Chapter 52: Superman Problems

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Superman Problems

Daniel lay sprawled across the couch, staring at the ceiling with a look of complete despair.

The bar trip T’Challa had been looking forward to for days was finally happening tonight.

It would just be the three of them. Susan wasn’t invited.

After some discussion, they’d unanimously decided that bringing a girl along would make things complicated. So, they were sneaking out without telling her.

The agreed meeting time was getting close, yet T’Challa was still standing in front of the mirror, fussing over his appearance. He had spent a ridiculous amount of time getting ready tonight.

From head to toe.

Every detail mattered.

"Daniel, do you think I should shave my beard?" T’Challa asked while examining himself from different angles.

"Yeah."

Daniel didn’t even bother turning his head.

"But I feel like shaving makes me look too young. The beard makes me seem more mature."

"Then don’t shave."

Daniel’s reply came out weak and lifeless.

T’Challa should have felt honored. He had successfully accomplished something very few people could do.

He had managed to make a Kryptonian feel exhausted.

Ever since dinner ended, T’Challa had been asking endless questions. Daniel’s mental energy had long since run dry.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

Someone was pounding on the door. Without even looking, Daniel knew it was Tony.

Nobody else knocked with such impatient urgency. For the first time in his life, Tony’s knocking sounded beautiful.

Daniel sprang off the couch, crossed the room in an instant, and opened the door. The entire process took less than a tenth of a second.

That was how fast he was.

"Are you guys ready? We should get moving!"

Before Tony even stepped inside, his voice had already arrived. Tonight, he was dressed especially flashy.

He was even wearing sunglasses.... at night.

Daniel had absolutely no idea why.

The moment Tony entered, T’Challa immediately asked.

"Tony, do you think I should shave my beard?"

"No."

Tony answered without hesitation.

"Trust me. Nobody’s going to care."

He waved his hand casually.

"We walk in there, order the most expensive bottles on the menu, and girls will appear automatically."

Then he grinned.

"Nobody’s paying attention to whether you shaved."

It was a simple, direct, and crude answer which T’Challa absolutely loved. He immediately tossed the razor aside.

"Let’s go!"

On the way there, T’Challa continued firing questions at Tony, as a complete beginner making his first trip to a bar, he naturally felt nervous.

Tony patiently shared his experience.

"...One method is showing people that you’re rich. Girls will practically come to you on their own."

By the time he finished that sentence, they had arrived at the entrance. Just as Tony had predicted, nobody checked their ages and the three of them walked straight inside.

Tony reserved a booth and immediately ordered several of the most expensive drinks available. Once the order was placed, T’Challa leaned over.

"What was the other method?"

Tony pointed towards Daniel.

"Looking like him."

T’Challa then glanced over. At some point, a woman had already taken a seat besides Daniel.

She held two cocktails, smiling, she handed one to him.

"Hey, handsome. Want a drink?"

Daniel accepted the glass with a smile and lightly clinked it against hers.

"Thank you."

Then he drained it in one go.

The woman seemed pleased. Leaning closer, she whispered into his ear,

"How about a dance?"

"Sorry."

Daniel smiled apologetically.

"I don’t know how."

Instead of losing interest, she became even more intrigued, her eyes lit up.

"I can teach you."

"No thanks."

Daniel shook his head.

"I don’t really feel like dancing right now."

Rejected twice in a row, the woman still didn’t seem discouraged.

"Alright..."

She sighed dramatically.

"If you change your mind later, come find me."

Before leaving, she reached out and lightly touched Daniel’s cheek.

Only then did she return to her own table. Even afterward, she kept glancing in his direction.

Tony immediately cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

Then he turned to T’Challa.

"Stuff like that happens to me all the time too."

T’Challa’s face was filled with disbelief.

"I’ll show it."

Tony snapped his fingers and stood up. A stunning woman was sitting alone at the bar.

T’Challa watched intently as Tony walked over and sat beside her. The two exchanged a few words.

At first, the woman didn’t seem particularly interested. Then Tony casually lifted his arm. The expensive watch on his wrist flashed under the lights.

Suddenly, the woman’s entire attitude changed and moments later, she was laughing happily.

A few minutes after that, Tony returned with his arm wrapped around her waist. Stopping in front of T’Challa, he smirked proudly.

"Well?"

T’Challa was stunned.

A few sentences, that was all it had taken. Tony had actually succeeded.

If he can do it, then I definitely can. T’Challa also felt a surge of confidence, after all, he considered himself extremely handsome.

"I can do that too."

He stood up immediately. Then he marched off to strike up a conversation with someone.

Daniel silently watched him go. In his opinion, T’Challa was absolutely going to fail.

Earlier, Daniel had been curious enough to observe Tony’s approach. At first, the woman had barely paid attention to him.

Everything changed only after she noticed the luxury watch. T’Challa, on the other hand, was copying the method without understanding it, there was no way this ended well.

Sure enough.

A while later, T’Challa returned. His shoulders sagged, his expression said everything.

It was a complete failure.

Tony patted him sympathetically.

"Don’t lose heart."

Then he grinned.

"If looks aren’t enough, money can make up the difference."

He spread his hands dramatically.

"Girls like money."

After a pause, he added.

"Of course, guys who are both handsome and rich, like me, are pretty rare."

Then he burst out laughing. This was possibly the worst consolation speech in human history. T’Challa felt even worse afterward.

His chest tightened and his soul hurt.

’I was a heartthrob in Wakanda, okay?!’

He screamed internally.

...

Late that night, the three of them stood outside the bar.

"Daniel, you’re seriously not coming?"

T’Challa grabbed Daniel’s arm. Earlier in the evening, T’Challa had finally figured things out.

After buying cocktails for practically every woman in the bar, he’d eventually received plenty of attention. By the end of the night, both he and Tony had enjoyed themselves immensely.

When the party finally broke up, all three of them had been handed hotel key cards. That was what they were discussing now.

"I’m not going."

Daniel sounded irritated.

Did he not want to?

Of course he wanted to.

Several women had given him key cards.

One of them, in particular, was exactly his type, he wanted to go more than anything. It would almost certainly be a wonderful night.

But could he actually risk it?

Not a chance.

Getting overly excited could literally kill someone.

Daniel’s powers were still growing at an incredible rate, his control hadn’t fully caught up yet.

During normal daily life, he could manage it barely.

But anything that caused a rapid increase in heart rate or strong emotional excitement was another matter entirely and that kind of loss of control was dangerous.

The frustration of being caught between wanting something and being unable to have it was torture.

"Are you sure you’re not... incapable?"

Tony asked bluntly.

Daniel almost choked.

"You’re the one who’s incapable."

He rolled his eyes.

"I’ve got special circumstances."

He already knew what was coming. Tomorrow, once Tony and T’Challa sobered up, they’d laugh about it endlessly.

Right now, they were drunk and focused on other things. Tomorrow would be entirely different.

At this moment, Daniel felt even more miserable than T’Challa had after getting rejected.

"You two go have fun."

He waved them away.

"I’m heading back."

There was no point explaining. The more he talked, the harder it would be to make sense of it. So, he simply turned around and left.

Tony and T’Challa exchanged glances, their alcohol-soaked brains didn’t think much of it.

They looked down at the key cards in their hands. Then both of them grinned in a highly suspicious manner.

Without another word, they hurried off toward their rooms.

Daniel returned to the dormitory feeling thoroughly depressed.

His mood was terrible.

His heart was racing.

His imagination was running wild.

And yet he couldn’t do anything.

’If my powers keep increasing forever...’

A horrifying thought suddenly crossed his mind.

’Does that mean I’ll never be able to be with a woman?’

He imagined spending decades alone. Living like some lonely monk devoted entirely to self-discipline, the image made him shudder.

Immediately, he headed for the bathroom and took a freezing cold shower to calm himself down.

Afterward, he lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

Tony and T’Challa were probably already enjoying themselves by now. Thinking about that only made him more determined, he clenched his fist and silently swore to himself.

’I need to spend more time in space.

I need to get used to my powers.

I need to have complete control over them.

Something like this can never happen again!

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[A.N: Before you come for my head for his immaturity, chill nature, kinda fun personality or power control, remember he is just 15 right now, Tony and T’Challa are both older than him, also even in his old life he had just been an early teenager.]