Mage Among Superheroes

Rocky was a bit reluctant to show us the location of his nest, despite the positive impression he had of many of us. Ultimately, we decided it wasn't necessary to know precisely. If we really needed to know, we could probably find it. For purposes of security, a general location would be good enough.

By the time we finished visiting the portal- with Midnight and I taking pictures of the area below so we could return directly with Teleport- it was pretty much time to go home. Yes, Teleport would bring us back instantly… but we were getting tired from hiking for several hours. After that, we had to return the rest of the way home.

Plus, Midnight, Zeb, and I had some business with Extra still. Extra was quite busy, because even though there weren't that many people who could teleport or travel extradimensionally, there were enough passing through New Bay along with the other business throughout the headquarters for people to blend in. Especially since there were all sorts of different people.

For the sake of whatever privacy they had left, those not from the Power Brigade slipped out ahead of the rest of us. In various ways Ceira was more widely known than the rest of us, but that was the exact same reason for her to keep a veil of secrecy. She wanted to stay anonymous until eventually there were viable replacements for her ability with Regenerate. Even without points, a sufficiently dedicated individual could reach her proficiency in a year or two. After they got to a high enough level, and actually learned Regenerate somehow, and…

Well, it wasn't perfect. Various groups including the Power Brigade were looking to find druids to train. Ceira was willing to teach them the spell once they could learn it, but not that many people with Portal Powers ended up as druids. That was… unsurprising, given that New Bay was a big city. Even if there were parks and similar natural areas, most of the residents wouldn't gravitate towards such a class either through conscious or subconscious choices.

There were other healers, of course. People with powers. The really good ones were just as busy as Ceira, if not more since they were well established and 'normal'. However, there simply weren't that many people who could match how Regenerate worked, regrowing parts of the body and not simply patching people together.

Even back in my old world, most magical healing was different. Maybe more people should have been encouraged to be druids, though with the levels people tended to reach, many would only barely be able to cast Regenerate. People didn't like working at their fatigue limit, and slower mana regeneration meant slower training. It was honestly weird that New Bay was hitting such high levels.

It wouldn't have helped me much, though. Since I was limited in my abilities in other ways.

After we made our own way out of the teleportation center, we were soon enough stuffed in a room with all of Zeb's menagerie and Malaliel. There were other representatives of extradimensional interests, but she was the one we were familiar with so we were given preferential treatment in that regard.

Malaliel was clearly perturbed. "You could have sent the larger individuals back on their own…" she commented. Miss Flutter, even with her wings tucked in, hadn't really fit through the halls. I had to use Reduce to get her here, and it was going to be necessary on the way out. Fluffy was eyeing a landline phone on Malaliel's desk, though I was certain Zeb would keep him under control.

"They don't like getting in a car without me," Zeb commented. Her squirrels- including Toasty, the newest and most burnt one- were piled atop her and each other. They fit places easily, at least.

"Right…" Malaliel turned to me. "So, your message mentioned a portal?"

"Yes," I nodded. "We noticed it while we were on a hike." I summarized the situation for her, with Midnight providing helpful details. Zeb talked about Rocky a lot. "Ultimately, we decided that leaving the portal where it was for the moment was the best call."

Malaliel frowned. "We usually prefer to remove them, but if it might be some sort of danger to either side to seal it… we'll have to take a look at things. We can set aside tomorrow to go out there."

"Shouldn't take long," I said. "You can already fly."

"I suppose not. But we might need time regardless."

Plus, if she reserved the time and didn't need it she would have free time. Though I wasn't sure that Malaliel was the sort to actually take such time. She was so serious, and it felt like she was always busy. Though maybe some of that was my fault.

"Now," she continued, "About this… stone griffon. I'm not certain we can let it stay."

Under a pile of squirrels, Zeb turned deadly serious. "You can't send Rocky away! He just made a nest with his mate!"

"I'm sure we can manage to relocate it. At least if he is as safe and cooperative as you say." That was the catch. Either Rocky was a wild animal that was dangerous, or he could be reasoned with and convinced to move. How devious, for an angel. "But we'll have to find a place for them first," Malaliel continued. "If their former home is devastated as you say, we can't simply condemn them to death there. However, Earth's ecosystem could be further destabilized by griffons."

There was already a whole lot of weird power stuff around here- and at other hotspots around the world. It was probably difficult to say precisely how a giant bird-lion would affect things, except the obvious. Maybe if there were too many bears we could ask Rocky to hunt them?

We eventually determined there wasn't much more we could do that evening and squeezed our way out. When subjected to Reduce, Miss Flutter was still too big to dangle from my arm but she could flap around inside the halls without hitting the walls too much.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

-----

The next morning, we were back out in the forest.

"Teleportation sure is convenient," Malaliel commented.

I tilted my head. "Surely you should be used to it."

She shook her head. "Most people with the ability to travel between dimensions don't also have the ability to move so broadly within one."

"Why?" I asked. "It's a similar sort of thing. And teleporting should be easier, mostly."

"Because of power specialization," she explained. "Usually, to get something so powerful as dimensional travel, other abilities are limited. Except, apparently, someone like you. Fast growing, wide ranging and yet also very specific abilities that develop at will." She sighed. "I'm not looking forward to more powerful Portal Power villains."

I shrugged. "Most of them should be easy to deal with. They don't really know what they're doing."

"Spellshot seems to be surprisingly effective," Malaliel said. "He took to guns quite easily."

"Spellshot isn't a villain."

"He could have been, though."

"Maybe. But I'm not sure if it would be Extra's job anyway. Most of those who are going to become villains are locals. Otherwise they'll just be henchmen to people like Doomsday."

She grimaced. "They're capable of similar amounts of trouble, though." She looked up, spotting the portal. "It's sure just hanging there, isn't it?"

"It seems quite stable," I agreed. "You should go take a look."

It was unnecessary for Midnight and I to cast Fly right now. She had wings, so she could inspect herself. She moved in the wide and oddly shaped rift, returning to us ten minutes later.

"So?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't have the same sorts of sensory abilities as you. I can feel the presence of powers to some extent, and if they were aligned in particular ways I am more specialized. The one thing I can say is the devastation beyond the portal is probably not fiendish in origin. Which is good because if there were any sorts of fiends beyond it, we absolutely wouldn't want this portal to remain."

Midnight perked up. "So it can stay?"

"I haven't concluded that yet. I'll need a specialist to confirm Mage's opinion that the portal is… necessary."

I nodded. "Not a bad idea." After all, I just felt like things wouldn't be good if I closed the rift. I didn't have that much practical experience to point to. Sure, I'd dealt with quite a few portals in a year and a half, but most of them had been perfectly fine once closed. Most wanted to close, returning things to a natural state. "Also, we should grab a dimensional resonance specialist to confirm which dimension that is."

"You can't tell if it's your old world?" Malaliel asked. "I thought you said it was."

"It feels like it," I said. "But you going through reminded me that two people with powers went through."

"Haven't you traveled with various powered individuals?" Malaliel asked. She pondered for a moment. "Oh yes. The dimension was sealed to those without mana flows, was it not?"

"It was," I confirmed. "Maybe it still is. Except for this portal."

"Hmm, that leans towards being something we need to resolve."

I shook my head. "Only if anyone there is willing to work with you. Otherwise, they don't deserve it. And I'm sure Sir Kalman wouldn't mind leaving it open for… opportunities."

The Order of the Lion mostly interfaced with Extra through me, but they did have a few mages with Sending working for them. Ultimately, they didn't represent a country or anything so significant.

There were probably some people who would be willing to work with Extra to resolve the crisis… but it had already been 'solved'. Except for things like Flasher ending up in that world and he definitely didn't have the right qualifications. Unfortunately, most of the powerful magic users hadn't been terribly forthcoming. Even Wrickle, though she did give me a cool book so I wasn't mad. It didn't have anything on dimensional sealing, though. Maybe that was later in the series.

Too bad I was feeling paranoid about people somehow overhearing Sendings. Otherwise, I'd just ask her directly. The wrinkly old goblin might actually be willing.

-----

Two Teleports later we confirmed that people with normal powers could go through the portal, that it was indeed to my former world, and that it was a natural portal. The person who measured the dimension had the power, and the other person was an eyeball. With three wings.

I had no idea how Samael spoke. It would have made more sense if he spoke directly into my mind, because that would make sense. Instead, he just sounded… normal. Just a floating eyeball with trifold wings around it.

Samael said he was an angel but I was pretty sure he had a different definition. Angels were like Malaliel. There were some other celestials that were a bit weirder like that one snake guy, but it was still a winged person. Samael was missing the whole person part. Apparently, he came from a very different dimension and couldn't go back. He was apparently able to see dimensions, though.

"Everything here is as it should be," he declared. "Further distortion of space would be a danger to both sides of the portal."

Malaliel gave him a look. "Are you certain you weren't bribed by Mage somehow?"

"You write my paychecks," the eye sassed back.

The world resonance specialist I'd met before. His name was… Zack? Something like that. "All metrics indicate the expected world," he confirmed. "Though notably, you feel less connected. You are fairly quickly naturalizing to Earth."

I frowned. "Will that make it harder for me to make Gates?"

He shrugged, "I don't know how your power works. Maybe keep some rocks with you."

I thought about making Malaliel pick up some rocks, but I went to get something myself. I picked up a few different things from the burnt out forest. Some would be kept in Storage. It had so much space right now, it would be fine. That said, I needed to test if keeping something in Storage gave it a weird dimensional signature. Otherwise, I'd have to find some way to stabilize… normal rocks.

As we left the portal behind, I looked back at the world that had barely welcomed me. I didn't mind that I was going to become an Earthling, but it was still an odd thought. I wondered if it was supposed to take longer.