After the end of the Successor, some internet denizens believe that Alex will take the opportunity to make his debut as a superhero. After all, if every member of the Rejects is at least a latent superbeing, Alex is probably also at least a latent superbeing.
Alex, however, sent out a tweet saying that his participation on the Successor was done completely on a whim, and that he had no intention of becoming a superhero. Although a few of his more vocal fans expressed regret, they understood the decision he made. Not everyone is cut out to be a superhero.
To the public at large, Alex's appearance on the Successor was simply a rich playboy indulging in hedonistic pursuits. That he became a judge and mentor, not for fame or profit, but to simply show that he had the ability. The audience was unaware that the show was partially scripted: that Alex had a team of analysts working for him in the background, and that he was the secret creator and primary funder of the show.
Although Tenyen, iFree, and the mentors on the show all know that the Successor was partially scripted, that did not have any negative impact on the show's popularity. Consequently, they had no motivation to disclose that piece of information and create a scandal. To these people, Alex is a spendthrift who threw away 300 million dollars to create an image of being a "professional in the superhero field." But so what? Alex's exceptional performance on the Successor is due to him receiving the support of numerous analysts and him having insider knowledge of the Challenges. They don't feel that Alex poses a threat to their personal interests.
It was in this manner that Alex hid his true intentions.
-----
A moonless night.
A black Lezvani Tank pulls up to a non-descript store in New Amsterdam City's Chinatown; "Chiang's Imports and Exports" sells jade figurines, various kinds of jewelry made of gold, items made of teakwood, and rings set with precious stones.
Flanked by two burly bodyguards, Alex exits the Lezvani Tank and enters the store.
Alex flashes a charming smile at the extremely attractive Asian cashier, "Hello, I'm Alex Malger. I have an appointment to see Mr. Chiang."
The cashier smiles back, "Please wait a moment".
Pushing a small green button on the side, the cashier says, "Master Chiang? Alex Malger is here to see you."
"Someone will be with you shortly," the cashier informs Alex.
"Right this way Mr. Malger. Master Chiang has been expecting you." Motions a burly receptionist toward the door he came from.
The receptionist leads Alex and his bodyguards through the door and into a walkway, and then down into the basement. Numerous tattooed Asian men glare at Alex and his bodyguards as they make their way through.
After a few minutes of admiring the lavish decorations while making small-talk, the group comes upon a pair of ornate golden doors guarded by two heavily tattooed Asian men holding guandaos whose blades glow with a soft blue light.
The receptionist ignores the guards and knocks on the ornate golden doors while saying, "Master Chiang? Mr. Malger is here."
As doors swing open, the receptionist says to Alex's bodyguards, "you guys wait here."
Alex nods and murmurs his assent as he enters the room alone. The golden doors slam shut behind him.
As he enters the richly decorated room, Alex almost couldn't believe his eyes.
Golden chairs with emerald green cushions, a dressing screen inlaid with mother of pearl, and seated on an especially large chair, on a raised dais, is a middle-age Asian man, Ku-Tu Chiang. Despite being a "power broker" since the late 1980s, Ku-Tu doesn't look a day over fifty.
Presumably from China, Ku-Tu made a killing in San Francisco's underworld by selling teas that can grant temporary superpowers, teas that can awaken latent superbeings, and teas that can temporary prevent superpowers from fading- no matter how little faith or heroic popularity one may possess.
Numerous corporations and scientists have attempted to analyze Ku-Tu special teas; without success. The only consistent results are that the teas are variations of jasmine, oolong, and po-lay teas mixed with strange plant and animal matter. Trace amounts of unknown and unidentifiable elements permeate throughout the teas. The most common consensus is that the teas are spiritual medicine brewed with plants and animals native to a pocket dimension that only Ku-Tu has access to.
As for why Ku-Tu is in New Amsterdam City instead of San Francisco, well, rumors say that a particularly nasty altercation with Solar Flare forced Ku-Tu to relocate. Regardless of the truth of those rumors, Ku-Tu has kept an exceptionally low profile, only advertising via word-of-mouth. Alex would have been completely unaware of Ku-Tu's services were it not for the fact that one of his father's partners was a prior client of Ku-Tu.
"Please have a seat Mr. Malger," Ku-Tu motions for Alex to sit as he asks, "what can I do for you?"
Alex replies while taking a seat, "I want to awaken my latent superpowers."
-----
After some tense negotiations, it was agreed that Ku-Tu would awaken and train Alex's latent abilities in exchange for ten million dollars, a future favor, and Alex "recovering" one of the artifacts the Traveller left behind.
-----
A week later, in the basement of Chiang's Imports and Exports.
In a room lit only by red candles, Ku-Tu and Alex sit cross-legged on red silk cushions facing one another.
A small table protected by a red silk tablecloth lies in between them.
Sitting on top of the table are two porcelain tea kettles and two porcelain cups, reminiscent of what one may find in a dim sum restaurant.
Ku-Tu fills a cup to the brim with tea and pushes it toward Alex.
"As you enter," Ku-Tu says, "remember these things. What you will see is past, present, and future mix with visions, dreams, and imagination. Do not resist the eddies and currents, let them carry you where you are meant to go. Trust your instincts. Do not enter any place where you are unwanted. Do not get greedy."
Alex nods his assent as he downs the tea.
-----
After drinking the tea, Alex blacks out only to awaken in a place that is unbelievably strange and unsettling, but also... immediately familiar. He has seen this place in his dreams, although he did not know it at the time.
As Alex lingers at the precipice of this realm, a current of what can only be called psychic energy comes and sweeps him inside.
-----
Washington D.C... the vision is hazy and indistinct, but there can be no question- it is Washington D.C. The city looks broken, even through the obscuring wall of flames and smoke. Thousands... no, millions of mutilated bodies litter the streets. The stench of decay is unbearable.
" YOUR FUTURE ", a voice from beyond intones.
In the sky above, a massive orbital installation, trailing smoke, begins a slow and inevitable descent towards the planet.
"Am I dreaming?" thinks Alex, "Or am I witnessing one possible future out of many?"
" NOT ONE OF MANY. IT SHALL COME TO PASS. AS SURELY AS THE DAY FOLLOWS THE NIGHT. IT IS DESTINY. "
The vision ends as quickly as it began, as a current of psychic energy sweeps Alex away.
-----
The vision is as clear as a moonlit night, Alex sees a version of himself wearing a suit of jet black armor.
The armored Alex crackles with raw electricity as he sits on a throne of skulls. Not all of the skulls appear to be human, however. Some look mostly human, save for their horns or fangs, while others look like they belong to giant lizards and canines.
A fawning crowd chants. "Tor Judgement. Tor Judgement".
Men and women in chains get taken up to a stage.
"Guilty," the armored Alex declares as he takes a sip from a golden goblet filled with blood.
"No!!!" A woman in chains screams as a masked axe-man separates her head from her body.
The crowd continues chanting, "Judgement Tor. Judgement Tor," as an eddy of psychic energy carries the real Alex away.
-----
Alex finds himself in some sort of giant fungal cave.
He sees what can only be described as a group of velociraptors chattering to themselves.
The raptors completely ignore Alex as they phase through him harmlessly.
Somehow, despite the raptors speaking in a strange alien tongue, Alex can somehow make out the words they are saying.
"It's stupid," says Raptor #1. "I hate how the elders make us hibernate every other generation".
"Shhh. Don't let them hear you," replies Raptor #2.
Raptor #3 responds to Raptor #1, "we're conquerors. What can we do if there's nothing left to conquer?"
"It's still stupid," says Raptor #1. "Why do we have to hibernate for millions, if not billions of years, so that evolution can create new species for us to conquer? Why don't we just stay awake and remain masters of the world?"
Raptor #3 patiently explains, "as long as we're active, evolution will never create a worthy species that can challenge us. We occupy the top of the food chain..."
"...And you're not going to stop eating breakfast, are you?" Raptor #3 asks.
"I like our winged Paracraxian slaves," interjects Raptor #2. "Their feathers are so sexy."
"Pervert," says Raptor #4.
"Rhinocerian slaves are better," says Raptor #5. "Even though they're stupid, they're strong."
A current of psychic energy envelops Alex and carries him away.
-----
From a god's eye view, Alex sees a massive kingdom of vampires that stretch from the south-western US to the Yucatan peninsula.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of vampires pass through Alex as if he were a ghost or an illusion.
In the distance, Alex sees a wizened old man of indeterminate origins waving around a jet black staff carved with glowing silver runes.
In response, the land splits and sunder, lightning rains from the heavens, and the winds howl angrily.
The vampires collectively fall into the earth, get charred by electricity, or get smashed by debris.
The old man then looks directly at Alex and asks, "Ngei hai gut sui?"
Before Alex can respond, a current of psychic energy arrives and carries Alex away.
As the scene fades from sight, Alex can see the old man shaking his head and muttering, "Ngoi mmm E tui."
-----
The current deposit Alex in an endless desert. The desert consists of nothing but sand: no plants, no animals.
Looking around, Alex feels the heat of the sun battering his body and tries to vocalize something, "hello?"
Not getting a response, Alex bends down and scoops up some sand.
Touching and feeling the reality of the sand, he lets it trickle from his fingers.
"Did Ku-Tu scam me?" Alex wonders.
Suddenly, a giant worm's head, with the width of five Alexs, emerges from the sand.
Alex can feel its gaze on him as it asks, "chala'kul nilem yunak Aharabi, Nelasuk?"
"What?" Alex responds. "I can't understand you."
"Graww~," the giant worm screams as psychic energies envelop Alex and take him away.
-----
Alex finds himself on what appears to be a barren rocky plain. Looking up at the sky, Alex can see the Earth.
Looking in the distance, Alex can see a tower seemingly made out of ivory.
A squatling, a short misshapen humanoid, harmlessly passes through Alex as it makes its way toward the tower.
Alex finds himself floating behind the squatling.
As the squatling comes to the door of the tower, it enters the passcode "13283561," followed by the pound sign.
The tower's doors slide open as the squatling makes its way in.
Making its way through the tower's interior, the squatling arrives at a large amphitheater. Other squatlings mill about the area, chattering with their misshapen tongues.
Lord Ked-I, a supervillain who mysteriously disappeared in the late 1980s, stands on top of the amphitheater's stage.
Lord Ked-I theatrically proclaims, "my Ked-I knights have failed me. I must take a more direct hand."
Waving his hands, Lord Ked-I materializes a red and blue spandex costume, visually similar to Magenta Blue's costume, around himself.
"Behold," says Lord Ked-I. "I am now Blue Red!"
The squatlings snicker at his declaration.
"What? Do you have a problem with my naming sense?" Lord Kei-I demands as he vaporizes a random squatling.
A current of psychic energy comes and sweeps Alex away.
-----
Alex finds himself floating over the walls of a massive prison. A large nearby sign reads, "Welcome to the Psi-Solar Correctional Facility."
From his vantage point, Alex sees numerous guards and inmates going about their day.
Alex finds himself being pulled to the left.
Allowing the current to drag him where it may, Alex winds up inside a cafeteria.
The Successor TV show is being played on a nearby television set.
"Henny, your boyfriend is on," taunts a pale Asian lady with multiple full and half-sleeve tattoos.
"He's not my boyfriend," a thin waifish girl replies sullenly as she stuffs a spoonful of gruel in her mouth.
The waifish girl's eyes remain glued to the screen as Alex's vistage appears on the screen. Alex is saying, "'Do you know what's better than hearing an expert lecture on a subject? Hearing two experts argue over it.'"
The waifish girl's left hand moves under the table.
A current of psychic energy washes over Alex and sweeps him away.
-----
The current deposits Alex in what appears to be an empty void.
As Alex floats aimlessly in the void, he comes across what appears to be a glowing red basketball-size orb.
The orb says to Alex in a haughty voice, " LEAVE. "
Alex, however, floats toward the orb and places his hands on it. The orb feels soft, malleable, and slightly warm to the touch.
Suddenly the orb shakes and rockets away from Alex.
" YOU WERE AMPLY WARNED, MAGGOT. AS YOU TRIED TO INVADE MY WORLD, I SHALL NOW BRING RUIN TO YOURS ." The orb declares ominously.
An eddy of psychic energy comes and sweeps Alex away.
-----
The eddy drops Alex off on a beach filled with coconut trees.
A skinny malnourished man with a long white beard and three rather large bumps on his head runs up to Alex.
"Hey," the man says as he approaches Alex. "You're looking for superpowers, right? I can help you in exchange for a favor."
"What kind of favor?" Alex asks.
"I need you to get me the fur of a blue lion," the man replies.
Alex deadpans, Lions don't come in blue."
"Damn," curses the crazy man. "Are you sure? I'm sure some blue lions survived reality changing."
"Reality can change?" Alex asks as he humors the crazy man.
"Yup," the crazy man answers affirmatively. "It's changed over 928 times according to my reckoning. Well, over 929 times now."
"Ohhhkay," says Alex as he slowly backs away.
"Ya," replies the crazy man. "That's why I'm looking for... what did he call them again?... V'Teleas?"
The crazy man continues, "imagine the old reality as a snow-covered piece of land. The corrective forces of the new reality are like the sun shining on the snow. If left unattended, the snow will melt, that's the new reality overwriting the old reality."
"But!" the crazy man shouts as spit flies out of his mouth. "If you gather enough snow, especially snow mixed with dirt, it'll take longer for the sun to melt it. That's what the V'Teleas are; artifacts from Losttimes that persist in the current reality."
"Losttimes?" Asks Alex while raising an eyebrow.
"Losttimes are considered by the universe to be failed timelines," lectures the crazy man. "As opposed to the current history, or the current reality, Losttimes are the failed and false histories created by temporal anomalies and meddling. That's why..."
A current of psychic energy envelops Alex and sweeps him away before he can hear the rest of the crazy man's story.
-----
Alex finds himself floating above a tastefully decorated office. Multiple flags of East Thervingia hang prominently on the wall-mounted flagpoles.
He sees Berig, sitting at the head of a table, giving a lecture to the twelve men sitting around the table. Each of the twelve men is wearing a green uniform adorned with a ridiculous amount of medals and ribbons.
Berig is speaking in a foreign language, presumably East Thervingian, that Alex can somehow understand.
"Our first task is to turn the army into its own nation. It's no longer 'the Leader leads the nation, and the army defends them both.' It must become 'the Leader leads the army and the nation, and the people can shut up because the army is the nation.'"
"But my Leader," asks a heavily decorated man. "How can we do that?"
"Simple," Berig replies. "The Army will have its own schools and jobs, it will own business and generate revenue... especially the ones that will bring us Euros or American dollars."
"You will all be my chosen," Berig continues. "The Army will enjoy a privileged life, protected against abuse. Regular people can be extorted and beaten, but all of my soldiers are part of my clan and nobody can mess with you. Your sons will be soldiers and part of my clan too, and your daughters, well that depends on how fierce they are."
"If anybody messes with you, they will deal with me ," concludes Berig.
An eddy arrives and whisks Alex off.
-----
The eddy deposits Alex on a grass field.
A beautiful ethereal lady slowly glides toward Alex.
"Alexander," the ethereal lady addresses him by name. "You possess great affinity for the elements."
"Choose wisely," she intones as she casually waves her right hand.
Eight glowing orbs float in front of Alex.
Alex instinctively understands that each orb represents an element, and in front of him, floats the elements of void, earth, fire, wood, water, metal, air, and electricity.
Despite every fiber of his being screaming for him to take the void element, Alex recalls the visions of himself wearing jet black armor.
Alex gives voice to his desires, "I choose electricity."