Milten forgot how long he stared at those numbers.
He was in the main meeting hall of the Super Island, home base of the Super Society. An elevator, to be exact, heading to meet with his new comrades in the battle against evil.
He had been staring at the numbers on the control panel for an ungodly amount of time, losing count even.
As he tried to look around, he felt an itch on his back several times but ignored it. Little did he know it was a piece of Max watching him.
Max had been looking around the elevator for a while.
What felt like an eternity staring at the metal interior had only been a few minutes in the hallway above where his main body stood, loitering on a pillar.
Five minutes to be exact...
Was this some kind of time manipulation? Last Max checked, the Super Society didn't have a Super with those abilities. No matter. Those questions and more would be answered right now.
As Milten had just arrived.
As the elevator doors opened, Milten stepped into a dimly lit white room with a white table at the center. Said table had a large "S" symbol on it. He turned to see four seats and four Supers sitting on them.
These Supers were none other than the Elite, leaders of the Super Society and the greatest super team on the planet.
"You're late, Milten," Major Payne, the team's muscle, said in a condescending tone. He had the ability to gain power through pain, so the more a battle went, the stronger he became. Mix that in with his near invulnerability and healing factor, and he was unstoppable.
"Oh, cut him some slack. Those big speeches take time," Forest Fire, the number one worldwide celebrity Super, said. She could create and control flames and had enough firepower to destroy an entire country easily.
Yet all she did with that power was take selfies and make YouTube tutorials. What a waste.
"I hope you're going to put in as much effort into your work as you do your speeches, Milten," Canman said.
This man.
He was the leader of the Super Society, answering only to the President of the Commonwealth Bump. He had the ability to keep anything in special cans he kept stored in his body. The ability seems outlandish at first, but what people fail to realize is he has a whole library of abilities he may possess, but no one had lived long enough in a battle to find out.
No one was above him.
No one challenged him.
And yet Major Payne hated him.
Half of his own Society hated him.
And Society in general had grown weary of him and his super-folk.
Milten's chance to shine was now thanks to this man. Now he even has three new recruits who turned out to be better than expected.
Suddenly, Milten felt a strange rush of fear fall over him. The feeling left his eyes to Mr. White. He was the quiet one.
No one knew his deal.
No one knew anything about him.
Not even his powers.
All they knew was that he's regarded as the most dangerous man on earth.
These four Supers had the ability to rule the world but didn't. There's a respectable aspect to them, but Milten wasn't bothered enough about it to care. All he cared about was getting through this meeting.
"Well then. Shall we begin?" Milten said smugly and pulled up a seat.
"Put that away, Milten. You won't be here long," Major Payne said angrily.
"Oh, is that a good way to treat a guest?"
"When the guest doesn't bother to come on time, he doesn't deserve respect," Payne said dryly.
"Fair. I did spend a lot of time on my speech," Milten said with a chuckle and leaned at the stone wall behind him. "So, are we going to start this thing or what?"
"Yes, we are. I've been meaning to talk to you about your activities regarding the Kobra Klan," Canman said as he pulled up some documents. Quickly, Milten cut him off before he could speak again.
"You mean my defeat of the Kobra Klan? Ah yes, the mission that put my team on the map. While you costumed stage performers were twiddling your thumbs and patting yourselves on the back, us heroes were doing all the real work."
"Why, you..." Payne shouted as he got up to attack him, only to be stopped by a bad look from Canman. Once he sat down, Forest Fire snickered.
"Milten," Canman said, clearing his voice. "While the mission you put my team through..."
"Our team."
The two stared at each other for a small moment, one interrupted by Mr. White tapping the table.
"Our team through was impressive, it's not as great a victory as you think."
"What the hell do you mean? I stopped the Kobra Klan! Me! You all couldn't do anything against them. And you're telling me I shouldn't celebrate?!" Milten spat angrily, stepping towards Canman and giving him an accusing finger.
"I'm not saying you can't celebrate, I'm just saying you shouldn't overdo it, as this isn't a big victory for us as a whole."
"Explain."
Canman then sighed and read through his documents.
"A week ago, we sent our informants on a mission to investigate the Kobra Klan, as I sensed something was wrong. My hunch was right. They found something else. Something sinister. Sadly, they couldn't make it back alive. It turns out the Kobra Klan is actually just part of a bigger organization."
"Bigger organization?"
"Yeah. And its main job was to distract the Dragon Clan. It turns out multiple of these kinds of smaller organizations have been sent to distract much larger gangs."
"Why?"
"Well, the info we got from our deceased informants tells us the organization they are all part of is still growing and can't have other gangs taking them down or bothering them."
"I... I see," Milten said, shocked at how small he felt.
"We've received word there is a Muman with the ability to give normal people Muman abilities."
"Like Mr. E?"
"Worse. Mr. E was limited to a temporary drug that, when overdosed, can cause insanity, like that incident in Empire City a while back. This is different. It's permanent."
"So this guy can just make fully fledged Mumans?"
"Yes. And he's making an army of them, and using smaller organizations to distract other gangs so they don't interfere in his business."
"Then why don't we find this creep and take him out ourselves?"
"We have no idea where his base is and..."
"Then just interrogate his goons! You have those Kobra Klan guys I captured in government custody, right?"
"They're dead," Major Payne cut in.
"What?!"
"The prison caravan carrying them exploded before it reached the Federal State prison. Probably a contingency plan from our mysterious foe."
"Does this mysterious foe have a name?"
"They call him the Broker," Forest Fire said, causing everyone to look at her.
She blushed.
"Where did you get that from?" Canman asked.
"You're not the only one with contacts, Cammy," She said with a smirk, irking Payne.
"And have we found out anything else?" Milten said, now rubbing his temples from a sudden headache.
"I've been talking to my contacts, and there's going to be a huge bump in Muman activity. Seems Broker is trying to get all the Mumans together. The ones not into his schemes are hiding out and looking for greener pastures."
"The way I see it, we might end up with another Muman war on our hands," Payne said with a surprising element of fear in his voice.
"So now what are we going to do about that?"
"I'm sending multiple teams to investigate Broker and his organization. Plus, we need to double down on protecting the people from the incoming Muman threat," Canman said.
"All while taking care of those damn demonoid invasions," Payne chimed in.
"Whoa, they're still happening?"
"It's been a while since the last one, but another is sure to happen soon. I recommend you get your team ready. Empire City is the only one not hit yet," Payne said with a smile that got Milten to gulp.
"I... I see."
"Just focus on getting the team into tip-top shape. You're not out of the woods yet. Hell, you're still facing them," Canman told him and got off his chair.
He walked over to Milten and pulled him in for a hug, surprising everyone.
Milten stood there confused. Just as he raised his arms to return the hug, Canman whispered in his ear.
"Don't get my team killed, Milten. You hear me. The shitshow that's coming your way is beyond what you can believe. If you fail, I swear to God..."
"Ok, that's enough. Break it up, you two," Payne said and got off his seat.
"Yeah. It's my turn to hug Cammy," Forest Fire said, getting off her chair and hugging a confused Canman.
Milten looked at Mr. White.
"Aren't you coming?"
White just stared at him, tapping his fingers on the chair. What was only a few seconds quickly became an eternity. Milten, not knowing what to say to the figure, just walked off.
And Mr. White simple watched on.
"Will you two ever get a room?" Payne asked with a disgusted look.
"A room for what?" Canman asked with his head tilted.
"Don't mind him, Cammy. He's just jealous," Fire said with a smirk.
Canman proceeded to let Forest Fire go, walk up to Major Payne, and hug him as well.
As Payne stood there confused, Forest Fire broke into a loud, childlike belly laugh.
Milten watched the three Supers for a moment, genuinely confused as well. "Is this the strongest the world has to offer? These clowns?"
"Doesn't matter. Soon they'll be irrelevant." He thought to himself.
As Milten passed the bantering Supers, he stepped into the elevator again and pushed the button leading to the ground floor.
As he ascended, he felt a slight itch on his back.
Just like the one he felt before.
He ignored it and focused on the situation at hand.
Not only did he have to deal with an influx of Mumans entering his city, but also the machinations of this Broker fellow. Was he good? Bad? Did he want to control the country?
And could he be reasoned with?
All important questions he needed answers to, but no one to answer them.
Not to mention the demonoid invasions that were sure to hit his city as well. "No, not now. One at a time."
"One problem at a time."
He didn't want to start going mad.
He needed to know what he was working with.
He had his Danger Squad. His premier superteam and what all his plans hinged on. Green Guardian, Obsidian, and Sharkwoman, new additions he managed to poach from Canman.
Warzone, his armored warrior who he planned to greatly enhance with the Black Reactor he got from the Priest of the Lost Light.
And of course, Red Shadow and Blue Shadow. His heaviest hitters. These two individually could qualify to join the Elite. As a duo? They were nigh unstoppable.
Sadly, Red had his own agenda to follow.
Luckily, Milten did as well. Red's plans didn't matter as long as he remained loyal, that's all that matters.
Blue was distracted by Ivy's departure.
Luckily by selling her to the Lost light cult, he'd have a reason to go after them. Imagine Milten taking the credit for the defeat of one of the most notorious cults in the world...
As Milten kept himself busy with his thoughts, he kept scratching his back, feeling the familiar itch over and over. What could this be?
Some kind of allergy?
Or some insect bugging him. Dammit, he was sure this place had no insects in the interior...
"Unless..."
Meanwhile, at the ground floor, as Jake and his friends were talking to the various Supers, Max stood in his little corner. They all thought he was a loner. Antisocial.
They weren't wrong, but he didn't just stay away for that reason, as he had just found out information that could come in handy in the long run.
Now all he'd need to do was bide his time.
"Broker, huh? Seems another Mr. E has reared his ugly head..."
To be continued...