by Riley Tune
“I guess so,” Flex said as he looked over to the crowd. “Hey what do we know about Danielle’s parents? Anything.” Hunter grimaced as he looked at Flex, and then looked to Danielle as she talked in the crowd. “I mean,” Hunter said slowly. “The normal stuff. I suppose. She had a mom and dad, but wasn’t raised by them. She never really knew her birth parents, and the people she ended up with weren’t exactly model citizens. That’s why she was a villain when I met her.” His brow raised. “Why?”
Flex remained passive, but Hunter could see him clenching his jaw. “I don’t know. It’s just that while we were here, I’ve gotten a chance to see her use her powers more. Way more than back home, and she’s stronger than we thought. I just can’t test my theory here. We don’t have the stuff we do back at the base. Not yet anyway.”
Hunter shook his head. “It’s likely the Two-Fold thing. She’s stronger at night, and we don’t see her use her powers much at night.” Flex looked from the rest of the team talking and catching up, and back to Hunter. “I don’t think that’s it. I saw her control the night for a second, back when we were fighting. Like literally the darkness around us seemed to react to her.”
Hunter didn’t reply this time. Instead, he whistled and looked at Danielle. “Man, can I pick’em or can I pick’em. Supreme level darkness powers are rare.” Flex shook his head. “You don’t get it. Darkness is a fundamental force. It’s part of the universe itself. When an Icon has darkness abilities it's normally just energy that is dark in color. True darkness control like what Danielle has puts her in a rare class already. That’s why few can take her shadow form. But rare, doesn’t always mean powerful.”
Flex paused and looked at Danielle once more. “But if our Obsidian really did control the natural darkness around her, that puts her at a level far beyond Supreme. I wouldn’t even know what to call it.” Hunter let the words Flex just said sink in. What could be beyond supreme? He made a mental note not to make his lover angry anytime soon.
“My thought is that she doesn’t know how powerful she really is, and until test are done or you find out about her history, you don’t tell her,” Flex said as he patted Hunter's shoulder. “Should I tell this to Power Prince? He’s in charge now.” “I already spoke to him about it, last night,” Flex said. “You two will figure it out I’m sure.”
“Hate to break this up boys, but we have to go,” Danielle said as she walked over and wrapped her arm around Hunter’s waist. He looked down at his longtime girlfriend and kissed her on the head. His previous conversation with Flex dancing around in his mind as he tried to understand the powershift in his relationship.
For as long as he could remember, Hunter was the powerful one. He had power, and unlike all other Icons, he had four. By definition, he was one of the most uniquely gifted Icons on the planet. Naturally, he would find the one person whose hidden potential was so great that there wasn’t even a name for it. “Some guys get all the luck,” he said under his breath as they walked to the rest of the team.
“Alright,” Perkins said as she gave Power Prince something that looked like a cell phone made out of blue metal. “What’s this?” he asked. “New version of a multibox,” Perkins replied. It’s already pre- set to the destination Hunter gave The Mechanic and Rondo. It also has a screen and connection to his counterpart.” As she said this part, Flex held up a multibox that looked identical to it except it was red.
“Anytime you need anything, I’m a call away,” Flex said. Jen frowned. “It can call across dimensions?” Perkins shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been told and I don’t ask questions. I wouldn’t understand the answer if I did. They healed me, so I trust em.”
Jen shook her head. “Point taken.” Danielle and Hunter both lifted up the duffle bags of the floor. “Well Ken Doll, until next time,” Hunter said with a smile as he extended his hand to Flex. “Don’t worry. I’m still going to visit. Pretty often actually. We still have to keep our fights going. It’s pretty much tradition now, and with your new power you might be a challenge and I won’t have to hold back.”
Hunter’s smile shifted to a glare. “Bet on it, pretty boy,” he said as he applied pressure to Flex’s hand. The smile on Flex’s face shifted into confusion as he looked down to his hand, and then back to Hunter. He didn’t say it, but the strength he felt on his hand from his former intern was more than he expected. Possibly enough to really give him a challenge.
“I hate goodbyes, see you laters, and all that,” Jen said. “If we drag it out, I’ll cry.” she leaned in and pressed a button on the multibox in Power Prince’s hand. Instantly the green portal that they had all became familiar with burst into existence. Jen tipped her cap at them all and jumped into the portal.
“It’s been fun,” Power Prince said as he stepped into the portal. “Good luck,” Flex said as Power Prince nodded to him, and then stepped into the portal. Danielle gave them all a hug and then was next to take the jump. As she hugged Flex, Hunter noticed that his former leader gave him a long glance. Hunter pursed his lips and nodded in return.
“Okay, I’m off,” Hunter said as Cayden, Flex, and Perkins stood in front of him. “They likely already have questions about the landing space,” he said as he hefted the bag over his shoulder. He turned towards the portal and then faced them again.
“If you need anything. Don’t think twice about giving us a call.” “Will do,” Flex said. “I was talking to Cayden.” Hunter said with a smirk. “I’m leaving him here with you two. The guy will never have any fun.” Perkins, Cayden, and even Flex smiled.
“Don’t you have too much fun your damn self,” Flex replied. “Your internship will be over sooner than you think Training wheels come off, and you’re a full- blown hero.” “You know me,” Hunter replied. “Fun. Gray zone. Bend the rules. That’s pretty much my motto.” He gave a final wave and then jumped into the portal.
In what seemed like seconds, Hunter landed on the ground. Feet first this time. He lifted his bag and it felt the same as it did before he went in the portal. “Nothing missing then,” he said to himself as he looked around. The others were standing away from him, looking at a large building, that looked like a condemned warehouse of some sort. They could see water around them and in the distance, several barges passed by.
“Where in Atlas are, we?” Power Prince asked as he turned to Hunter. “This,” Hunter said as he stretched his hand out and walked towards the building. “Is our new base.” He turned to Danielle, Jen, and Power Prince. Each with confusion etched on their face as their brows raised. “Our what?” Danielle asked. “Our new base. If we are going to be the New Lords, then we need to shed everything that was the Imperial Lords.”
“How can we-” Jen started, and then looked at a smiling Hunter. “You paid for all this?” Hunter nodded. “The entire lot.” “How? When?” Jen asked as she took a few steps back to look at the warehouse.
It was large from what she could see. Easily four stories, large windows on the front that faced the water around then, and more graffiti that several subway cars could combine. “I purchased it before all this rescue mission stuff went down. It was to be a surprise after everything got finalized.” Hunter said as he put a hand on his hip.
“This old girl has over ten thousand square feet. Best two mill I ever spent.” “Two million dollars?” Jen and Power Prince said at once. Hunter shrugged his shoulders. “Give or take.”
Jen adjusts her cap and gave him a side glance. “Dad know about this?” “Course he does,” Hunter replied. “We had a talk and he felt it was time I handled the money my dad left me. I’ve got access to my entire fortune now.”
Danielle raised a hand slowly. “How much of a fortune are we talking?” “Yeah man, how rich are you?” Power Prince added. “Rich enough that dropping two million on a single purchase didn’t even scrape the surface.” Jen whistled. “Dad may have been a villain, but let’s not forget he was the best at it. Now come on. Contractors should already be working on the inside.
All we gotta do is get this place up and running in a few months, and then start on auditions for new members. But first,” He dropped down beside the bag that Danielle had and unzipped both.
Inside of each bag was a large, sleek, tower-like device. One tower had a slot for a drive, and the other had a cord to connect the two. After he connected the machines in the bag, he gently inserted the drive. As he stood back the machines began to hum, as lights slowly blinked to life on the sides of the towers. “Hello, young Lords.” A voice came from out of the air as a hologram appeared in front of them.
“Prism?” Danielle said in shock. “The one and only,” the holographic butler said as he took a bow. “The Mechanic set all this up so he could be in the new base,” Hunter said as he patted one of the sleek towers before he turned and looked at the shabby area in front of them all. “Now, our legacy as the New Lords begins.”
“Unless you guys want a name change?” He asked out loud as he wrapped a force field around the equipment inside of the bags, and lifted it off the ground. “New Lords is fine with me,” Power Prince said. “Same,” Danielle muttered. “Well you know I’m not picky,” Jen said as she stretched a fist out to Hunter.
He bumped it and smirked before turning to look at the building. “Then New Lords it is.”
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
S un shined through the glass and touched the back of Hunter’s neck. He sat on a smooth bench made out of white polished stone and looked at the trees as the waterfall flowed gently near him. This was perhaps one of his favorite places in the new base.
Who knew having a fancy courtyard to visit every day would do so much for his soul? There were several stone benches like the one he sat on, but very few people, outside of approved visitors, even used them. The rest of his team would rather spend their time doing other things instead of sitting and listening to water flow around them.
Jen was usually in her room, or one of their luxury kitchens. Power Prince was either training with Danielle in the simulated arena or spending time in the movie theater. That was the only request that their leader had as the new base was being built and designed six months ago. A world-class movie theater. One that played movies of the highest quality, and streamed all of the companies he subscribed too, and there were a lot of those.
Hunter preferred the simplicity of their courtyard. If he wasn’t there, then he would normally fly over to Ages Park, talk to his parent’s statue, and then head back home. To be as popular as he was, he enjoyed keeping a low- profile life until the last few months of his internship were up. He glanced down at his watch and realized he had about fifteen minutes before he had to be at the arena.
All of his paperwork was in a folder beside him, and he made sure to bring a red pen. The last few weeks of auditions had been horrible. Various Icons with powers great and small wanted to be members of the New Lords.
Many didn’t even know why. They just heard about the auditions and showed up. Others truly wanted to belong to a team, but none seemed to fit what they were looking for. The guy coming by today did seem promising.
Gleam, the teleporter that helped Power Prince transport to his showdown with Zeva, recommended him as a family friend. He looked good on paper, but then again, they all did.
“Figured we’d find you out here.” Power Prince said as he strolled over with Jen. Power Prince had on his official black and orange uniform, while Jen had on pajamas and a baseball cap. She really did wear those with anything.
“Casual day?” Hunter asked as he glanced at Jen. “The world didn’t need saving, so I’m relaxing as much as I can. Sasha is coming over later, though. So, I’ll come out of these eventually.” “Too much information,” Hunter said as he laughed at his adopted sister. “Right. Don’t forget we shared a wall in our younger years. The years when we didn’t have as much of a selection process with our lovers,” Jen said back.
“Point made,” Hunter replied.
Power Prince looked around and nodded his head. “You know, even after six months I can’t get over this place.” “Why’s that?” Hunter said as he stood up and stretched. “He was wearing a newer version of his Paragon outfit. He had to break it in before being seen out in town with it, and the line of toys associated with the outfit were set to be limited editions so he couldn’t wear it much.
“Dude, the Imperial Lords’ base was great. Like great, great. Top of the line tech, and never a dull moment. For Atlas’ sake, I met you in a random hallway and look how all that turned out.” Power Prince began to walk towards a large circular bubble near the end of the courtyard, with Jen and Hunter behind him.
He placed his hand on the surface, and the bubble opened slowly as they all stepped in. The door shut behind Jen and they began to move. Hunter hated these bubbles. He had requested they be a little larger, but they were unable to make it happen, despite the amount of money Hunter had spent on everything.
“I say all that because our new digs seem better to me. I didn’t think it could be done, but you did it. You may be the best intern ever.” Power Prince said with a laugh. “And the most paranoid,” Jen added in.
“The security system, hidden weapons around the base, cameras, and defensive robots are part of the package I purchased. Plus, in my short time being an intern, I’ve clashed with some of the strongest people to walk the Earth. I know my luck and whatever comes next won’t be a cake walk. The last thing I want is a base that is easily taken over, or taken down.”
“Pussy,” Jen said quickly. “While I have you both here,” Power Prince said as the glass bubble slowed and opened again. “I want to touch base on the Danielle topic.” they stepped out of the bubble and walked by several robots that were working on the landscaping.
They were an added perk by the company that did their security, and as chance would have it, were designed by The Mechanic while he was on the free market. The robots were responsible for doing all of the random chores around the base. Cleaning, landscaping, and random patrols. If the task were to arise, they were fully capable of putting up a good fight against lower level to average Icons.
Power Prince was the first to step into the glass elevator. The elevator was Hunter’s design. While it was a closed space, the open glass made it feel large, and thus his phobia didn’t hit him so hard. “What about it?” Hunter asked slowly. He had told Power Prince that he wanted to bring Jen in on what Flex had suspected.
“We can’t seem to find her real parents. It’s as if they don’t exist.” Jen groaned as they continued their descent to the lower levels. “She’s a human right?” Jen asked. “Yes, she’s a human, idiot,” Hunter replied, but then glanced at Power Prince. “Right?” Power Prince nodded.
“She is. All of the blood work done on her when I decided we all need physicals, came back normal. Some things were elevated, but they were normal. I have Prism, and some brainy Icons looking into it, but for now, we have no clue of what her stock is, or why she may be as strong as Flex thought she was.”
Jen adjusted her cap and crossed her arms. “Maybe we should just ask her?” Power Prince shook his head. “I don’t want her to know anything until we do. Danielle is strong, but some things can still fuck up your day. Not knowing who you truly are or where you come from is one of them.”
They all agreed to keep the secret to themselves as the elevator doors opened. As they walked down the long hall, Prism appeared. “Young Lords, your guest is waiting for you in the training arena.” “Thank you, Prism,” Power Prince said.
“I’m a state- of- the- art system, with functions that rival some of the most advanced computer interfaces in the world. I’m able to run various task with unmatched speed. Naturally, I enjoy playing the role of a humble butler. That is what my design is after all.” Prism said as the hologram flickered in and out of view.
“And I feared you’d lose your smart mouth when we removed you completely from the old base,” Jen said. “We could have left him there,” Hunter said with a sm
ile. “They destroyed the lower levels’ but the museum is still up top. He could have been the best worker there.”
The hologram took a slight bow. “Good day, Young Lords,” and then he flickered out of existence. “You two keep teasing him and he is going to turn all these security measures on us in our sleep.” Power Prince said as he entered some buttons on a keypad. Once he did so, the large metal door in front of them pulled away in various spots and allowed them entry into the training arena.
There was a round table that was floating about four feet off the ground with four chairs around it. Danielle sat in one chair and tapped her red pen loudly as she watched them walk over. “Took you two long enough,” Danielle said. “I asked you to go get him, not take a casual stroll around the complex.” Hunter leaned in to kiss her cheek and sat down beside her.
She was dressed in a white form-fitting outfit that showed off her figure more than Hunter liked. She thought it was funny to have darkness powers, be called Obsidian, yet have a full white outfit. Danielle was told the outfit was a part of her deal she worked out with the government.
All Icons that wanted to be heroes, had to intern. There was no way around that, and Power Prince technically had three now. Had Life-Line not still been tied to the team, the New Lords wouldn’t be an official group and thus none of them would be able to intern. He kept his distance but on paper, he was still around. He had pulled some strings and called in a few favors, but he had worked things out in Danielle's favor.
She took the oath in front of the right people and was awarded time served for her time with the New Lords. Training, missions, otherworldly trips, everything counted towards her internship officially now. She would be rewarded with the title of hero the same time Jen and Hunter would.