New Bostin:
Park, 6:30 PM
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Adrion and Claire were forcibly blown back by the activation of John's abilities. Even though most of the powers they had found off the street goers were only that of Mid-tiers, he was bringing them to a whole other level.
John turned around to see both of his friends nowhere near him after the energy release, rather they were laying on the ground barely holding on to their positions.
"Well, that was crazy!" John laughed at the sight.
"Yeah, it was" Claire responded unamused, having been on the receiving end.
"Jeez, John! When you told us you could 'hardly' manage five abilities, were you lying to us?" Adrion asked, baffled.
"I did! In my last fight I could feel the energy draining from me after I acquired the fifth ability... But now, Claire has done it once again with her methods" John began. "I feel normal, I don't fell strained."
"Good, looks like the training worked... You've made even faster progress now than you did when we first learned about your ability" Claire noticed.
"Classic Claire working her black magic on John" Adrion laughed.
This earned him quite the glare from Claire.
"I had a reason to last time, but this now I don't have time for trail and error" John answered.
"Do you still plan on going to that dinner?" Adrion asked.
"Depends on how well the training goes for the next few days... I bet they can come up with a replacement if not. Actually, Blyke kinda resembles me anyway" John thought aloud.
"I'd say the next thing I need to work on is mental abilities... Some of the greater powers out there require both attributes to use, and I still have no idea what to do with the mind" John brought up.
That's when Claire had an idea.
"Last time I had a vision of you, John, I was able to somewhat remain conscious while I was going through it, maybe you could attempt to copy mine while I hold it up... Speaking of which, have you come across a man with white hair by any chance recently?" She asked.
John widened his eyes at her last question, remembering that he had just met this person recently.
"Yeah, I have. Just before I left Wellston I encountered a man with white hair" John began. "He was talking with the headmaster too."
"What was your encounter like?" Adrion asked.
"It was brief, but it was like he was testing how I would react to certain things... Every time I did something, he told me he would have 'done the same'" John replied.
Claire, Adrion, and John had been facing each other while they were talking, closely in a group. None of them noticed that a particular, suited man, had walked up to them, standing only a few feet away.
"And do you know why, I did that?" The unknown figure asked.
Catching all of their attentions, the trio looked in the direction of where the voice came from. Standing tall, the white-haired man who they were talking about had sneaked up on them without any of them noticing. More than surprised, and now threatened, John spoke up.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you following me!" John demanded an answer.
"I do believe I asked you a question, to ask one back is disrespectful!" The man quickly answered.
"Does it look like I care?" John promptly asked back.
"You misunderstand me John, I am not here to hurt you" he responded. "So, why don't you answer my question... Why do you think I spoke to you like that in your headmaster's office?"
John took a moment to think before he spoke, he still didn't trust this unknown man at all. While he was thinking, Claire had man an observation, noticing the similarity in their appearances as well as their eye color. She decided to whisper her discovery to John before he answered.
"John" she whispered. "You two may be related judging by your physical similarities..."
"How do I know you?" John asked. "You said I reacted similarly to the way you would, not only that, but we share the same eye color and some other physical characteristics."
"Your friend there has quite the eye, she picked it up right away... To answer your question, we are related" the man spoke. "I have come to you and revealed my existence to unlock a secret for you..."
"A secret?" John asked, confused. "To what?"
"Your ability of course! You've finally reached a point of stability in your life where you should be able to fully utilize it" the man added.
"You say that like you've known me all my life, watched me progress, yet this is only the second time I've ever even spoken to you" John added.
The man remained silent at this, opting to move forward in the conversation rather than to answer John.
"I will show you how to copy mental abilities... In exchange you will grow your powers to their limit" the man offered.
John looked at Adrion and Claire who each gave him a small nod to accept his offer.
"Alright, show me what you got" accepted John.
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Wellston:
Seraphina's Dorm, Day Before Meeting
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Seraphina lay on her bed, thinking of all the possibilities of the meeting. She wondered if they would offer peace, threaten to reign them in, or want to team up against the authorities.
'So many possibilities' she thought. 'I wonder how John is doing, maybe I should call him?"
Seraphina sat up and dialed his number, letting the phone ring and ring until she heard his voicemail.
'Where could he be?' Seraphina thought. 'He never usually doesn't pick up."
Seraphina got off her bed and readied herself to go out, the Royals had planned to meet again at Arlo's apartment to rehearse a strategy for the dinner. When she arrived, everyone was waiting for her.
"Nice of you to show up!" Arlo sarcastically mocked.
Seraphina rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Asslo" she responded.
"You are literally John, you know that?" Arlo asked back.
"Sounds okay to me!" Seraphina agreed.
It was Arlo's turn to roll his eyes now.
Their meeting went well, the Royals decided that Blyke would stay silent most of the time unless directly spoken to. Seraphina would take the lead and attempt to get them off the hook with Spectre, removing everyone from their sights.
The situation was not ideal with John being absent, but they had to make do. Besides, before there was John they would have had to act like this anyway. In a way, this was just like the old days.
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New Bostin:
Park, Night of the Dinner
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The man had spent the past two days working with John, Adrion, and Claire. He was verbally them how John would copy mental abilities, but since Claire had one, the man was going to try something.
Going off of Claire's earlier idea for John to attempt to copy hers, the man was going to forcibly give Claire a vision and have John try. Although he could make Claire have a one-time vision, he could not predict what it would show.
"Are you ready" the man asked Claire.
"I guess so..." Claire replied, unsure of what to make of this.
"And John?" The man asked. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be" he replied.
The man held his hand out towards Claire and activated his own ability. It seemed like nothing was happening but then Claire's ability activated.
"JOHN, NOW" the man signaled.
John approached Claire, activated his ability, and attempted to copy her power. Nothing was happening, but John noticed that Claire seemed to be tearing up.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER!" John questioned the man.
"It's not me! The vision, it must be bad" the man reasoned.
'Shit' John thought. 'I need to copy it!'
John focused and pushed himself. He could see her aura surging from the activation of her ability, it was concentrated on her head. Then John had an idea, he outstretched his hand and placed it on the top of her head.
'For physical powers I just need to mentally visualize them, but maybe its the opposite for mental, maybe I need to feel them' John thought.
It worked, John was beginning to get images of what Claire was seeing. He had successfully copied a mental ability, but now he understood why Claire was so distraught.
Once Claire's vision had ended, John looked up at everyone.
"I need to get back to Wellston."
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Wellston City:
Restaurant, Sitting Down
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Blyke, disguised as John, and Seraphina had sat down at the table they were directed to. The restaurant was busy and full of powerful customers as it was a known High-tier eatery. They arrived to an empty table, but soon after two others joined them.
Seraphina recognized the woman as Ella, the powerful ability user who had routed the Royals at the facility, and the man with her from his orangish brown hair.
'This must be one of the men on the Spectre board... He was the one who was giving me a hard time!' Seraphina realized.
"Well hello there you two~" Ella sang. "We are glad you two could make it!"
Blyke played his part and remained silent while Seraphina spoke for them both.
"Hello, we came as requested, but we did not come for lip service, do not waste out time" said Seraphina.
"Oh! Feisty are we!" Ella mocked.
"Enough" The auburn-haired man spoke.
"Yes sir" Ella straightened up.
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Meanwhile...
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Outside of the restaurant on the other side of the street was a café were all the Royals were sitting and watching from a distance. Although later at night, the lights of the street lit up the windows well enough to see.
The lights were so great that everyone noticed a certain black-haired male in a suit walk up to the restaurant and enter.
"Oh shit, its John!" Arlo realized.
"You mean Blyke, right?" Isen asked.
"No! Its THE John!" He responded.
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Next time on Last Chance...
"What is the meaning of this imposter"
"Relax old man"