Super

55. cliché superhero movies

SURPRISE UPDATE! i feel so proud :') consider this the first of many apologies for the slow updates <3

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"Now, who are all these people?" Kai questioned.

The three kind-of returnees sat in the now-crowded meeting room, all baffled. Lucas was baffled, too, even though he didn't show it. Taeyong had suspected the presence of other Supers, especially since he had been the one to specifically instruct to get some replacements for the empty spots on their team, but he hadn't expected there to be this many. There had to be a dozen, at least, of varying sizes and colors.

"I think they raided the larder while we were gone," Lucas observed, giving no indication of being amused by his own little analogy.

The new trainees—let's call them that for the sake of clarity—were equally baffled, but a little more respectful and curious. One didn't always get to meet people who had saved the city on multiple occasions.

They were all seated around the main table, some having dragged in mismatched chairs for themselves for seats. There was even a particularly heavy-looking armchair that looked suspiciously like the one in the rooftop bar, which at least told them there was someone with super strength in the assembly.

Right next to Taeyong sat a pink-haired man around his age, awkwardly fiddling with his thumbs. He seemed to be eyeing the blue-haired male at intervals, apparently gathering the courage to speak, but as much as Taeyong waited there was never any result. So when the next sideways glance came his way, Taeyong made sure to meet it with his own, as a caught-ya.

"Uh, hi," the pink-haired male said by way of greeting, smiling nervously. His hair wasn't the same color as Jaemin's—more watermelon pink than bubblegum, but nevertheless, seeing a familiar variation of an equally familiar shade set Taeyong at a strange ease. "I'm Jaehyun. I fly."

"Hello, Jaehyun Who Flies," Taeyong acknowledged. "I'm Taeyong. I clone."

"Oh, I know." Jaehyun nodded vigorously. "We know all about you guys."

Taeyong stared at him, feeling oddly touched.

"Hey, what did you do with that little bro of yours?" Ten asked from across the table, where he was squeezed between a dark-haired silent type and a very pissed-looking redhead. "Didn't you quit on us because of him?"

Even though the decision to leave had been made by him, Taeyong couldn't help but feel a flush of embarrassment at that, especially since his self-declared fan—kind of—was sitting right beside him. "I did what I always do," he said. "I left him over at Jeno's. A friend of his; the kid's mom is pretty stern so I know he'll stay put."

"You should never trust a teenager to mind their own business," Kai interjected wisely. "I should know, I was one myself once."

"Thanks," Taeyong said shortly.

"Ah, the prodigals return," said a warm voice, and the group looked up as a smiling Baekhyun walked into the room, followed by Taemin. The tittering fell instantly silent, like a moderately well-behaved classroom upon the entry of a beloved teacher. He looked at said prodigals over his glasses, a rather narrow gaze that made them squirm in their seats like troublemakers with yet another mishap to hide. "Nice to see you, too."

"You added a bunch of people," Kai said bravely.

"While you three were out there shirking your duties, I got our backups running," Baekhyun said, before turning to the rest. Taemin sat beside him, silent as always, although this time his silence had more to do with embarrassment than to add to his enigmatic image. "As all of you are already briefed about the operation, and we have an emergency on our hands, I won't be wasting much of your time. According to your varying levels of control over your abilities, I've divided you up into different squads: A, B and C. A is our first line of defense, and will answer to me. B, for evacuation, under Lucas, and C is a last resort and will be staying at the outskirts until and unless needed."