and I should have no problem claiming it tonight like I do on most nights! You know what? Just get your manager, you are clearly out of your league and are like a frog in a well that can’t tell how big the sky is.” –Nick
With that said Nick completely ignores the poor Host while tapping his foot and waiting for the manager to come. After all, he really did pay good money to have that seat permanently reserved for him at all times since this is his favorite restaurant in the city and is known for having fresh fish brought in every single day which just so happens to be Nicks favorite type of food.
A few minutes later a tall lanky man comes around the corner with a concerned look on his face. That is, until he sees Nick, then the look turns from concerned to freight!
“Mr. Cage, what seems to be the problem?” –Manager
“Ahh Benjamin, so good to see you again. I hope all is well and that there won’t be any upcoming problems in the near future…” –Nick
As the atmosphere starts to heat up, the Manager Benjamin can be seen sweating with a nervous look on his face which quickly turns resolute. However, before he can respond.
“I was just talking to your Host here whose name I don’t care to remember that my seat is unoccupied and I’d like to sit in it. After all, a few VIPs shouldn’t stop me since they are currently not in my seat at all.” –Nick
“Of course! Come with me right now and I will seat you personally.” –Benjamin
Following Benjamin, Nick gets close enough to whisper so as not to disturb those around.
“You know this wouldn’t have happened if you just hired females to guard the front instead of useless males that I don’t want to know who I am or how powerful my standing is.” –Nick
“Yes well this is only a small oversight, in the future this won’t happen again I promise!” –Benjamin
“Good! See that it doesn’t, I’d hate to make a scene or even cause a few people to lose their jobs. Of course your host here is definitely out of a job as you already surmised.” –Nick
“Also before we get there I must ask… who are the VIPs that have this place walking on eggshells?” –Nick
Before he responds Nick notices the beaming smile slowly creeping up on Benjamin’s face causing Nick to get a little sick in his stomach.
“It’s none other than The Keepers of Justice! The greatest superhero team in America and likely the world! Their record is immaculate, their members have never died and they have Mr. Absolute as part of their team, the only known super with an Aura stat above 4.9!” –Benjamin
Shit fuck damn ass, this is going to be a night. Why oh why did it have to be supers! –Nick
Using the lull in the conversation caused by walking up the spiraling staircase, Nick recalls his past and how hard it is to hide your Aura from another super. Four years! That is how long it took him to condense his Aura using ancient Chinese meditation techniques to mask the fact that he has one at all. He got so good at it then his control increased and he could even feel it made him stronger. Of course he has no clue what his Aura stat is since the only way to check is using a handy government testing center and well that is just not on the table for right now.
My Aura is tight with zero leakage but that doesn’t mean anything. I mean look at me! I’m gorgeous! How many non supers look like this? I’ll just play it off like I’m super rich and act like I own the place, that should throw them off! –Nick
Of course Nick is not only super rich but he does technically own the place since he owns the skyscraper that this restaurant is in… Of course his inner monologue doesn’t sweat the details so he feels he has a foolproof plan.
Coming up to the doors of the Veranda Benjamin stops right in front of the door.
“This is as far as I go, your seat is the normal one and we will send a waitress up to get your order soon.” –Benjamin
And with that Benjamin leaves like a cloud of smoke in order to not get in the way of any potential confrontations.
Opening the door Nick notices the 5 supers all at one table having a party and making lots of noise.
Excellent, with this much noise they won’t even notice what I am and I’ll just play my role perfectly enough and get through this night as usual. –Nick
Before Nick starts his “show” he makes sure to scan the 5 other occupants as this is the first time he has seen them in person and must know where each is so he can think about how to escape their individual powers if needed.
First he notes Mr. Absolute sitting somewhat in the middle. As the leader that is not surprising and neither is having his right hand man The Porter sitting to his right, it’s almost a joke how they sit perfectly as expected. Nick starts to wander if their PR team makes them do this on purpose since it kinda actually makes sense to do things this way. On the other side you see their one non-combatant The Techie and on either side of him are the only girls on the team Solaria and Barb.
Quick in his mind as well as on his feet, Nick goes over each of their powers in his head after noting their positions. All but The Techie have Superman builds making them ideal combatants, they all have Aura over 4.0 since that seems to be a standard for a top team so now time to individualize their powers. Mr. Absolute simply has his for lack of a better term Absolute realm where he is simply twice as strong as he normally would be which being a man with a 4.9+ Aura and Superman build makes him stronger than everyone. Fortunately his control is low so he is simply a Neanderthal meathead with super duper strength. Then his best friend The Porter with his 4.4 Aura score has the ability to teleport to go with his super strength making him the ideal person in most situations. Then we have the Techie which has mind powers only his only work on machines and the only visible electronics seem to be the earpieces each super is wearing for communication. It seems when they are going casual they only have the bear minimal gear which makes sense as they can just teleport to their base and come back geared if needed. Next to his right we have Barb with a 4.3 Aura and the ability to manifest weapons and other tangible objects on or around her making her a very good fighter. And last but definitely not least we have Solaria who on a 1-10 scale simply breaks it and comes out at a 14 or so. Or maybe she is just Nicks type, either way she has a 4.5 aura and is the next strongest on the team with her complete control of fire, freely manipulating it to the point of even creating different types including a white flame that can even heal others… talk about overpowered.
Now it’s show time. Walking towards his seat like he owns the place Nick sits down at his reserved table closest to the immaculate view of Central Park and shouts.
“Waitress!” –Nick
Straight and to the point. This is the best way to get the right type of attention. –Nick
“I’m sorry sir I didn’t see you just yet. My name is Tiffany and I will be your waitress today” –Tiffany
Luckily Tiffany is very pretty and cut the steam right underneath Nick and his plans, so with a demure look he simply orders.
“Ahh yes Tiffany, thank you for your timely service, I’m sorry if I was a bit rude earlier but I had a hard time getting to my reserved seat which by the way is always reserved by me 24/7.” –Nick
There, I can see the 5 supers shifting their attention my direction, oh sure they are still making noise but it is much quieter now and their eyes meet my direction every so often… -Nick
“Ahh yes, I’d like to start off with the Bouillabaisse and then lead up to the Masa toro with caviar roll. Oh and bring me a bottle of the 1966 Bordeaux as all the good years seem to have been drank by me already it seems.” –Nick
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Yes sir, right away sir!” –Tiffany
And with that she runs away with his order. But before Nick and relax and look at the view one of the supers comes and sits in the bitch seat. Normally Nick is ready for anything but nothing could prepare him for the startling red eyes of Solaria.
“Mind if I sit?” –Solaria
She says this while sitting as if anyone could say no to her (which they can’t, it would be immoral). Completely thrown off his game Nick tries to get it together.
Keep it cool, keep it cool and just go with the flow, go with the flow. –Nick
“Of course my dear, anyone as beautiful as you can sit wherever she wants but most especially here since that seat is only reserved for the most beautiful after all.” –Nick
Unfortunately Nick’s personality always comes out when talking to beautiful women. It is most definitely a curse of his. Fortunately the girls seem to like his personality for some reason (which has nothing to do with his looks of course, women are not shallow at all!).
And though Nick cannot tell, inside Solaria’s heart is beating rapidly with glee.
I can’t believe how handsome this guy is. KYAAAAA! I must keep my composure in order to get to know him. I wonder if he’s a super, he’s too handsome to be a norm… MUST GET! –Solaria
“I can’t help but to notice-“ –Solaria
*BANG* *CRASH* *BOOM*
At this very moment the windows in the Veranda shatter and in jumps two creatures intent to kill. One appears to be some type of werewolf or similar monster and the other for lack of a better term looks like a vampire! As soon as they come in the werewolf takes a sniff, looks over at the main table holding the 5 supers and with a dash runs to Techie and bites him in the neck while the vampire does the same on the other side. Then they both turn around and run back towards the window and jump out. But right as everyone is looking at their departing backs a click sound is made and what appears to be some type of bomb goes off blinding everyone in the room and destroying all electrical equipment within a 500 meter radius. This took awhile to explain but this all happened in the time it takes for one to take two breaths.
The first to react is Barb being closest to Techie at the time.
“This is bad, they got Techie! I won’t let them get away with this!” –Barb
Then Barb stands up and brandishes a huge Axe which came out of thin air and gets ready to chase.
“Wait! We need to call headquarters and set up a perimeter as we do not know what we are working with” –Mr. Absolute
But right at this moment the sound of something hitting the skyscraper they are in at 32 different locations at once goes off. Outside the window Barb notices a super flying in the sky shooting sonic blasts at the building support system which will cause it to crash and fall within 20 minutes.
“No time, the building is about to fall down!” –Barb
“Our coms are not working, we need to get out of here A.S.A.P. before it gets worst. I’m taking Techie now back to headquarters and will be right back!” –Porter
Within a single breath Porter not only disappears with Techie but is also back.
“We need a way to communicate or we cannot coordinate our attack!” –Mr. Absolute
Struggling with the thought of his building coming down and ruining his favorite restaurant Nick finally decides to do something.
“I got this! Coms aren’t reliable anyways!” –Nick
MIND LINK!
‘Ok your minds are linked, you all should have no problems communicating now.’ –Nick
‘Wait what? What is going on? How are you in my head?’ –Solaria
‘Don’t worry, I have mind powers, I just made a mind link with the 5 of us, now go fight some bad guys, I won’t let this building go that easily. I’m currently holding it together with telekinesis but I don’t know how long I can hold this so deal with the bad guys and send the builders A.S.A.P. and fix this place, then let me know please!’ –Nick
‘Great work and good plan, team let’s move out and let the rich guy over here keep the civvies safe.’ –Mr. Absolute
Ok now I just need to keep this huge ass skyscraper from falling on everyone’s heads… No pressure no pressure! –Nick
At this time Nick compartmentalizes his brain and splits it into two halves so he can work undisturbed and not pass out within 1-2 hours. It is known that supers can go indefinite amounts of time without food or sleep but eventually their brain shuts down and they might as well be asleep. Knowing this, early on Nick found a way to split his thoughts into two allowing one to always be in sleep mode so we can always work at 100% and even multitask when needed. Right now though he had to put one side on overdrive to control his telekinesis while the other rests and simply holds the mind link together, an act that is fairly simple and not taxing at all. He does know that every few hours he will have to switch the two jobs just to continue so he sets this on auto pilot and sits in a lotus position while being blind to the world.
In the meantime Solaria is pissed off. As soon as she got the go ahead she jumps out the window and flies after the sonic wave tossing super who actually dares to call himself Sonic Clash and is part of the supervillains team lead by Dr. Sin who dubs himself an evil genius that ironically plans to take over the world. He clearly has his sights on NYC and the #1 superhero team in the world which means whatever plan he has cooked up is for keeps this time.
I must find Sonic Clash and end him! How dare he ruin my date! –Solaria
With that thought and fire in her eyes, Solaria spots Sonic Clash and flies after him using all of her impressive Aura allowing her to catch up to him within moments.
‘Leave Sonic Clash to me!’ –Solaria
‘Ok Solaria you take Sonic Clash, Barb and I will fly around and look for that mangy wolf Ted and that master vampire Vlad. In case they went into the sewer system Porter you must check all through it as fast as possible to cut them off and let us know and come get us! Also look out for any of Dr. Sin’s creatures, I doubt we will find any but just in case don’t be hasty and let us know if you find any, we will have to abort if so and protect the building holding rich guy since it won’t be safe to find any of those abominations while downtown as the casualties will be too great.’ –Mr. Absolute
With that said Solaria rushes Sonic Clash and bashes his head in with a flame covered fist. Not caring about collateral damage she follows him to the crater he just made in the middle of Central Park and continues to pummel into his head trying to disrupt his Aura and not give him time to strike back.
As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or in this case had her “date” interrupted as it only took her 5 seconds to deplete his Aura which by the way is very substantial at a 4.0. But to the woman who calls herself the strongest woman in the world, a 4.0 Aura is not enough to stop her fury.
It must be stated that the paste left behind after her barrage was not recognizable. However, that did not stop her from very slowly incinerating his entire body over the next two hours. By the time she realized there was nothing left for her to vent her anger the rest of her team was back.
‘Why are you guys back, did you get them? What about Dr. Sin?’ –Solaria
‘No, we could not find them at all, they must have had some way to teleport back to their unknown base location as we found nothing even after searching for a full hour. Uhh, just ignore the popcorn and the lawn chairs; we were absolutely not sitting here while you vented your anger. Nope this is all a coincidence!’ –Mr. Absolute
‘What about the guy inside, how is he doing? I see the building is up still but it’s still in pieces, what is going on?’ –Solaria
‘He can’t hear us, he is still linked to us but he is only holding open the link. I’m up here watching now, he is just sitting here concentrating and the building hasn’t budged so it must be working. What is the E.T.A. on the builders?’ –Porter
‘The builders just now arrived and are getting in position, but it should take about 6 hours to fix all this mess according to them.’ –Mr. Absolute
‘I’ll go keep him company, Porter you can just stay on standby in case we need a quick teleport out.’ –Solaria
6 Hours later Nick feels he is at his limit.
Four times! I have switched my brain processes four times! I can’t hold on much longer! It has been at least 8 hours, where are the builders? I can’t afford to slack, I’m cutting the mind link and using full brain power for this last bit on the buildings as I can’t afford for it to fall! –Nick
*TAP* *TAP*
…
*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*
…
*SMACK*
“Ouch! What is going on, I just lost my concentration… The building is going to fall!” –Nick
“Don’t worry, the builders are done, I was just trying to let you know…” –Solaria
“Oh. Then thanks, I’m out now.” –Nick
*FLOP*
And with that Nick passes out…
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Forgot to add, expect character descriptions update soon. For now to stop spoilers who read everything in a row I'll be making a new thread for it so no worries there.