And then on the day of graduation they walked across the stage together hand in hand, with little Herculina Somersville-Winterborn between them. They both landed jobs in Platinum City – he as a writer/editor at a fashion magazine, and she as a tech at an environmental protection agency. They continued to play music, do art, write poetry, act in local stage productions and travel. They also continued to have children. In fact, by the time they were celebrating their 11th weddinganniversary, they had had three more kids!

Needless to say, their lives were an absolute whirlwind. But with the help of Niobe’s mom, a part time nanny and a few local high school girls for babysitters, they were able to maintain their busy lifestyles while cultivating very creative and nurturing relationships with their children. In fact, Niobe and Klay actually created a bi-weekly web-series, in which they would talk about their amazingly busy lives and how they continued to have a strong marriage and home life. It was only about 6 months before every episode was going viral. They had over 2 million subscribers and were beginning to see revenue from their videos as well.

Niobe and Klay were easily two of the most extraordinary people you could possibly meet, so it only made sense that one night, while in the middle of the first 8-hour sleep session they’d both had in years, they would suddenly manifest incredible superpowers! They actually gifted their powers to one another over a decade prior – it was when they had given each other their wedding bands.

When they were engaged, they had spent two weeks as volunteer support staff for a Doctors without Borders installation in the Antarctic town of Lorain. When they had some down time, they had gone on an excursion with a local tour guide and during their adventure in the world famous Ice Caverns of Lorain, they found a small shimmering mineral and took it back home with them. They decided to have the mineral molded into rings, then gifted them to one another on their wedding day.

They thought the mineral was just an interesting looking rock; they had no idea that on the day gave each other their eternal love, they also gifted each other with super powers. It was on that night, shortly before their 12th wedding anniversary, that the previously dormant powers within the rings finally manifested – and when Niobe and Klay awoke, they had incredible cosmic powers: hyper-strength, hyper-speed, the ability to fly and the ability to blast energy from their eyes and hands. Additionally, the rings made them incredibly durable and allowed them to endure extreme environmental conditions and also to breath in space and underwater.

They began calling themselves Hyper Guy and Hyper Gal, and immediately took up yet another extracurricular activity, fighting against hyper-villains and other baddies who threatened Platinum City and other parts of the world. And of course, Klay suggested that they talk about their exploits on their video blog channel. This naturally led to even more viewers! They were easily becoming two of the most recognized popular superheroes in the world. Kat Haverford, president and CEO of the Powerhouse Network, and the multinational media mogul Laquacia Nightingale offered the Sommersville-Winterborn’s opportunities to broadcast their vlog to even larger audiences. Instead of choosing one over the other, the couple worked out deals with both! But while both shows were in the pre-production and planning phases, the planet was attacked by an alien race.

It was the mid-22nd century, when an alien race of warriors from the planet Tromokrate cameto Earth, led by the powerful and vicious Emperor Kako. He had ventured to the the planet in order to retrieve the third star of the triplos asteri, which had been excavated by a cabal ofhyper-villains, led by Ramses Hondo and the Omega Twins, London and Edgar. Obtaining the star would potentially give Kako a piece of the essence of the goddess Armonia, granting him dominion over all of the universe and all of reality as a whole. Thousands of Tromokratesian troops touched down and laid siege to the planet. The world’s armies and hyper-beings fought back and the battle was on!

Hyper Gal and Hyper Guy were forced to quickly join the battle as their highrise apartment building, The Venus Estates in central Platinum City, was attacked by a Tromokratesian death squad. The building was known for being a place where several hyper-beings and superheroes rented or ownedresidences, and thus was one of the primary targets for the alien invaders as they sought to strike down the greatest opposition to their mission. Emperor Kako’s brilliant military strategy entailed setting up strongholds all over the planet, so regardless of where the heroes attempted to hide the recently excavated star, it would be within range of his warriors and jurisdiction.

As the Tromokratesian death squad of advanced troops ascended, Hyper Gal joined a number of other hyper-human residents, and took to the skies and streets to engage the them. Hyper Guy, meanwhile, used his hyper-ring to begin generating a force-field around the building in an effort to protect the non-hyper spouses and children of the heroes, as well as the other human residents of Venus Estates. This, of course, included his own four children – Ceres, Lutetia, Davida and Hurculina, aged 7 to 14 years – as well as his mother-in-law.

As the battles outside raged on, a pair of Tromokrateisan warships hovering above the city turned their laser cannons toward Venus Estates and unleashed an incredible barrage of energy beams! At first, Hyper Guy’s force-field held strong, as he channeled the full power of his hyper-ring. But it just wasn’t enough. Eventually his force-field was broken, causing a massive explosion of orange fire that shook that entire section of the city. The heroes outside quickly regrouped and continued to battle the alien invaders, but now Tromokratesians were pouring into the building.

A trio of warriors suddenly smashed through the walls of Hyper Guy’s 101st floor apartment. His mother-in-law, Summer Sommersville, pulled out a handgun and began firing, but the bullets bounced off the Tromokratesian armor. They returned fire and she was forced to jump for cover. The distraction, however, allowed Hyper Guy to get the advantage on the invaders as he unleashed a series of blasts from his ring, along with a succession of power blows from his fists. Summer took the opportunity to run into the back room where the four kids had been behind one their father’s force-fields. They were safe for now, however, they could not help but notice their dad was beginning to lose the fight, as more advanced warriors had entered the apartment and the numbers were overwhelming him.

Hyper Guy continued to fight with all his might, but it was clear without help he was going to be destroyed. Summer tried to call for her daughter, but she was locked in an intense brawl with a number of warriors and could not disengage. All seemed lost for Hyper Guy, until suddenly Herculina, his eldest daughter burst through the force-field and through the wall and into the midst of the battle! She leaped in front of her father and easily absorbed what would have been a deathblow! The alien warriors were surprised to see such a small and young individual exuding so much power. But they were even more surprised to see Ceres, the 7 year-old, emitting electricity from his hands, and Lutetia, the 10 year-old wielding two hyper-rings of her own.

Herculina looked to her father, as if asking permission. He smiled, almost deviously, then gave her a subtle but very definitive head nod. And with that the Sommersville-Winterborn kids went to work! Smashing, bashing, blasting and wreaking havoc all over the alien invaders. Their grandmother was blown away by what she was seeing, as she had no idea her daughter and son-in-law were keeping this secret. The ensuing battle was intense, as the Tromokatesian warriors got over their shock and began to readjust their strategy to counter the abilities of the children. Hyper Guy eventually recovered enough to jump back into the fight, but still the aliens were extremely powerful and numerous. The building began to shake as both the battles inside and outside continued to grow more and more out of control.

After several minutes of watching, the fourth child, Davida, took a step forward, preparing to insert herself into the fray. However, Hyper Guy noticed and quickly held a hand up to her, signifying her to stand down and stay calm. Davida took a deep breath and began to simmer down, which was also when the building stopped shaking – as it became clear that it was not the magnitude of the battle that was causing the tremors throughout the structure… it was the magnitude of Davida powering up! Hyper Guy and Herculina gave each other the “that was close” look, and continued fighting, as the fate of not only Venus Estates and Platinum City, but of the entire universe hung in the balance.

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