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Description
James looked at his mother nervously. Perhaps now, while waiting in the line to make his initial audition for Patron candidate at the town square, it was a little bit late, but there was a something that he just had to tell her.

"...Ok mom, I can't keep it to myself any longer," he said, facing his mother next to him, "I don't know how good that sleeveless shirt and those shorts looked on you back in Indianapolis, but at your age you really shouldn't wear that."

Stephanie looked back at her son and took some time to answer.

"...Look, James, first of all, you can bet that every single man in this line disagrees with you," she said, "and second, the shorts are comfortable for fighting, and the '14' tank top is just about the only thing that makes my costume, let me have that. Now can you please stop criticizing my fashion sense and focus on important things like observing what kind of people are in this line? Check it out and tell me who you think are powerful individuals."

James sighed. He had to concede, though, there were more important matters at hand right now. He started to look around.

...Really, there was not much to look at, though. Most of the supers looked really unamusing when not using their powers. One thing was for sure though, being there James realized that his mother had been saying the truth for years: He was painfully out of shape compared to them. There were some other details he could go through as well, their posture, the confidence in their faces or the way they breathed. Just going from that, there was one particular person that stood out.

"Well, it is only a superficial look," he said, "but I can't imagine any of them defeating S14, personally."

"Well it's good to see that you know how to give compliments!" Stephanie answered, smiling, "It might be true, though. You have to think that with this sort of competition in mind, a great amount of supers, heroes and villains alike, have reasons to enter. This must be an initial selection stage, so most of these probably don't hold a candle to either of us."

"...Do you think I will pass the initial selection?" the teen asked.

"With me recommending you? I'm sure you will become a top candidate for winning as soon as the audition ends," replied his mom.

"Next," sounded the voice over the loudspeaker. James and his mother advanced towards a moustached man manning the counter. He looked really excited.

"S14!" the man handling the counter said, "I am a big fan of yours, my name is Anthony, I lived in Indianapolis way back and you were awesome! It was really too bad that you had to retire, but I knew that you would come for this tournament as soon as they announced it!"

"Wow, Anthony, I'm flattered to see I still have fans," said happily the former Patron, "but I'm afraid I will have to let you down. I think we should make way for a new generation of heroes, so my son here will be the one entering and not me."

The man paused and began to stare at James from up to down, every so often taking a look at his mother as well.

"So then... He will be the one entering?" he asked. Stephanie nodded once as an answer. The man took a sheet of paper in the counter and started reading. "At this point I am obligated to warn you that this tournament is a high risk-"

"He knows," interrupted S14, "we discussed it at home, consider him warned."

The moustached man looked at James again. He still seemed dissatisfied.

"Are you aware that you could both participate if you wanted to? There is no reason why S14 shouldn't-"

"Actually, even if my son wasn't here I wouldn't want to enter. So don't worry about that, Anthony," said Stephanie, looking at her son and smiling.

"Well... Ok," said the man in the counter, resigned, and took a blank form, "let's start. Does he have a codename he would like to be called?"

"That would be Titan," answered James. The man looked up and now again started to analyze him from head to toe.

"Really, now... Are you serious?"

"Yes, Titan," the teen said, grinding his teeth. He extended the arm towards the moustached man, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Anthony, may I shake your hand?"

"No, you may not!" said Stephanie, "He needs it to work." James lowered his hand.

"Titan it is, then, well, what do you think makes you qualified for the position?" Anthony asked. Stephanie was about to answer but her son did so before her.

"I can lift everyone here with one hand," was his answer. Anthony hesitated for a moment, then wrote that down. After that came a set of standard question, but nothing too complicated, really.

"Well I guess that now comes fighting the robot," said the man behind the counter. The newly nicknamed Titan looked at him, incredulous, and finally decided that he was serious.

Really, fighting a robot? What kind of method is that? It must be tremendously dangerous, too.

"The best of us have to deal with it one day or the other," said Stephanie as a form of answer to James' hesitation, "go and win I guess."

Anthony stood up and signaled James to follow him towards a big square cage where a robot stood. The design was a bit clunky, but it seemed mostly human.

"So I guess I gotta deal with this... thing," said the teen, still weirded out.

-----

When Anthony closed the gate of the cage the robot immediately started attacking, extending its arms and rapidly shooting both of his fists at James, who didn't have the opportunity to dodge them.

Fortunately for him, though, he didn't really have the need, either, since both of the fists bounced harmlessly against his body. James looked at the detached limbs for a moment, wondering if the robot was still in fighting conditions after that.

The fighting machine immediately showed the answer by firing a powerful barrage of flames from its mouth, which the teen would probably have felt if not for the massive density of his atoms which provided him with a strong defense against the fiery barrage. James held his breath in order to not breathe the combusted air and walked towards the machine, staying a few meters away from it by the time the flames were finished, his shirt on fire, but otherwise unharmed.

Changing tactics in view of the failure of the other attacks, the metal beast decided to confront James directly, delivering a powerful kick in the face that surely other auditioners had suffered against. James, on the other hand, was quick to retaliate with a technique-less yet mighty slap at the robot's face, whose head went swiftly flying away without any possible resistance. The robot stopped its movement, and started squirting oil from its chopped neck for a not too long moment.

"...I guess I won," James said, personally not too proud of the accomplishment. He tore the remainder of the shirt to pieces in order to avoid his pants to be burnt as well. All in all it could have ended worse for him.

Anthony, meanwhile, looked from the sidelines, though for a little bit, and then answered.

"Well, I guess you are her son. Consider yourself in, Titan."

Description
James looked at his mother nervously. Perhaps now, while waiting in the line to make his initial audition for Patron candidate at the town square, it was a little bit late, but there was a something that he just had to tell her.

"...Ok mom, I can't keep it to myself any longer," he said, facing his mother next to him, "I don't know how good that sleeveless shirt and those shorts looked on you back in Indianapolis, but at your age you really shouldn't wear that."

Stephanie looked back at her son and took some time to answer.

"...Look, James, first of all, you can bet that every single man in this line disagrees with you," she said, "and second, the shorts are comfortable for fighting, and the '14' tank top is just about the only thing that makes my costume, let me have that. Now can you please stop criticizing my fashion sense and focus on important things like observing what kind of people are in this line? Check it out and tell me who you think are powerful individuals."

James sighed. He had to concede, though, there were more important matters at hand right now. He started to look around.

...Really, there was not much to look at, though. Most of the supers looked really unamusing when not using their powers. One thing was for sure though, being there James realized that his mother had been saying the truth for years: He was painfully out of shape compared to them. There were some other details he could go through as well, their posture, the confidence in their faces or the way they breathed. Just going from that, there was one particular person that stood out.

"Well, it is only a superficial look," he said, "but I can't imagine any of them defeating S14, personally."

"Well it's good to see that you know how to give compliments!" Stephanie answered, smiling, "It might be true, though. You have to think that with this sort of competition in mind, a great amount of supers, heroes and villains alike, have reasons to enter. This must be an initial selection stage, so most of these probably don't hold a candle to either of us."

"...Do you think I will pass the initial selection?" the teen asked.

"With me recommending you? I'm sure you will become a top candidate for winning as soon as the audition ends," replied his mom.

"Next," sounded the voice over the loudspeaker. James and his mother advanced towards a moustached man manning the counter. He looked really excited.

"S14!" the man handling the counter said, "I am a big fan of yours, my name is Anthony, I lived in Indianapolis way back and you were awesome! It was really too bad that you had to retire, but I knew that you would come for this tournament as soon as they announced it!"

"Wow, Anthony, I'm flattered to see I still have fans," said happily the former Patron, "but I'm afraid I will have to let you down. I think we should make way for a new generation of heroes, so my son here will be the one entering and not me."

The man paused and began to stare at James from up to down, every so often taking a look at his mother as well.

"So then... He will be the one entering?" he asked. Stephanie nodded once as an answer. The man took a sheet of paper in the counter and started reading. "At this point I am obligated to warn you that this tournament is a high risk-"

"He knows," interrupted S14, "we discussed it at home, consider him warned."

The moustached man looked at James again. He still seemed dissatisfied.

"Are you aware that you could both participate if you wanted to? There is no reason why S14 shouldn't-"

"Actually, even if my son wasn't here I wouldn't want to enter. So don't worry about that, Anthony," said Stephanie, looking at her son and smiling.

"Well... Ok," said the man in the counter, resigned, and took a blank form, "let's start. Does he have a codename he would like to be called?"

"That would be Titan," answered James. The man looked up and now again started to analyze him from head to toe.

"Really, now... Are you serious?"

"Yes, Titan," the teen said, grinding his teeth. He extended the arm towards the moustached man, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Anthony, may I shake your hand?"

"No, you may not!" said Stephanie, "He needs it to work." James lowered his hand.

"Titan it is, then, well, what do you think makes you qualified for the position?" Anthony asked. Stephanie was about to answer but her son did so before her.

"I can lift everyone here with one hand," was his answer. Anthony hesitated for a moment, then wrote that down. After that came a set of standard question, but nothing too complicated, really.

"Well I guess that now comes fighting the robot," said the man behind the counter. The newly nicknamed Titan looked at him, incredulous, and finally decided that he was serious.

Really, fighting a robot? What kind of method is that? It must be tremendously dangerous, too.

"The best of us have to deal with it one day or the other," said Stephanie as a form of answer to James' hesitation, "go and win I guess."

Anthony stood up and signaled James to follow him towards a big square cage where a robot stood. The design was a bit clunky, but it seemed mostly human.

"So I guess I gotta deal with this... thing," said the teen, still weirded out.

-----

When Anthony closed the gate of the cage the robot immediately started attacking, extending its arms and rapidly shooting both of his fists at James, who didn't have the opportunity to dodge them.

Fortunately for him, though, he didn't really have the need, either, since both of the fists bounced harmlessly against his body. James looked at the detached limbs for a moment, wondering if the robot was still in fighting conditions after that.

The fighting machine immediately showed the answer by firing a powerful barrage of flames from its mouth, which the teen would probably have felt if not for the massive density of his atoms which provided him with a strong defense against the fiery barrage. James held his breath in order to not breathe the combusted air and walked towards the machine, staying a few meters away from it by the time the flames were finished, his shirt on fire, but otherwise unharmed.

Changing tactics in view of the failure of the other attacks, the metal beast decided to confront James directly, delivering a powerful kick in the face that surely other auditioners had suffered against. James, on the other hand, was quick to retaliate with a technique-less yet mighty slap at the robot's face, whose head went swiftly flying away without any possible resistance. The robot stopped its movement, and started squirting oil from its chopped neck for a not too long moment.

"...I guess I won," James said, personally not too proud of the accomplishment. He tore the remainder of the shirt to pieces in order to avoid his pants to be burnt as well. All in all it could have ended worse for him.

Anthony, meanwhile, looked from the sidelines, though for a little bit, and then answered.

"Well, I guess you are her son. Consider yourself in, Titan."