Chương 84: R&R2 Ch. 23 — Minor Irritants

Nicholas led his merry band back inside, but while Twister and Jasmine moved to go deeper, Nicholas stayed.

"You coming?" Jasmine asked, turning her head.

"We want to celebrate Eva joining the Renegades." Nicholas did some quick mental math. While they were going to welcome Twister/Eva to the Renegades, they weren't going to do it right now since they were going to wait for Rend to be free. He had time.

"I'll catch up. I'm still feeling unsteady with some of my words after the city and the influx of power, so I want to take some time," Nicholas said, waving them off. Eva and Jasmine exchanged a look before both shrugging.

"Have fun," Eva said with a smile.

"If you fight any cool monsters, make sure to get a selfie with them."

"I will do no such thing." Jasmine and Eva wander off laughing. Nicholas Level: 3 Belief: 50, 101 Karma: 39, 571 Power: Domain: Words Reforged Body: Enhanced Channels All other information restricted. His Belief had risen nicely from the demon incident, though his Karma wasn't keeping up. That was fine in his estimation; he would rather touch people's lives in ways other than them only surviving because he had stepped in.

Even so, it was a solid increase and power, and while his words weren't reaching farther, they were doing more. Just how large could he make the playroom now?

"I want to adjust more to the gains from the city so I'll be here for another two hours," Nicholas said, flying out into the battlefield. His orders given, Nicholas took his spot on the train, playing the role of support for the area. He was substantially worse at supporting anyone that wasn't Jasmine; he learned. His combination plays with Twister had been dreadful, and that was substantially better than what he was doing now.

There was a disconnect in communication for one thing, practice, but Nicholas had concluded that there was something messing him up even more. The best he could do with the pieces he had at play was make them look better. But with the people on the train, many of them who didn't care since they were just punching the clock, or people who were taking this as a vacation? He was certain he could do it better on his own. But that wasn't his task.

So Nicholas put a considerable amount of effort into letting the supers near him shine. The rest of his attention focused inward. Talking to Twister—Eva, Nicholas had to remind himself they were teammates now, and it was fine to use her name internally, had been enlightening. Jasmine didn't use a visualization for her powers, as it was not helpful, and Rend hadn't given an answer one way or another. Eva was the first person he had talked to who was at his level that used one, and there were several differences.

Hers wasn't modular like his, and it wasn't meant to be used in conjunction with every part of her powers, just the living twisters. That had been interesting but not important to Nicholas; he had already figured that was likely going to be the case. What was more interesting was that hers happened in the background. His was always going, and he had to control it. And the final bit of interesting information had been that hers had yet to require any maintenance, his did at least once a week.

There were several solutions he could think of; one was that hers was better than his, distressing but possible. Next was that because his was constantly in use it was accruing wear and tear at a higher than average rate. And the final one was that there was something fundamentally wrong. That last one could be ruled as part of the first problem, but Nicholas thought they were separate distinctions for his plans. In his mind's eye stood the giant table cards floating in the air.

Cracks ran through several cards he had been using a lot recently, and even the table was showing wear. That could be the problem too. Nicholas, when fixing it, tried to send it back to how it was, not repair it, which could be the problem. If there's a fundamental problem in its structure, then it will keep happening. And despite trying, none of his words seemed to impact this space.

Though Nicholas figured that was because he had a strict no mind control rule, and this space wasn't real, and Nicholas hadn't built his game board to impact things that were fake. Though the board wasn't fake either, per se. While he had now just had the idea to fix it properly, Nicholas didn't have the time for that today, so he just willed the visualization back to what it once was. He didn't have the time to do a solution bigger than that and certainly not on a battlefield.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He would start fixing it properly soon. Visions of his power now shoved to the back burner so he could fight Nicholas saw the chance. All of his buffs would run for another sixteen seconds, and there were no enemies that would take advantage of him leaving his post for ten seconds." Barrage" He resisted the desire to summon Book.

Using it often was something he could do, but it wasn't something they generally wanted to rely on. Everyone knew about the two aces their team had, but it would be better if they kept them guessing. If all the heroes knew, everyone else would learn too. Instead, he shot up into the air on his sword. All small enemies. Hit once. Easy." Combo" Each of them was struck again by another force equal to the barrage earlier.

It wasn't enough to kill them, but after the two attacks, they were reeling, several of them falling out of the sky. Two seconds left before he had to return." Finisher" Blood rained as Nicholas returned to his position, slotting back into his role of support for strangers.

"I thought you were just playing support for us," Constellation said, touching down nearby. Nicholas amended his thoughts; he wasn't just playing support for strangers. Strangers and people he didn't like or didn't trust, it was a delightful experience. Not really.

"I am, but I saw the chance to do it without losing any of the support I am giving, so that was what I did," Nicholas shrugged." Teamwork" The command rippled through the forces Nicholas was helping and let them take a fraction of what he and Jasmine were capable of. He had hoped the word would be amazing, the equivalent to maximize on both of them. But that hadn't been the result. It made your team's power greater than the sum of its parts. Something they already did.

And yes, while it was a bonus, it wasn't worth as much as him just using maximize on one of them. Let alone both. Nicholas wasn't sure why Constellation was talking with him, but the spatial manipulator seemed to take a special interest in talking.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Nicholas asked after nearly three minutes of tolerating small talk.

"You don't need to dance around it; you can just shoot straight with me."

"Are you and Jasmine really dating?" Constellation asked. That hadn't been the question Nicholas expected. There had been several substantially more likely in his mind. But it was harmless, so if that's what Constellation wanted to know, then he truly couldn't mind.

"Yeah, we're dating. Problem with that?" Nicholas asked.

"Just shocked that someone like her would be in love with someone like you," Constellation said in a voice that probably was meant to make it sound harsh.

"She's not," Nicholas said, eyes roving the battlefield. Everything was currently fine, so he didn't need to change workings. Constellation just looked at Nicholas, mouth agape.

"Are you in love with her, or is she just pitying you?"

"Not yet, and no," Nicholas said, rolling his eyes. What more could this guy have to ask? There wasn't anything that complicated going on. Emotionally stunted Nicholas could be, but he still had eyes, and had known several people who were exclusively dating while not in love. Nicholas's eyes narrowed upon catching a large Beyonder heading this way and fast.

"Then why?"" Barrier" Nicholas's command covered the entire train car he was protecting in a dome of silver light. The Beyonder crashed into it face first and died instantly as its bones snapped.

"Teamwork will be up for another ninety seconds, then I will have to reapply it," Nicholas said into his earpiece. Constellation was staring at the corpse of the Beyonder face pale.

"Constellation?" Nicholas said, his voice dangerous.

"What?"

"Why is it that a monster came from the section you were guarding directly for me with no warning? You're a fucking spatial manipulator, get your act together. Or next time I won't save you." Nicholas said, pissed. He was fine talking with people; it was irritating, but he could understand that most people liked it. That was part of hanging out with people, but if Nicholas was going to volunteer to help, he damn well expected the people he was working with to do their jobs. Constellation set his jaw.

"It's one monster that got through my senses, oops, stop making a big deal out of it. Something got through. It was just an accident." Nicholas looked at the twenty foot long bird monster.

"Connection in my area I'm supporting. Which direction has the lowest confirmed monster kills in the last three minutes?" Constellation was glaring at this point. Once she confirmed that Constellation's area hadn't killed a single monster the entire time, Nicholas's fist cracked through the air. Nicholas wasn't a strong man. But he was still E-rank and could bend steel bars if he put his mind to it.

"Oops, I was just stretching. Guess your face was in the way. It was just an accident." Nicholas said, rolling his eyes.

"I don't care that you don't like me, I don't care that you think I'm a monster who's mind controlling your friends. But I am a hero, and I'm doing my job. If you won't do the same, I will throw you off this train." Constellation glared at Nicholas from his spot on the ground.

"Go brood somewhere else; you're not even worth my time." Nicholas said, flying into the air.

"Connection, my time is almost up for volunteer, right? Cool if I go on the offensive for a bit?" Upon receiving permission, Nicholas shot off towards the area Constellation was supposed to be protecting." Dragon" Flames poured off Nicholas in waves as he scythed through the enemies. By the end of his killing spree, he was feeling significantly better.

Constellation hid in a pocket space, rubbing his jaw. He couldn't believe the audacity of Retort. He had killed his best friend. He was somehow dating one of the most eligible superheroes their age, being the granddaughter of one of the pinnacles. And nobody except Constellation had put it together yet. He had been sure Nicholas had been distracted talking; it wasn't like Constellation would have been able to be that ready for an attack while talking.

The plan had been to bring the monster in and swoop in, position himself to join their team so he could strike back at the perfect opportunity. That wasn't going to be possible anymore; he was sure the bridge with Retort was gone. The bridge with Jasmine wasn't going to be super strong after the last time they talked. And Twister? Well, she had a strong dislike for Constellation since that night at the bar. Despite having been in their group, she didn't seem to care that they had killed Lupine.

If he was going to do this, he needed help. Thankfully, asking around had shown just how many people Retort had pissed off. It had seemed like he couldn't help himself. And with the help of someone with a power identical to Retort's, Constellation was sure he could win. He would get his revenge. Then everyone would see.