Henri walked into his newly rented place and set his suit case in the bedroom. He surveyed the rest of the apartment, noting the tasteful but obviously cheap Ikea furniture. He took out his laptop and travel mug and set them on the kitchen table. Unable to find a kettle, he put some water in a cooking pot and set it on the stove to boil for tea. His laptop had finished booting up. He did a quick search of the city’s municipal website for the highest ranked super. He never understood why America had such a ladder system in place but that law had been passed by the new President, who had killed the old one right in his own office after making short work of his equally superpowered security detail. No one else since had come close to being a challenge for her.
Leaders in other levels of government were not as confident in their abilities. Skirmishes happened everyday as those who craved power and dominance tried to take it or defend it.
The European countries were wiser and held contests rather than sanctioning outright murder. Henri himself had risen to rule several countries before being bested. He decided to try his skill in America. A small city should be no problem. Maybe Henri would try his luck some day at presidency, but that day was not today. He filled his travel mug with hot water and loose tea leaves and began his daily training. He took a wooden box from his suitcase and cleared a space in the living room area. He opened the box, revealing eight metal spheres within.
He relaxed his mind and flexed his mental muscles. The spheres rose a foot into the air. Henri moved them up and down and spun them in intricate patterns around each other. While still moving them he split them, dividing them into smaller and smaller spheres until it looked like he was manipulating a river of molten metal.
He stopped the undulating mercurial mass with his will and began reconstituting them until he had his original eight. Starting from the left, he divided them again, this time separating them into their molecular components. Then he began combining them, using his will to control the powerful chemical reactions with the elements in the air and each other until he had the entire table of elements before him. He recombined them back into his original eight mundane metal spheres and sat down to enjoy his tea. “I am coming for you.” He said, jabbing a finger at the picture of the city mayor on his laptop screen.

Early the next morning Henri made his way to city hall. He approached the receptionist desk and waited politely for the telekinetic to put down his phone, coffee, finish signing for a package and typing before announcing his purpose. “I have an appointment with the mayor.” He said. He caught something in the receptionist’s eye when he said that. Fear, perhaps? “You should fear me.” Henri thought. “I will be your new ruler soon.” “Of course.” The receptionist said with a pleasant smile. “Please fill out this form and go up to the fifth floor.” Henri groaned mentally and rushed through the paperwork, filling whatever sparse details he chose to reveal and made up the rest. On the fifth floor he followed the signs pointing the way to the mayor’s office. He was about to push open the double doors when the left one opened from the inside and an attractive brunette in her twenties stepped out with a big smile on her face. She was wearing a skin tight combat suit with an assortment of bladed weapons strapped all over her body. The girl continued down the hall, oblivious to Henri. He entered room, mentally lifting his metal spheres out of his suit jacket as he walked. He split one into a multitude of arrowheads, second into magnesium flashbangs and pulled a small sphere of white phosphorous from another. He created water from the surrounding air and mentally kept a layer of it around the chemical bomb. The man behind the desk looked up at him. “You must be Henri.” He said, smiling. “Yes.” Henri said, the mayor’s amiable attitude throwing him off a little bit.
“Please have a seat.” The mayor said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk and the lounge set near the window, letting Henri pick which he preferred. “I know you’ve come a long way.” Henri’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Most people weren’t so accommodating to their killers. What was this man up to? “Would you like a drink?” The mayor stood and walked to the lounge set where a minibar was set up just beside the window. Henri regarded the man’s slight stature. He was nearly half a foot shorter than himself and looked like he could barely clear sixty-five kilos soaking wet. Nevertheless, physical attributes were not a sure indication of super ability. “Drink, Henri?” the mayor asked again, raising the bottle of spirit. “No, thank you.” Henri replied, his own amiability catching himself off guard. A knot of fear grew in his stomach. “What is going on?” The mayor finished his drink and approached him, stopping about half a meter away. “Henri, I know why you’re here and I know you’re not going to kill me.” “Why would I kill you?” “Why would you kill me?” the mayor continued, echoing Henri’s thoughts. “We’ve been friends for years!” “Heh, heh, heh ,heh.” Henri chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. “I’m not here to kill you.” Henri said, getting closer to his old friend and wrapping his arm around his shoulder. “This?” he said, gesturing to his weapons. “This is like when we were back in university!” Henri made his arrowheads spin like tops while he controlled burning phosphorous rings around them. “Yeah!” the mayor replied energetically and nodding his head. “I remember, you came over and did cool stuff like this all the time!” The two watched Henri’s amazing talent for a while before the mayor broke the silence. “Henri, its great seeing you again but I have a serious favour to ask you.” Henri stopped his elemental manipulations and returned the spheres to their original state. “I’m planning to run for the presidency. Can I count on your support?” “Of course.” Henri said. “Anything you need.” “Great! I knew I could count on you!” the mayor said with a big smile. “Well, I won’t take up any more of your time.” Henri said, putting his spheres back into his pockets. He paused as he put the last one away and handed it to his friend instead. “Here. I’d like you to have this as a reminder of simpler times.” The mayor took it gratefully. “Thank you, Henri. You are one of my best friends.” Henri left his friend’s office with a smile on his face. It was good to catch up again. The years fly by so fast. The elevator doors opened and a large man stepped out. He was armoured in plate with a helm over his head and had a large sword sheathed at this side. Glowing blue eyes stared down at Henri. Henri stepped in as the infernal knight stepped out, oblivious to any social faux pas he may have committed. He enjoyed the rest of his day and went home to wait for his friend’s call.