Chapter 303 - 303. The Week To Come

Like stepping stones, metal plates moved to allow Art's brother to walk down to the stage instead of the stairs. It was an intimidation move and everyone knew it. However, halfway through there was a tremble. 

The plates started to vibrate and everyone watched as Art's older brother slipped slightly. This was not an accident at all. The plates had started to shift and bend catching his brother's foot. Feeling the metal being pulled from his control Art's brother showed a slight twitch. The cool exterior was shaken before the metal was forcefully bent back to his steps. 

"Huh, I just needed to think about it a little." Art was visibly hurting and Asher knew that this was no time for Art to take down his brother. Fighting all out would lead to Art's defeat and a blow to his ego. 

"You're the judge along with those two. Put the medal on him and we'll be on the way. But he is strong and you need to admit that. We will expect your reasons soon. But for now, we will celebrate." Asher knew that his words were not what Art wanted to hear but they were necessary. 

"What I did was for good reason." The tone of voice held a lot more weight than any of them imagined. Yet, in the next instant, the cool exterior morphed in to a smile full of bravado and charisma. 

The shocking change in Art's brother just went to show how well he had trained himself to be a hero and the head of the family. Even though his few words left them all wondering what was going on and what the good reason was. Art didn't even have the energy to asl anymore as the adrenalin was wearing off and his brother was starting to speak. 

"My younger brother has finally shown the world his true self. He is a man of the family and he has passed through our family tradition even stronger than ever. I feel pride in this moment. Little does everyone else know, but before he found his fire his grades were low. He didn't have friends. And he didn't even know how to fight let alone control a super power. Today you see my brother, a full fledged meber of the family and a one day super hero. A member of a growing hero group. And the winner of a martial arts tournament. Please give your round of applause for the future heroes!" 

All of them knew this was a massive amount of bravado to save what the audience would think and to push them to like their group. The brother would look like a teacher instead of some evil villain. This was a way to turn the public opinion in to power. But it was going to work for all of their favor and not just for Art's brother. 

A medal with gold and a symbol of a punching martial artist fell around Arts' neck as the audience cheered and medics finally managed to push their way to Art. Jane and Asher took his arms and gave him something to hold on to as Art's brother left with the other judges. Today had been a day that the news would not stop talking about for some time. 

By the time everyone had been properly healed and calmed down they were realizing they were exhausted. With the parents around every single one of them were forced home to rest. After a full day of sleep, a lot of food, and some internet browsing, Asher had called everyone and asked them to meet up at his house. 

Art was still staying with Asher, but his parents had already stopped by to officially speak with Asher's parents. The conversation had been long and they had all went out to dinner. The parents had kicked it up and become fast friends. Not a single one of the group thought that this would end well but accepted that the parents would all be friends now. They would have to deal with what came from this in the future. 

"You guys have seen the news...and the internet...and literally anyone walking through the neighborhoods…" Sammy had walked over with Louis and found that they were the center of attention everywhere. Appenertyl the story about their group had gotten way out.

"Someone actually asked me for an autograph this morning. To be honest I think it was one of my middle school classmates." Jackson was the most confused by everything. He had been a quiet kid who liked to garden and just do his own thing. He received his evo shot and became completely different and now was partially famous. It was a lot to handle in comparison.

"I don't know. Since I got my super power people have always looked at me. I thin k it's alright." Everyone just stared at Laura for a minute. They all knew that the reason that people stared at her was because she was super fast and would pop up randomly.

"We have left the house only for work outs but we have still had all the people on morning commutes wave. It's kind of nice but also super distracting." Art was the most uncomfortable with it. Mostly because he had seen that his family history was put all over the news and rubbed in everyone's face. He felt that he had no privacy and just wanted to be able to hide away for a little while. 

"Again, people just keep watching us everywhere we go. I feel like we need to move somewhere else" Louis was the most extreme. He wanted to just up and move but it was just drama. 

"I don't know why everyone is all up in arms about this. It was exactly what we wanted and more. Yes, your family drama is out in the open, and yes we don't have answers. But your brother did tell you it was for good reason. That means you should be able to get those reasons. Your answers. Not to mention we have a name now. Asher may have given us the cheesiest dumb name ever but people know us as the link hero group. They liked some of our nicknames and even gave us some. Mirage boxer. Gale. Medusa. Survivalist. Dancing lightning, way better than zap by the way. Blink. Echo. Lucky jinx. We all are out and about and people are waiting for us to become real heroes." 

Not a single one of them could argue with Jane. She made good points and it was all true. "Jane is right you know. Thighs may be tough since we are the new thing on the news but look at this. There is a massive storm front moving in down south. The news will forget us in a few hours and we will be yesterday's news. What's left is us and our goals. We can still pursue them." Cara was waiting to make her point and was very impressed by Janes' evaluation.

"We still have the prize money too. We can officially start to plan for university and the school is sure to want to advertise that their students are all future heroes or law enforcement. But more importantly…"Asher trailed off after mentioning school…"We have the end of year exams and the tournaments. Cara, you are fighting for scholarships and even mentorships." Asgher wasn't going to beat around the bush. He knew just how important it was for Cara to do her best.

"I'm not so dumb to turn down a mentorship." She gave Laura a glare but then smirked a little since she was just teasing. "But I wouldn't mind waiting for all of you to catch up." The group was touched. They had started to train with Cara and genuinely felt she was a part of their group no matter what she did. 

"Speaking of school. What do you all think will happen when we show up and crush the exams along with the tournament? It's only students in our school. We might scare off all our opponents." Art was thinking that they wouldn't have anyone that would dare to challenge them in a tournament. Academics may be what they were battling by themselves. But tournaments had obstacles that could beat them. 

"About that. You all have some pretty big targets on your back now. If they beat you guys that means they are better than the group that trains the hardest. Which in turn means that they will receive more recognition." Cara was warning them more than anything. She had already built her reputation and even if she were to fight many more people it was expected that she came out on top. Asher and the rest were limited by the lack of reputation. 

"Ha! That doesn't matter. The more that come at me the more I will take down." Laura was surprisingly excited. However, this was the same attitude she had toward the obstacle course. Hearing it put everyone at ease. They would face the week of exams head on and then the tournaments as well. After that, they were free for an entire month of vacation.