[Edward POV]
"Three more days till the concert, people! Look alive!"
Pepper shouted at the staff encouragingly as they were setting up the concert venue in the middle of the desert.
A lot of the company employees were at the place, working hard to prepare for the concert.
The contractors — the android worker robots and my duplicates — were building the seats and the stage.
Claire was handling logistics and parking. Frankie handled the permits from the government and the sales of the plot of land.
I had bought the empty, barren land with no real value from the Californian state, and the stadium was built on top of that land.
If I did this right, I would be able to turn this cheap land into a wonderful electric city.
It had only been three weeks since I started building, so right now there was only the concert venue, a hotel, some residential houses, well-connected roads, traffic lights, an energy generator made of deuterium cores, and functional water pipes.
Just some minor stuff.
Right now, I was focusing on the concert venue. Wearing a yellow safety hat, I, Renaldo, Pepper, and many more people were supervising and visiting the construction.
"There will be one bathroom for every hundred people… so, ten thousand porta potties?" Renaldo gasped in shock as he read the venue's infrastructure plans.
"It's not porta potties. It's actual toilets… with plumbing… and auto-cleaning functions every time someone uses it…" Annie muttered excitedly, taking short pauses in between to build up the excitement.
Frankie read the design and asked, "Can the construction finish on Friday? How about the inspection?"
"We already cut a deal with some safety inspectors. Not dirty deals — just early inspections during construction, so it could pass earlier." I muttered.
If anything happened, I could just hypnotize the safety inspector to get the permit faster.
I didn't cut corners on the safety of the concert venue, though, since it was designed for one million people.
Any accidents here would be catastrophic for my fans, so I made sure to give them the best experience and safety possible.
During the concert, there would be Medic tents, free water refill from water dispensers, and efficient emergency routes out of there, just in case.
The historic record for the biggest concert in the world was 3.5 million people, in Brazil. It was held on a beach, so it was quite safe, but there's a long history of people losing their lives at concerts.
One million was around number ten on the list. But under 2013's modern safety standards, it was huge.
I was walking around when I was startled by a familiar voice.
"So, Ed. This is what, like, the third city you've built?"
I flinched and turned instantly. "God, Sage. You scared me."
"That'll happen when you're aware of everyone's presence all the time. You'll get startled when someone bypasses that ability," Sage muttered lazily.
I nodded calmly and said, "Well. If someone can do that, then they deserve to kill me."
Sage grimaced and threw me an empty vial. I looked at her in confusion after catching it.
"Do you know what that is?" she asked.
"My esper serum?"
Sage nodded. I sighed after waiting for her to explain.
"So, aren't you going to add more to that?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were the smartest man in the world. You can't deduce everything with just that vial?" Sage said sarcastically.
"I'm smart, not a god. What is it?" I asked with slight intrigue.
Sage snickered and said, "Well… You seemed bored."
I gasped. "Nooo… You didn't." My eyes widened, and my breath quickened.
Sage nodded and said, "Yup. I did."
"You injected the vial into someone. Who? How many?" I asked, completely shocked.
"Several." Sage tilted her head lazily.
"W–W–Why would you do that?" I was genuinely frazzled.
Sage shrugged and said, "In every society, there's a force… and there's an opposite force that counterbalances everything. Poor, rich. Smart, dumb. Superpowered AlienPox survivor, experimental esper user."
"Superpowered— Sage, what are you talking about?" I looked at her with disbelief.
She shrugged again and asked, "Edward. What happens when a hero appears in the real world?"
"How should I know?" I grimaced.
"Alright. Let me rephrase that. You've watched Kick-Ass before, right?"
I gasped and said, "Ohhh. It's like that?"
"Yup." Sage replied. "It's like that."
In Kick-Ass 2, when normal people started putting on costumes to become heroes, the criminals did the same. They organized, got worse, and turned into villains.
It's the same idea Sage was talking about — balance. When something powerful rises, the world creates something equally dangerous to counter it.
"What about me? Who's balancing me?" I asked.
She replied, "That's one of the perks of being an afterlife agent. Anyway, let me handle this. I'm bored now that you don't need so much supervision anymore."
I smiled in elation. She snapped, "Stop smirking or I'll kick you."
"You miss me." I teased.
Then, she kicked me in the ass. Even with all my strength, I couldn't avoid it.
…
I sat on the piano to test the acoustics of the concert venue.
"The speakers need to be powerful enough to overpower the voice of one million people," Frankie said as she wore ear protection.
"You might need to do the mic test now. We'll play the counter sound to see if it can drown out the cheers," Renaldo said.
I sat on the piano at the center of the crowd.
The stage was placed in the middle of a circular formation, shaped like a blooming lotus from above.
Each petal was a separate section that could rise or sink, creating layers of elevation so everyone could see the artist no matter where they stood.
Every "petal stage" was also connected by a retractable walkway, allowing performers to move between sections.
To make sure the farthest audience members didn't miss a single movement, I embedded holographic projection arrays on each petal.
We tested it out too. And 26 images of myself appeared around the concert hall.
They mirrored my figure and performance in real-time. So even from a mile away, people could still feel like they were right in front of me.
From the sky, the venue resembled a giant lotus of light. Glowing, shifting, alive with sound and motion.
It was truly the best concert venue ever made in the world.
As I was done testing the acoustic with some classical music, I went on to test the vocals next with some songs.
"♫♪ I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights
No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch ♫♪"
After I finished the tests, I nodded in satisfaction and said, "It will be ready tomorrow."
Annie clapped enthusiastically as I finished singing. "You're like a god on the stage, Eddy." She said happily and gave me a hug.
"Can I see the rooster for the concert again?" I asked.
{Concert list}
Paramore.Linkin Park.Eminem.Taylor S., Selena Gomez & Nessa.Justin Bieber.Katy Perry.Lady Gaga.John Legend.Elton John.Jessi J, Nicky Minaj, Ariana Grande.
It would be a three day concert, so the rooster might change according to the day.
There were a lot more performers who wanted to join the concert, but there's limited slot for it.
I did pick out several newcomers to open the concerts and give them some chances to prove themselves too.
One of them was Halsey. Another was Victoria Justice.
The concert was the main talk point of the country right now. The excitement for it was insane. Since I charged only 20 bucks for the concert tickets, people thought I was doing a free concert.
I've spent 2 billion dollars on building the venue alone. It really didn't cover the cost of it at all.
But, I didn't mind since it was my venue, and I could use it whenever I wanted.
After checking the venue, Pepper and I left the deserted area near Pasadena.
I called the city 'Oasis' since it was built in the middle of nowhere. Once it was done, it would be the most technologically advanced city in the entire world.
"Oh, by the way Edward. Golden Globe called again." Pepper sighed as we drove back home in a limousine.
"Are you really not going to the awards show?" Pepper asked.
I nodded and said scathingly, "HFPA is just the Hollywood mafia. There's no prestige in the Golden Globe for me. It just sickens me, the way they manipulate people and even ruin people's lives by calling them out on their shit."
Pepper nodded in understanding. "Alright then. We're not going. Too bad. All of your shows got nominated. Even Emma Watson got nominated for her role in Psychopath Diary."
I rolled my eyes at the name mentioned. Pepper chuckled and said, "Alright. I won't speak about her anymore."
Annie, who was sitting next to me as she was my secretary, said, "Can I share what you said with my friends? About the HFPA"
"Your friends?... Alright, sure." I said casually.
Annie grinned and said, "Great."
Suddenly, the limousine came to an abrupt stop. Annie lost her balance and fell onto my body. She missed my side and planted her face first into my crotch.
"Oh god." Annie said with a muffled voice.
"What happened?!" Pepper was frazzled and instantly walked outside.
I sighed and muttered, "Luckily there's no real danger out there. Otherwise he would've been the first one to be killed."
Annie pulled her head back up and said, "Huh? What–"
"Nothing Annie. Also, you took way too long to come back up." I smirked mischievously.
I walked outside while Annie blushed.
The limousine driver stopped as there were some roadblocks ahead, put there just a few seconds ago by a group of unruly people.
"A rock?" Pepper muttered with confusion.
"It's a boulder." I said casually as I stood beside him.
"What's the difference?" Pepper grimaced.
"Diameter–"
Before I could answer, several people jumped out of the rock they were hiding behind.
My eyes widened slightly, and my lips curled up as I saw what they were wearing.
"Mr Newgate! We, the Justice Avenger of America, want to introduce ourselves to you!"
The man who wore a purple soldier outfit saluted me. Beside him was a girl in a pink wig, wearing spandex like a Marvel comic hero, with a prominent 'J' logo on her chest.
Next to her, a black african american with a huge gauntlet in his hand made of pure metal.
Then, a twin wearing green spandex.
Lastly, a fat guy with a leather jacket and a flamethrower on his back.
"I'm Captain Awesome." The soldier said. Pepper's eyes turned dead. I laughed inwardly but kept a poker face on the front.
"I'm Jen– I mean, Jewel." The pink wig girl said.
She might want to hide her identity from me, but I already knew who she was before I even came out of the car.
"Hey, you're going to get copyrighted by Marvel." The soldier whispered to her.
"Oh really, and Captain Awesome isn't copyrighted?" Jewel snapped sarcastically.
"No. It is not." The soldier said with dissatisfaction.
I sighed and interjected their conversation, "Um, I have places to be. So let's wrap this up soon."
"Ah. Right." The soldier said. "I'm Flamer–"
Before the fat guy could introduce himself, the soldier interjected.
"We, the Justice Avenger of America, are going to be working hard to keep evil at bay. Like you did. We're here to pay respect to you, and then go do our job."
"Oh. Alright then." I said flatly. "Don't kill anyone." I added.
"No, we will be calling the cops when we see crime." One of the twins said.
"Oh, like, neighbourhood watch?" Pepper asked.
"We're not the neighbourhood watch!" The gauntlet shouted.
I ignored all of them and stared at the pink wig girl. She felt self conscious of my gaze and tried to avoid it.
"Come here." I called her abruptly.
Jewel sighed in exasperation and walked towards me and we had a private conversation.
"So, anything you want to say to me, Jewel?" I asked knowingly.
"Don't know what you're talking about Newgate." She replied while crossing her arms.
"I think your mother will be worried sick if she knows you're doing something like this, Jenna." I muttered with a chuckle.
Jenna's cheek turned pink, like the rest of her. "You… You knew?"
"You know, I never get the eyemask part of the costume. Every other part of your face is bare. It is obviously you behind the mask cause I recognized that face anywhere."
She giggled slightly and said, "Well… Don't tell anyone."
"I'm not. I am a little worried though. So, use this." I gave her a card. It has an address and password on it.
"What's this?" She asked curiously.
"One of my hideouts." I muttered. "If you're really serious about this, I will make you a costume, like I did for the President of the United States–"
She squealed and rushed to hug me, "AHH! Eddy! I love you!"
"Jewel! Behave yourself!" The soldier was astonished.
I laughed and told everyone, "Don't worry. I'm fine with it."
I walked to the boulder and picked it up with one hand. Everyone widened their eyes as they saw it. Then, I threw it like a tennis ball, away from the road.
It flew 100 meters away before dropping.
"Oh my fucking god." The flamer, who's name was really unfortunate if he wasn't gay, exclaimed in bewilderment.
"I'll see you guys around." I told them with a smirk.
As I left the road and the wannabe group of superheroes, I decided it was too dangerous for me to leave Jenna alone playing superheroes.
So I decided to put one of my duplicates into the group to protect them.
"Hopefully they won't run into any esper powered people." I muttered with a sigh.
Then, I crossed my arms and began to think deeply about the matter.
'Sage wouldn't just awaken people into espers just because she's bored. So, is there anything else behind it?'
…
As I returned home, Barbara was waiting for me in my living room mansion with her legs up on the couch seat.
"You're late." She pouted. "You said 9 O'clock."
"It's… 9.01." I muttered with disbelief before I played along. "I was really late, weren't I?"
"Yeah. Don't you know how much I've missed you?" Barbara said affectionately as she rushed towards me.
She jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. I held her buttocks to lift her up.
She kissed my lips and cheeks furiously.
"Sorry. There's some boulder on the road." I told her.
"Stupid boulder." She cursed as she kissed me more. Then, her enthusiasm deflated.
"I'm starving." She complained, turning her body weak.
I chuckled and said, "Alright. I'll make something."
"No, I'd already made a dinner reservation. We should go out and eat." She said casually.
We decided to go out with each other like normal people would. Which meant, no more dating in secret for me.
Well, I kinda didn't need to keep it a secret anymore since I was turning 18 this year, and Barbara was turning 20.
She wore a revealing black dress with deep cleavage and deep slit on the skirt.
"Eddy, can you help me zip up my back?" She asked as she held her hair up and turned her back against me.
I helped her zip up her dress and my nose caught a whiff of her perfume.
She turned and grinned heavily. "So, does seeing my back excite you?" She teased.
"A little bit. Yes." I muttered calmly, which made her laugh.
We went to a 5 star hotel to have dinner together while people around gawked at us.
"Aaahh." She tried to feed me some lobsters. I opened my mouth and ate it before asking, "Are you trying to prove something?"
"Are you feeling self-consious?" She asked back.
I shrugged and said, "Not really."
She smiled and said, "Then, I also don't have anything to prove. I just want to feed you."
As she ate for herself, she furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Hmm… Your cooking's better."
"I told you." I grinned.
"If we're alone, I will let you take me right on the table." She said abruptly.
I was taken aback and widened my eyes slightly. Then, I muttered, "Alright then."
"Alright? What do you mean alright?" Barbara was confused and a bit intrigued.
Suddenly, everyone inside the restaurant got a text message. Then, they stood up abruptly mid-meal and walked away.
The staff also left, leaving only me and Barbara inside the restaurant.
Barbara was astonished when she saw it happen.
"What– What did you do?" She asked.
"Nothing. I just offered to pay them 10 grand if they leave right now." I said casually.
"What the–" Barbara was shocked. "There must be at least 50 people here."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." I said with a chuckle.
Barbara frowned a bit, but her frown quickly turned into a smile.
"You little perv." She said teasingly. "You want it that much?"
"Hey, you offered." I said playfully. "Are you going to keep your words?"
She blushed heavily. After a while, she nodded.