Mage Among Superheroes

There was this weird orc guy who called himself Spellshot. Well, because we were being secretive that he really meant he was a spellshot, not that he was really named that. Spellshot was a weird class. It was like if you took a mage and gave them a bow. Or a gun, apparently.

I was aware that I had a gun, but that was different. In my hands, it was just a gun. In this guy's hands, it was a way to deliver devastating spells along with other attacks. While it had access to magic much like my own, it was limited to only combat spells. Come to think of it, if I had training with a bow or somehow known I'd end up with a gun, it might have been a good class for me. Except for the fact that I could nearly guarantee I wouldn't have survived up to this point with different options… or at the very least my story wouldn't include Midnight. So it was pointless to think about.

"So… how did you get to this world?" I asked Spellshot.

He shrugged. "The same way as you, I presume."

That might technically be true. However, a couple things this guy said indicated he walked through a portal knowing it was going to be there, instead of merely finding a convenient opportunity.

"Are you from Ethus?"

He tilted his head. "My accent doesn't give it away?"

"How should I know? I don't speak Orcish."

His face squished around his tusks. "That's not a very convincing statement."

"Well, only with magic," I said. "I never actually learned it."

I was pretty sure something was different compared to Comhghall and other orcs I'd run into, but I couldn't have said precisely what. Unlike English, which I was around literally all the time and got real practice with, I had a total of a handful of hours of Orcish between different situations.

"I see," Spellshot replied. "It is true that I am from Ethus."

Midnight leaned forward. "Are these other orcs?"

Spellshot jumped back. "Whoa! A talking cat!"

"I'm not a- why are you surprised? You come from a world with magic!"

He folded his arms in front of him. "That doesn't make it normal for cats to talk though."

"Hmm, do your cats normally wear suits made of advanced tech?"

"Sometimes people put strange garments on their cats. It could be magical protection."

I shook my head. "It's pretty obviously not magic. Can't you feel it?"

"Feel… what?"

"It not being magical?" He looked at me like I was the crazy one, but he was the one that made no sense. "There's not a lot of magical things around here so it's pretty easy to tell the difference."

Relatedly, this guy's gun was not magic. It did seem to be connected to him, though. Otherwise, I would have been extremely concerned about his ability to teleport it into his hand. I had to presume that was a normal Spellshot thing, because I'd already reached the limit of my actual knowledge about them. It was a weird elf thing, if anything.

Spellshot seemed to be pondering my words… or more likely he didn't think that it was that easy to discern magic from other stuff and just didn't want to say that. Well, that wasn't my problem.

"Anyway," I said. "Does Extra know you are here?"

"They are aware. In general."

"But they don't specifically know you are here," I surmised. "And you don't speak English."

"How could I? I have only come here quite recently."

Well, without utility magic he couldn't.

"In that case, as a member of the Power Brigade I need to bring you to them to get papers and stuff. Or I can just bring you back to Ethus."

"... What?"

I thought my words were pretty clear. "There's one guy here who creates a lot of gates that go there. Well, people made that stuff harder but I can definitely bring you back."

"You know this guy?"

Did I know Doctor Doomsday? Not really. We talked a couple times. He tried to kill me. He also bothered my friends, which didn't make me fond of him. But that wasn't really the question.

"I know Gate. Ah, I can't really offer to drop you off anywhere specific in Ethus, but I can get you to the right country at least."

"... I am not intending to return yet."

So he did want to go back, once he was done spying or whatever. Well, he was fighting against Doomsday so that was a clear mark in his favor.

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It was about that time that our car pulled up. Usually, a squad would continue a patrol after dealing with incidents, until they finished their whole shift. However, I was injured. Not critically, but it was at the point that I should head back. Getting shot with bullets and magic wasn't great for me.

I got a decent chunk of experience for only fighting three dudes, not counting the weird summoned monster. And technically, since Spellshot had killed that guy before I really did much it was from just him and the guardian type guy that had already been dragged off to jail.

Spellshot took some time with the door- just a few moments, but enough to confirm he hadn't been on Earth all that long. Or that he hadn't used cars much, which might be the case. Either way, he quickly copied how I used the seatbelt.

"It's strange, isn't it. How every armored carriage has bonds of peace."

"... Seat belts are meant to protect people from flying away when in an accident," I explained. "Or to reduce the chances of impacting your head within the car."

"Oh."

I did see how they would interfere with carried weapons, though. That was just a coincidence, and didn't really apply to handguns. Just long arms like swords and Spellshot's rifle. It would also apply to a staff once I had it, but most of these weapons were unusable inside a car anyway.

Midnight tensed for a moment. I turned my head, but he just shrugged. It didn't seem like we were being followed by additional Doomsday thugs, so it was probably fine. There were plenty of reasons to show concern when looking at the streets of New Bay.

I continued my explanation for Spellshot.

"Extra will have some other people with Translation. Or they'll be able to call them up," I explained. I was so glad for other people with Portal Powers and especially those who wanted gainful employment with various supernatural groups performing utility services. Because it meant I rarely got called to do that. Sure, I might be called to translate when it was happening in a danger zone, but that was good. "Anyway, don't lie to the angel."

"... Angel?"

"I don't know if everyone ends up in front of Malaliel," I admitted. "But it would be easier. Also, I would recommend not lying in general. They might make you undergo a lot of paperwork to stay but it will prevent future incidents like you shooting me and Shockwave having to restrain you."

Spellshot touched his neck. "Shockwave, huh…" Most likely, his neck had something sharp pressed against it recently but his skin wasn't broken. Not that it would have been for long, as they would have just needed him to loosen his muscles for a moment to restrain him. "I had no idea a person could be so fast."

"Oh, yeah. You see that sort of thing here," I said. "Speedsters aren't that common but they travel far so you bump into them pretty frequently."

"How dangerous. Is it possible to defend against them?"

"Sure. You just have to be better."

Shockwave wasn't that terrifying without Haste. They were fast, but if they were going to slit my throat they'd have to do it at normal speed and my defenses would protect me. Even Force Armor would be enough. Well, it was inconvenient if I was cuffed but I could probably manage to use Storage even with power suppressing cuffs on.

I wasn't going to tell anyone that, though. Obviously regular ones weren't going to work on me but nobody had tried that since after my first scuffle with that racist jerk that hit me with a bat.

-----

I had lots of questions for Spellshot, but I didn't get all that many answers on the ride. The main thing I learned was that he got his hands on a gun that some thugs had. As far as he was aware, that particular group was unassociated with Doomsday.

It was possible that I could have pressed for more, but while I had the feeling he was trustworthy it would be easier to make sure he passed Malaliel's standards first. The chances of him getting beheaded were pretty small- I think it was the angels that made her extra angry. Worst case, they might actually make me send him back without his approval.

If not, he'd just been acting as an unregistered super vigilante. As long as there wasn't any proof of him committing any actual crime- and I wasn't going to count shooting me- then Extra would be content with properly contacting him. Though they'd probably want to get him tied to some sort of group. And that would most likely mean the Power Brigade, not because Extra was tied to them in particular but because I was there.

Or not. If they sent him off, they would still have a way to contact him. Extra gave out cheap cell phones to so many people so they could stay in contact… and track their movements. Considering the reactions they could have to people illegally entering the area from other worlds, I thought trying to keep tabs on people was pretty tame. And required.

In the situation where Extra refused to give me Spellshot's contact information… I could still talk to him. I had Sending, after all. I wasn't personally planning to get information out of him under duress, so if he slipped away and never answered me I would end up with the same amount of information regardless. But optimally, he would be willing to answer further questions once we built up trust beyond the level of 'I didn't get him locked up'. Probably.

Technically, Extra might have reasons to lock him up. Depending on if he knew they existed and that he could legally come to this world. Even showing up on purpose, if he didn't know about them he wouldn't be blamed for ignorance.

I did kind of wonder how he'd survived for what seemed like a decent period of time without speaking the language. Then again, once you watched a few people use paper money it was pretty easy. And even if he handed over too much money, he would get change. There might be a few people who were willing to rip off someone who didn't seem to speak the language and might not understand currency, but it wasn't really worth the legal risks. Also the risks of a big tusked orc ripping your arms off and/or shooting you.

He was going to have to get a licence for that, wasn't he? Actually, that might be the thing that got him in the most trouble but as a power-related object he might get a pass. Or be pushed towards the Brigade.

"Do you think he knows about the conspiracy?" I asked Midnight.

"Presuming that it exists and extends to every country… I have no idea," Midnight said. "You said Ethus didn't have a lot of mages, right?"

"I thought so," I shrugged. "I guess having a random spellshot wouldn't really change that."

"It's a little weird that his abilities work with guns," Midnight said.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they work with anything. If he had to, he could probably throw rocks. At least if he was attuned to them. There's enough differences between different kinds of bows if we just include those that it has to be pretty versatile. And that doesn't count crossbows and slings."

"... I wonder if it would work with lasers. Does it require projectiles?"

I frowned. "I think so. But I can't say I know enough to say with certainty."

Maybe he would help us learn. Though, I wasn't sure if that would give me relevant insights into how magic worked for me. I didn't have things that carried spells… except that I previously had an enchanted staff. Was it related?

If possible, I wanted Santa to bring me a book on enchanting but it was a long time to wait for Christmas to come again when it was spring now.