Everyone watched in silent anticipation as the president's bodyguards emerged from the same portal he came out of.
The first was a skinny and tall brunette wearing a black suit and red visor. She gave Canman a slight smirk, which got him to roll his eyes in annoyance.
The second was even taller but bulkier. He was a monster of a man whose incredibly swollen physique could barely fit in his black suit. He wore no visor, but his eyes were perpetually closed. Whether or not he was blind was a mystery to even the president himself. He was Agent B.
They were agents of Alpha Force, the most powerful secret organization in all of Commonwealth, outranking even the Super Society in terms of power. Only a select few knew of their existence.
Milten was one of those few.
"Well, now ain't this a surprise? You even brought your dogs with you!" Milten said with a chuckle.
The two agents turned to him with scorn written on their faces, but Bump stood in their way before they could try anything.
"Oh, you and your sense of humor, Milten! Don't ever change."
Canman didn't want to waste any more time. He had a feeling that a meeting between these two held more secrets than he already knew, and the thought of that scared him.
Badly.
"So, uh... Mr. President. What is this meeting about?"
"Ah yes, Canman, well you see, Milten asked me to call you here so you could see the team he put forth. I've already got a good look at them, but since it's your Super group, I wanted you to be the first to witness them before their big debut on stage."
"What? You put Milten up to this?!"
"More like he had a suggestion and I encouraged him. With less than 70 supers in your group, crime on the rise, and that damn demonoid invasion happening all around, I feel there is a need for more manpower. Milten here was happy to oblige."
Canman turned to Milten, who gave him a wink. He turned back to Bump as quickly as he could to avoid pouncing on him.
"If you wanted me to find more supers, you could've just asked. In fact, I have a few here."
Canman then stepped to the side to reveal the trio.
And that's when the shivering started again.
It took everything in Zack's power to stop himself from shaking while being in the same room with the president of Commonwealth himself. Now the president was looking at him.
Zack couldn't stop the shaking. He tried to manage a smile, but his lip began to quiver. He started breathing more heavily too as Bump's eyes narrowed on him in particular.
Was he a disappointment? Was he underperforming? Being weird? Acting like a coward?
Zack didn't know, and it terrified him.
"And who's to say both of these teams assembled here can't coexist? You've assembled your little team, so I don't see why Milten can't assemble his," Bump said, looking away from Zack after what seemed like an eternity.
Zack let out a sigh of relief. One Paulina noticed quickly. Along with his sweating forehead and shaky hand.
"Sir, if I may, I don't trust Milten to assemble a team of his own without some kind of agenda. You remember what happened in Yugoslavia?"
"Yeah, but Milten paid the price for that. A man can change. Are you insinuating that his team needs to be disbanded before their big debut?"
"Well..."
"Fuck no!"
The loudness of the curse struck everyone in the room. To hear the president of an entire nation use such vulgarity was nothing short of surprising.
"I saw his team take down a member of the Dragon Klan on their own. What has your team done that proves they deserve to stay while his team deserves to go? We are in dire need of new supers..."
"Yes, sir, I know, but..."
"So why are you refusing then?"
"If I may, sir," Stacya interjected, shocking everyone in the room. Especially the Alpha agents and Milten.
"An Atlantean? What is it doing here? Why didn't I notice it sooner?!" Agent A said and reached into her pocket for a weapon.
"W-wait, I..."
"What right do you have to speak with the president, sea trash?"
"How dare you!" Agent B shouted at her as he took a step forward.
Bump raised his hand immediately after, stopping them in their tracks.
"What do you have to say, kiddo?" Bump asked her with a smile. Milten nearly puked in his mouth.
Canman turned towards her and gave her a small grin and took a step back.
"Well? What is it, Sharkwoman?"
Zack didn't know why, but he felt a bit of envy hammer through his chest.
"W-well, I wanted to propose a little competition. Usually, that's how my people decide things like this."
"Competition, you say?"
"Yes. The best fighter of each group comes forward and they battle. The winner decides what decision is made."
"What an idiotic and barbaric practice. Truly, you Atlanteans never fail to astound me with your backwards culture!" Milten laughed and laughed.
Shadow grabbed him by the shoulder, causing him to lose his composure for a minute before controlling himself.
"I don't seem to see the problem, Milten. I like it! Not only will this show Canman how valuable your team is, it would also show why his team deserves to stay. You cool with this, Canman?"
"Whatever you say, sir." Canman said, looking down with a smile.
"Well then, it's settled. Here's the deal: if Canman's fighter wins, Milten, your team disbands. If Milten's team wins, then his team stays along with Canman. How's that sound?"
Canman nodded while looking at Stacya and smiling.
Milten nodded but with a small sigh.
The teams then stood back and cleared the area for the battle. Now it was up to them to select their best fighter.
"So, who's fighting?"
The two teams were silent for a few seconds.
Suddenly a voice was heard. Low and almost painful to the ear, Blue Shadow stepped forward with a simple word.
"Me."
He walked towards the center looking at the other team. Especially Stacya.
Zack noticed this.
Canman held them close and whispered, "So, uh... who wants to go?"
Stacya stepped forward only to be immediately stopped by Zack. Paulina turned her head and gasped.
"Zack? What are you..."
"It's OK, Paulina. I got this."
"Are you sure? We have no idea how strong this guy is. I ran a scan on all of them, and whilst one is a human and the other is just a guy in a suit, but the black one... I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"He radiates some kind of energy. I detect shadow energy inside him, but something else. I feel like I've only seen it once, but I can't pinpoint it."
"Zack, are you sure about this? Even I get a strange feeling when we make eye contact. Like prey looking at a predator. Maybe I should go. I've been training more intensely these past few weeks, and Jake's buff he gave me from the healing makes me much stronger than I was before."
"No, Stacya. It has to be me. I need to prove myself."
"To who? You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. You might have gotten rusty without using your powers for a while. I noticed it as you brought us here. Maybe..."
"C'mon, Paulina. Give me a chance. Please."
The two stared at each other long and hard for a minute before Paulina relented. Stacya was still worried but realized if Zack wanted to go she had no authority to stop him. That was part of the rules.
Canman watched Zack walk towards the center of the factory with growing worry. He was starting to feel the same as others.
Afraid.
"Well...?" Zack said, now at the center. He stretched his hand for a handshake. Some good sportsmanship. Shadow looked at him and nodded.
"Listen..." He said, his voice even worse up close, "No matter what happens, no hard feelings, man." He said as he shook Zack's hand.
His hand was cold to the touch. Like touching a dead body. Seriously, what was this guy?
Zack was genuinely surprised by his behavior, too. Despite his appearance, he seemed like a good guy. Zack didn't like hurting good guys.
But if he must...
"OK, pal. No hard feelings."
The two separated and took three steps away from each other. Bump then walked in between them.
"OK boys, here are the rules: no killing. Winner is decided by knockout or submission. Use whatever means to win. Did I get that right, Atlantean... uh... oh yes, Sharkwoman?"
"Y-yes, sir."
"Ok, great. Then let's get started, Blue Shadow, and uh..."
"E-Expanding Man," Zack stammered.
"Ugh... that's a pretty rough name, buddy. How about Expander?"
Zack remained silent. Even the president hated his name. Maybe he did need to change it?
He heard Shadow chuckle slightly and look away once he was caught.
"Whatever." Zack said as the president ran back to the corner of the hall.
"Are you sure about this, sir? Is this not barbaric?" Agent A asked him, inciting a chuckle.
"Eh... don't really care about the ethics. I love watching a good brawl. That's what this country is made from, isn't it?"
"I... suppose." She answered, turning her attention back to the fight.
Milten pulled out a small remote-looking device and pointed it at the two fighters before him.
Suddenly he laughed.
"What's up, boss?" Viper asked him.
"Oh, I'm just feeling good today. That's all."
She looked at Warzone, who was too concentrated on the fighters to notice.
Shadow raised his hand and drew two of his fingers back and forth, telling Zack to come at him.
Zack grunted and obliged. He enlarged his legs and left fist and leaped towards the man at his max speed.
This was it. His chance to prove himself. To show not just Canman but even the president of Commonwealth why he deserved to be a super. This wasn't the time to stammer or mess up.
He had given this all up because he felt bad about Jake, not knowing that this was what Jake probably wanted: To see him succeed. To see him become the Super he deserved to be.
This was it.
His moment.
And it was over in a second.
With one punch, Zack went down and his vision started to fade. Shadow approached him and whispered something into his ear.
"Hey... you awake? Listen. You wanna be a super? Word of advice. Don't."
Zack barely heard him as everything turned dark...
To be continued...