Mage Among Superheroes

It wasn't very often that I got private guard duty, like that one manor. Not because we had done poorly, but because hiring mercenaries was expensive. Even trainees like many of us had been at the time were a good chunk of cash, and most people didn't need that. If they wanted supers as a deterrent, I wasn't that cheap. Relatedly, prices for the city were cheaper. New Bay couldn't afford to pay such high prices for every patrol, but instead it was based around consistency. There wasn't enough work for the Power Brigade if it was just specific missions.

Some groups were mainly mission based, but they were generally smaller groups of elites. Or at least that was how they marketed themselves. I didn't see why we couldn't have a large group of elites.

Ultimately, today we had a job. By which I meant myself and Midnight, of course. Plus Sorority. Normally, having a three person team would have been rather limiting, but for guarding the outside of a warehouse it was plenty good. Plus, Sorority wasn't really just one person, was she?

Most jobs like this had nothing happen. Usually, people took obvious supers guarding a place as a good reason to leave it alone for the moment. Sometimes, they took it as an invitation that there was good stuff to try to steal.

Lucas was the one who showed us around, a member of the Crimson Angels. I could see where the crimson came from, but I was pretty sure that 'angels' was ironic. Because they looked like fiends. Devils, probably, since demons tended to be far more twisted.

I was pretty sure they were aliens, though. For one thing, they all looked way too similar to each other. Just guys with red skin and horns. They were too human to be real fiends, probably. Not like I'd interacted with many. There were a few working for Doctor Doomsday- fiends that is- but they were generally bigger. And they didn't wear t-shirts.

"We got word that some people are looking to hit this place up," Lucas commented. "We'll be moving our shipment today, so we don't need more backup. Don't let anyone pass unless they've got the say. Even other Thelxinoeans." Clearly, my face showed my lack of familiarity. "People that look like us."

"Got it," I said. I looked over to Sorority, because she might have better questions.

"Who is able to authorize further individuals?"

"Me or Jelene. I'll show you her." We took a look around the outside of the warehouse, plus a bit of the inside. It had boxes and some shipping containers and stuff. Jelene was dressed pretty much like Lucas, but instead of a black tee she had a white one and a stylish jacket. "We'll have a couple trucks coming by later."

Jelene gave us a half salute. "Just four walls to guard. Not too hard, yeah?"

"Depends on what we have to face," Sorority commented. Personally, I thought it was pretty simple. And all we had to do was our best- if we were overwhelmed, then they didn't properly assess the threat level.

Today, Sorority would be five people. That was a bit much for her to have optimal combat effectiveness, but that was where Midnight and I came in. We could greatly boost the power of all of her copies, if it became necessary. Five was the right number, though, because it was one per side plus another inside to keep in contact with Lucas if necessary. Midnight and I would be patrolling around, sometimes on opposite sides in the same direction, sometimes in opposite directions, or with random direction changes.

If there was some sort of attack, it wouldn't take more than twenty or thirty seconds to reach the trouble even from the furthest location. Not much good against speedsters, but they would have to contend with one of their greatest nemeses if they tried to get in. Heavy doors. Most likely, they'd only have to slow down to the pace of a normal human to open a door, but that was still significant.

We weren't expecting supers, though. We weren't even expecting guys with guns. Even if there had been some people planning to come, it was very possible that they'd notice our presence and just give up without revealing themselves.

Morning went by easily. We ate lunch together… with Sorority guarding outside still, of course. Apparently, just one part of her resting was sufficient. She had a pretty good power, it seemed. Then again, the rest of her was just standing around so it wasn't like we were in an extreme situation. Otherwise, we might have staggered things more.

When late afternoon came, I felt a momentary tension from Midnight, just around a corner. I looked back towards the closest Sorority, and she just nodded. Not a huge issue, then, but I figured I should check it out.

There was a woman running up. A Thelsomethingan, wearing shorts and a tank top. "Stop right there!" Sorority called out. The red-skinned woman looked up, noticing someone familiar, and screeched to a halt.

"I forgot we were…" she caught herself, then switched priorities as she began to catch her breath. "I need to talk…" She paused to gulp in air, "...to Lucas!"

"He'll come check you in a moment."

The woman tilted her head. "... Aren't you gonna call him or something? Tell him Keit is here!"

"Already did."

Obviously Sorority just spoke to him. Her powers weren't exactly a secret, especially to anyone scoping the place out. She was too identical. Splitters were decently well known in general, though the specifics varied between them.

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Lucas came out. "Yeah. That's Keit. Come on. Tell me what's up."

Sorority explained the gist of things to Midnight and me. "She saw some Neon Void. Apparently they have personal conflicts."

Convenient. But then again, the Neon Void was on the upswing so they'd probably cause trouble with everyone around them. Unless these guys had some cool alien tech, I doubted they could be primary rivals. Then again, maybe that was what they were moving. Presumably if it was any good they'd also use it for defense, though.

We got back to our patrols, but the next time I made it around there was already trouble approaching. In the form of some guy with a cape. Colors indicated he might not be a villain, but…

"Step aside! This is hero association business!" A man that looked entirely too invested in how he was standing tried to look down on Sorority. But she was fairly tall for a woman, so it was difficult.

Sorority did not step aside, of course. "Do you have a warrant?"

"No, but I don't need-"

"Have you witnessed a crime in progress?"

"A criminal fled this way! She could be hiding in the warehouse!"

"I'll notify the owners that there might be an issue," Sorority said calmly. "If they confirm anything, we can handle it."

The super looked doubtful. "I saw the demon approaching this building!"

"Sir, I must inform you that the Power Brigade constantly records our activities."

"So?" the man asked.

I sent his image in for rapid database processing, but I imagined Calculator was busy so I had to go with the actual channels. I got a link to a profile within ten seconds, which was way slower than it would have been. No helpful summary, either. Though the database link was pretty concise. Super strength. This guy was a hero, by the name of Rook. He was represented by gray attire with a tower on his chest. Threat level… medium-low. Even with one of the 'best' powers. That was lower than that one Fire Lady, for reference.

"I doubt your manager would appreciate you calling a citizen of New Bay a demon. Should I send it to her?"

"It's not- I saw her do the crime!"

"What did she do?" Sorority asked. Midnight was approaching. Which was good, because other powered individuals were also approaching. I carefully spoke into the comms. Fortunately, Sorority was good at multitasking so she didn't get distracted.

"She was running away from it!" Tower commented.

"Running is not a crime. Running near a crime scene is also not a crime."

"I don't have time for this!" he said. "You're helping her get away!"

He stepped forward, fist raised. I cast Grease. Then, I cast Mage's Reach, sending it flying over. Tower took a swing at Sorority. She was going to dodge, but… she didn't need to. He fell flat on his face. Mage's Reach then grabbed him by the ankle and I braced myself to try to- oh he sure dragged pretty easily. What was he, two hundred pounds? Couldn't be much more than that.

"How dare you! Castle will hear about this!"

What did she have to do with anything? If only there was some way to know about possible connections. But I already closed his profile page.

"The Power Brigade has been assigned to guard this location," Sorority commented. "Without a warrant or a convincing argument, we can't allow you access to the premises. You are already trespassing, by the way. Please leave."
He couldn't. Because he couldn't even stand up. Like he'd never even been on a patch of magical grease with enhanced properties before. I'd poured in a couple extra points of mana for that. Nowhere near close to the incident and not focused on quantity anyway.

"Rook!" some weirdo shouted. There wasn't anyone by that name here, was there? Maybe this dude spoke a language that didn't distinguish between r and l sounds. Could he have been saying look? He was pointing. "Let him go, you villain!"

The weirdo did nothing other than yell and point. Relatedly, he had a pure white costume with no distinguishing features. Hmm.

Then came a guy in brown with a big dirt hammer. And a fourth guy in blue with a bird on his chest- quite skinny as far as heroes went. Speedster, or something else? Maybe a mentalist. "Step aside, we pursue a villain!" said the third guy. And the fourth in… exactly the same voice. The effect was not as impactful as they wanted, though, because it just sounded like they repeated themself instead of really emphasizing anything.

"As I have already explained to your prone friend," Sorority said calmly, "Unless you come back with a warrant or can provide convincing proof that you saw a crime happen, you need to go."

Sorority came up behind me. So she thought things were that serious, did she? I hoped we weren't leaving anywhere unprotected, but I supposed it was important to fend off the current threat before worrying about potentials. And she'd always have one inside, right?

"We're heroes!" said the second guy. He wasn't even as convincingly normal as Ceira's bodyguard, Normal Person. He was just dull. "You're just mercenaries. Step aside." He walked forward and… ate my magic? No, he was probably just so boring it dissolved. But either way as he walked forward Grease just stopped existing. I pulled away Mage's Reach before he could get close.

Tower stood up. "We have no time for this." He cracked his knuckles.

"If you continue with hostilities," Sorority said. "Be aware that we will respond appropriately. And the law is on our side."

Hey, she was right. It was. Actually, it usually was. Obviously we mostly fought villains, but there had been a couple incidents with heroes too. Maybe they weren't very good at their jobs. Did they not take legal liability courses?

"Dare you to face us?" Tower said. "I have with me Null, Earthmaster, and Mockingbird. We are all proteges of famous heroes."

I didn't like Dull. I didn't want him to touch my magic. The others didn't appear that big of a problem. As long as I didn't let Tower or Dirtmaster hit me, their powers seemed useless. As for the bird guy, he had to have some power besides parroting people, right? Oh, right! Parrot.

"They'll be way more disappointed when you get your asses handed to you then," I commented. I wasn't really worried about most of them. A power negator, though… eh, I'd just shoot him.