King for a day by Michael Benoist

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New Vegas seemed strange now.  An alien environment that felt new and different, though little had changed within the city.  He learned a lot about alien environments as King Supreme.  The Onyx crown took him to the ocean depths, to the vacuum of space, past celestial bodies that personal experience far outshone any description he could give.  The simple joy of hitching a ride on a meteorite on it's journey past the sun amuses him still, when he reminisces.  No matter where he traveled in the stars, home still called out to him like a need for a homecooked meal or the embrace of a loved one.  The gaudy, obnoxious, superficial, wonder city that was New Vegas.

Perched here on a water tower near his old neighborhood, he looked out at the city and looked back on his strange journey from high school graduation to the most powerful being in the universe, at least that he had met personally.  The same corner store in his old neighborhood was still there, the old graffiti on the side replaced with newer graffiti.  The same skyline at night was visible, with a few different colored lights here or there.  New Vegas loves its lights.  Maybe returning here is what helps to keep him grounded, remembering to remain humble to the gift he was given.  Remembering to keep on mission, to serve those who need him most. 

It was here that Roy's life was forever changed by having someone believe in him.  A hero, who had proven himself time and again saw something in Roy that he could not see for himself.  He was a hero that granted and burdened Roy with a heavy responsibility. He was Aceblade.  Was. Aceblade. The thought caused him to pause, remembering the man who encouraged and corrected, who believed and questioned, who respected but didn't get the respect he deserved at times.

Tonight would have been the night to meet him.  They would get together before sundown, grab a bite at the soul food kitchen down on Lancey Drive or that taco joint near the corner of Allegiance and Sumner.  Terrell would laugh at his stories of figuring out his powers, give advice where possible about taking responsibility for others, and make small talk about what MMA fighter looked promising, which city councilman actually took a stand for people, or what today's music was missing.  "He was the big brother I never had," Roy thought to himself. 

After food and catching up, came Roy's favorite part.  He remembered how Aceblade hated when  King Supreme triumphantly stated, "Super Hero teamup!" Roy could feel the glare piercing from behind Aceblade's lens whenever he said something childish or "preachy" around Aceblade and remembering that made Roy chuckle. Then we spent several hours finding people in need.  Between getting the sick or injured to the hospital, stopping a car chase, helping evacuate a burning building or even talking a hurting person down from the rooftop, we kept our time busy.  Aceblade said it was cheating the way I could sense when people were in need but it made him confident that we had spent our night protecting his city to the fullest. 

"Hey Terrell, if you can hear me somewhere, how about a super hero teamup?" The ebony crown on his head shimmers into reality and the young man with dirty blonde hair and a boyish grin slowly gave way to the towering form of King Supreme.  Floating down to the edge of the brick roof under the shadow of the water tower, King Supreme reaches out with his mind.  As the inhabitants of the city began appearing to his senses, he could begin to recognize the fear, the want, the hunger, the drive, and the loneliness of people.  King Supreme paused and then he thought, "Maybe for tonight, it would be good for the city to know it still has it's hero.  Shimmering into view, the darkness itself parted to form the image of Aceblade.  Twisting reality had proven to be a task that had its limitations but for a few hours, he could create the illusion that Aceblade still lives.  "Let's give the darkness something to fear and the people something to believe in, Aceblade." Roy almost felt that glare beneath the lens as he and Aceblade jumped down to meet the needs of the people of New Vegas.

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