Worm Dungeon Crawl [SI]

So... I did a thing. I'm not sorry.

EDIT: I'm rewriting this story where I can before posting new updates.

~~O~~

While browsing on the net, I got an strange e-mail.

Were you a player of 3D&T? Then click this link for this survew and find out what kind of character you would be.

Not seeing anything wrong with it, I clicked the link and was greeted with an impressive site. It had a character creation screen and it had all advantages, disadvantages, spells and the rules spelled out for the convenience of the user.

Now, while 3D&T isn't a noteworthy rpg system outside my home country, it does have a special place in my heart being the first system I played, being simple to run and make a character sheet (at least before the various expansions). Being dirt cheap compared with other systems also played a huge fact in my preference to it in the past.

Initially based on another RPG called Toon, it was supposed to be an unofficial supplement called Defenders of Tokyo or D&T, based on Manga and Anime instead of western cartoons and toons, and it was unbalanced as hell. Later it had an 'Advanced' version, in a pun for the old AD&D called AD&T, and was even more unbalanced than the first incarnation. I heard you could throw around twenty dice as a starting character when the normal maximum is five.

The third edition, the aforementioned 3D&T was more balanced and could be read as an actual system instead of the mess it was before, and since it was dirt cheap it became quite popular. It got several minor expansions through the months after its first release, an actual published manual (still dirt cheap) and afterwards even more expansions to the manuals.

The version the site uses is the 'Alpha Revisado' version, basically the game 4.0 version.

It was also the version I currently owned, so I could cross check things if I wanted.

First it was name and backstory. I wasn't much interested in that so I hit random on it and went straight to character creation.

With twelve points to distribute, the maximum for starting characters, I looked at the characteristic session.

Strength (Força), Ability (Habilidade), Resistance (Resistencia), Armor (Armadura), Fire Power (Poder de Fogo), each ranging from zero to five.

First the no brainer, Ability. It enters into both attack and defense values, allows you to dodge and it's also considered your intelligence stat for general skills and specializations. With a solid three, my character can basically jump over a house with little problem and is just one point shy of casual rooftop hopping. I can also sprint at 30m per turn, which might be impressive depending on how long the GM determine a turn is.

Next is Resistance, again with a solid three. With the default health rules, it gives me fifteen hit points and mana points respectively, and since a normal human have only one hit point that's rather impressive, and not too shabby for the game standards.

Afterwards I take Armor, putting a single point and having a bit of on hand, free protection. Since it's possible to be sneak attacked, losing my Ability to defense, having at least a minimal armor rating to lower the damage is a smart choice.

I skip past both Strength and Fire Power since I don't need them right now, after all the concept I have is Mage, so I will deal with my problems by throwing magic at it. Of course I can flavor those two characteristics as some form of magic that naturally enhances my abilities, to get the 'fifty kilogram girl being able to toss boulders like it's cheap confetti' effect.

With five points left I go after advantages, and since my concept was to make a mage I take Arcano, which gives me three Advantages worth of abilities in a single go. With it I have access to White Magic, Black Magic and all Elemental type magic, giving me access to all spells in the book that aren't divine in nature. The last point I put into Extra Mana Points, giving a Resistance +2 bonus to calculating my true mana pool, a staple for all magic users. I could have went with 'master' in order to get some more initial spells, but I preferred the extra firepower this early in the game. Besides I could always research or buy new spells.

I could also take disadvantages to increase my points, but thinking back they're more trouble than are worth it. Most newbies take the limit three disadvantages and the extra six points thinking they are so clever, but they forget they are complications the GM will use and abuse against you. Enemy? Hope you like your enemy suddenly appearing at the worst time possible. Devotion? Hope you like the penalty on doing this vitally important task, but far away from your devotion. Code of Honor? Even if you behave in a certain way, taking the code of honor means thare are no exceptions to your behaviour and the GM will veto and force behaviour of your character. Worst still, you can't legally overcome those disadvantages unless you buy back the points you gained from them, so even if you kill your current Enemy you will probably just swap him for another one of equal power.

Yeah, I'm not taking those.

Sadly the collection of initial magic available for me took a hit since the last edition, so I only have access to the bare bones of it. Prestigitation, Magic Attack, Magic Strength, Dispel, Detect Magic and Magic Protection. Still, it should be good enough for a newbie. Since I don't have any disadvantages I should have less initial problems to deal with.

Looking over my character had the following stats:


Name: Random
Background: Random
Age: Random

Strength [0] (normal human)
Ability [3] (can wall run, can almost fly when you jump)
Resistance [3] (its said it takes hours for you to tire out)
Armor [1] (moderate protection against lesser attacks)
Fire Power [0] (no ranged attack)

HP: 15/15
MP: 25/25

Arcano [4] (+ White Magic; + Black Magic; + Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit Elemental Magic)
Extra MP [1] (Add +2 to resistance to calculate MP, stackable)

Spells Knows: Prestigitation, Magic Attack, Magic Strength, Dispel, Detect Magic and Magic Protection.


Clicking 'Done' I sent it, immediately receiving a reply.

'Thanks for participating in the survey, now which one you plan to start with? 2001 or 2011?'

Start with? Start with what? Well, while 2001 have slower internet it also meant more time if I will eventually get to 2011, so I type my answer. Once more the response is immediate.

'Thank you Clair. I sincerely hope you can make a difference.'

Before any thoughts could be formed on my head, the window flashed brightly white and I lost consciousness.

 

Name: Clair
Cape Name: Archmaiden
Sex: Female looking Hermaphrodite
Age: 27
Background: Born with an unique physiology, in her homeworld it was the mark of one of the old gods, though why /this/ particular god decided to leave his mark was anybody guess. Regardless of her appearance, the mark gave her access to magical powers, and she quickly became a small legend in her land by her prowess in combat and magical ability. After the whole 'marked by the hermaphrodite goddess of fertility' she avoided the divine like the plague, avoiding the classical priestly training required in order to cast healing spells.

... that's the backstory of Clair, which the SI inherited after hitting 'random' on his character backstory generator. Throw into the world of Worm he tries to survive this whole mess while trying to help save the world, if only for his own continual survival.

PRT Ratings 1 (Up to 1.x)
Trump ?/Brute 2-4/Mover 1/Blaster 3

PRT Assessment1 (Up to 1.x)
A low level kineticist that can conjure and control fire, water, air, and earth with surprisingly ease, alongside creating attacks of as of yet unknown, non-radioactive energy.

Insists she can use 'magic', and that she requires the use of 'mana' to cast her 'spells'. Never the less have implied she can become stronger with time.

She also admitted to the possibility of becoming a healer with time, but currently is unable to do it.

PRT Ratings 2 (Up to 2.x)
Trump 3/Brute 2-5/Mover 4/Blaster 4

PRT Assessment 2 (Up to 2.x)
Former assessment were inaccurate and more through testing was done. Threat ratings were improved slightly and the trump rating is yet to be confirmed.

Still insists she can use 'magic' and uses this mysterious energy called 'mana', even though we can clearly see the effects of her 'spells' with our instruments. Ability to apparently bypass the laws of thermodynamics or the conservation of mass are not unlike those displayed by normal parahumans.

Due to subject strange case of amnesia and unique biology she was considered to be rated as an evolution in the case 53 ongoing investigation even if she didn't displayed the usual stylized 'c' in any part of her body, but Chief Director Rebecca Costa Brown ordered to classify this information until more cases like her are discovered.

CLASSIFIED PRT INFORMATION - SECURITY LEVEL: Omega 1

Subject posses no corona potentia and gemma. More study is necessary to determine if it's a unique case or an evolution in parahuman development.

 

James Heller, Vice Director of New York PRT branch: A tall, strong black man with a voice that reminds me of Samuel L. Jackson. According to some people I asked he's an ex-army officer who joined the PRT a couple of years back and quickly rose in the ranks. Surprisingly personable, though I should remember that people like Piggot are an exception.

Mark Oddwick, Flamedisco, Protectorate Hero: A lean, afro descendant with short blond hair that reminds me of Simon Phoenix from Demolition Man by Stalone. His frame is perfect for dancing, swimming, dodging and hit and run tactics. While in costume he looks like an stereotypical 70s disco dancer with a huge black Afro. His power allows him to create balls of light in variable size that emits various ray of fire of different colors semi-randomly that affect only organic matter, himself being immune to their effects. Posses tinkertech boots for improved mobility and a tinkertech electric mace as a sidearm. Good friends with Snooper.

Clark Houston, Snooper, Protectorate Hero: A lean white man with common features, if I were to describe him I would call him an average looking man. Not enough to be itself a power, but something that constantly pisses him off. His costume is a black catsuit with armor in strategic places and a utility belt with lower mask and a special kind of panoramic vision sunglasses, and he leave his hair in a spiked mess while on duty, using a lot of gel. His power allows him to have a 360 degrees vision that can see up to range of fifty meters, being able to see through materials less denser than an inch of lead. Can maintain this enhanced vision up to ten seconds before resting for another ten seconds. Posses several simple tinkertech gadgets and a pistol as a sidearm. Good friends with Flamedisco.

Rebecca Smith, Ghost Soundress, Protectorate Hero: A petite woman with a round face and kind eyes, I would call her more 'cute' than beautiful with a youthful appearance. A veteran cape with years of experience, due to her late trigger she didn't joined in the wards. Her costume is a skintight suit with musical notes decorations and a domino mask. Her power allows her to 'write' types of sound with a touch on objects and make it reproduce with a mental command with a certain degree of imagination, like 'scratch scratch' will give the sound of something scratching on the skin, or on a chalk board. With some effort she can also write sounds and make then reality, like 'boom' creates a explosion ranging from a firecracker to a grenade. Uses a special crossbow to deliver her altered objects.

Denise Ackerman, Ursa Aurora, Protectorate Hero: A tall woman with short hair black hair, last I heard she had long hair but cut it recently. Another veteran cape with years of experience. Her costume is a skintight brown suit with a bear mask. Her power allows to create bears made of force and control and direct them. An oddity in our small group of loose friends since she's the only one that doesn't use any kind of tool to assist her, well aside from me at least.

Legend, Leader of the New York Protectorate Branch, Triumvirate Member: One of the strongest heroes in the planet, and a secret high member of Cauldron, so far he appeared to look charismatic and approachable, even if at the time he was busy with other duties when I arrived. I still don't know his name or saw his face, but my friends reassured that eventually I would see their 'fearless leader' face if I stick around long enough. Last I heard one of the few parahumans that have no angst fest trailing them, with a husband and a kid, then again, must be the fact he's a vial cape instead of a natural trigger.

Marae, Transcendental Goddess of Fertility, Virility and other unknown domains: A god that's both male and female at the same time, extremely powerful for it's most know domains due to being a transcendental goddess, one that was once a mortal that broke the cycle of reincarnation and achieved great power. Choose the woman Clair of Riveroak as his champion back at her world, and when I got spirited away from my own I also became marked with her blessing, becoming an artificial champion of sorts with the body and memories of Clair supplanting most of my own. She appears to be more than what Clair assume, but I need to discover this information on my own due to Clair avoiding the divine like the plague after being 'gifted' by Marae having complications through her life.

 

I woke up slowly with an unfamiliar weight in my chest. Once opening my eyes I was greeted with two mounds on my chest, which was strange since while I was overweight I most definitely wasn't that fat.

That line of inquiry took a backseat when I heard threatening sounds around me. What kind of threatening sounds you ask? Chattering, howls and cries, both of grown men and of children, with a slight off tone to make it inhuman.

Instantly I jumped up and I found myself almost surrounded by monsters of varying types. Which immediately looked after me.

Well, fuck.

I dodged one of their attacks and started to nope out of the place as fast as I could. While I knew instinctively I could take on each one of them by myself at least in theory, the best method to down me is to throw just weak enough enemies to be a nuisance while draining my resources.

With a few whispered words I cast Magic Strength, creating a bubble of water on my feet with enough strength to lift two tons, and with a simple command I let it throw me in the direction of the lone nearby building, which combined with my jumping skills allowed me to perform this stunt. I landed on the roof of the building which was mercifully empty.

It didn't take much for me to figure out the whole city was a mess. Creatures roamed the streets, some of them ignoring each other while others were actively hunting each other, and if my eyes aren't tricking me there is another creature that is probably raping another one, if the amount of trashing is anything to go by.

Right, plan 'nope the hell out and think things through later' is still in effect, so how can I get away from this mess? Sadly I can't fly, so that's one way out.

Well, guess the plan is 'run away very fast'.

I picked a side that didn't looked nearly as infested with monsters, and jumped down the streets. I could run at thirty kilometers per hour for a very long time, impressive for a human standard but not too impressive on the grand scheme of things. Still with this high base running speed and my occasional bursts of dashing speed I managed to avoid most trouble, except for three straggles that decided to follow me.

I couldn't fight them in the open like that so I changed course and jumped over a tall fence, wall running upwards until I reached the rooftops once more. I keep getting some distance from them and trying to find better footing, until we were all in a flat rooftop of a small apartment building. While I managed to lose most in the pursuit, at least three creatures remained, and they didn't waited one bit and charged towards me.

I managed to dodge two of them, but the last one bit on my arm hard almost tearing it apart. I managed to shake it off, and with a string of whispered words I summoned a ball of water that stretched and wound up around it, squeezing and crushing the life out of it until only a broken heap of bone and flesh remained.

The other creatures were unperturbed by the death of one of it's companions and continued attacking, one bitting my leg which I dealt with two stone-cutting water jets, puncturing it on it's body and head. The last one tried to chew off my face and it took me some time to get it out, and with a bloody lip I chanted the words for yet another water jet but it failed to kill it, though by a quick side step to avoid it's last tackled I managed to land a lucky hit by stomping on it's head hard, crushing it's skull.

That was... intense.

I was never in a life or death situation like this, and it was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

I take a moment to ride out the battle high before getting back to work. Those things were heavy, but not so much I couldn't throw them into the pavement on the ground before I went back to check myself.

I looked obviously female, but something familiar keep reminding me that wasn't all there it was, but I would deal with that later. First I took some strips from the duster sweater I was wearing and bandaged my wounds. It wasn't difficult and it didn't take much long, before I looked over the horizon, which was starting to gain more activity down bellow.

While I had threated my wounds, I wasn't in the best of condition and my mp was depleted by the day. If even another monster came after my ass right now I would most certainly die, so I looked for someplace clean and in the shade and decided to call it a day. Not the best place to sleep, but it will have to do. After making sure nothing would sneak up on me, I sat down with my back to the wall and tried to sleep.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much for sleep to overtake me.

 

I woke up feeling like shit.

Which immediately reminded me of the situation I was in. Since nothing came to rouse me in the sleep and since I'm not surrounded by monsters trying to eat my face, I decided to finally take stock of what the fuck happened to me.

First things first I'm a...

"You have been blessed, child" said the voice both in a male and female voice to the young 'woman', "with my own power, my own vitality. With it I unlocked your magical potential, bringing it from mediocrity to the realms of legend."

"But I'm a freak!" Yelled the 'woman', "nobody else have this, this thing I have!"

"It's part of what makes you, you. There shouldn't be any shame in your own body child." Came the reply in that same infuriating voice. "As my champion, people will sing praises of your abilities and with it exalt my own name."

"You can shove your 'champion' nonsense up your a-"

... herm, apparently. Named simply Clair of Riveroak due to her low upbringing, born into a land that wouldn't be out of place in a final fantasy game. Somehow I got turned into her, complete with her memories of her life up until she fought in the army of her country in a war as a team mage alongside her comrades.

I was currently wearing her casual clothes, a black shorts with a miniskirt over, a black tank top and a series of strings on my left arm, a small memento of all her comrades: Raphael, Zeal and Gem. For a single moment a tinge of worry pass through my mind, wondering how my friends were doing before I caught myself. Clair friends, not mine. Not...

... what was my name? I can't remember my name! I try to remember what I was before, but get only small, dream like glimpses of a life far away. I still remember a few, mostly useless things like episodes of anime or chapters of manga, or small technical details of appliances that didn't exist on Clair's world, but that's it.

Alright, don't panic, you are still technically surrounded by monsters as far as the eye can see so keep your head in the game. Somehow that managed to calm me, and from what I take from Clair's or rather my memories this isn't the first time she was in this situation so she had plenty of experience in that area.

It was already night, and I didn't want to take my chances against those monsters while in the dark, so I look around the place to see if it's properly secured. Since there weren't any lights in the city, the night sky was full of stars with the half moon shining brightly without clouds.

Looking down there were different kinds of creatures in the streets, probably the nocturnal ones. Fortunately I still haven't spotted any flying creatures, but that might change in the future. Going back to my hiding place, I try to go back to sleep hoping nothing would come after my hide once more.

~~O~~

I woke up once more feeling like shit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. I managed to heal some more of my mp and hp, not enough to full my tank, but enough so I won't be nearly useless in a simple fight.

A small bit of information might be in order. As a 'champion', I was gifted with strong vitality and magical powers, and a savant understanding of my magic which allows me to channel my potential into improvements to myself. By focusing I can feel nine empty spheres with one filled with a white flame representing my current potential, while I could shift my focus and feel my other characteristics as a small ring with five spheres, filled with a yellow light flame on them. Each representing my main characteristics like Strength or Ability or Resistance, and I felt some kid of sigils nearby that represented my Advantages.

All in all it reminded me of the 3D&T character sheet, only transplanted into a more organic form. Or the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X, whatever floats your boat.

That aside, it was early enough that there was only small activity in the streets, so I decided to continue with my plan to nope the fuck out of this place and dropped once more on the streets.

I ran as fast as I could through the nearly empty streets, mostly being ignored by the local 'wild life' but sometimes taking a few pursuers after me. They quickly lost interest when they figured out I could run quite fast and for a long time, though they all did a good showing all things considered.

Still, I couldn't help but think those are what could be considered the boton of the totem pole of this bizarre ecosystem.

~~O~~

My luck held out for longer, and I managed to pass by some car with it's radio on that was transmitting the following message.

"... you're hearing this message please come to the Road 14 section where the PRT personal will give assistance. If you're hearing this message..."

PRT? That sounds rather familiar...

Well, now I know what to look out for, a Map so I can find this Road 14. It might be a bust, but better than aimlessly walking around through the monster infested city.

Sadly there wasn't any closer shops nearby where I could find a map, so I had to keep going.

An hour later and the day started to get brighter and more monsters appeared, but so did the buildings became thicker and more prominent, probably hitting a deeper part of the city.

I keep to the rooftops whenever I could since there were more monsters on the ground, and it was only when I reached this deep in the city it hit me.

I never saw any person corpse, even if there are clear signs the place was wrecked to hell and back by those creatures. Not even bones where left. I shuddered at the fate that will fall to me if I ever lost to those creatures.

After some more jumping around I managed to finally find a convenience store. Quickly entering I found a Map of the city, named Ellisburg. Yet another somewhat familiar name but I can't quite place it.

Still, I managed to run away with it before anymore of the larger creatures could be found, while I kicked away some of the smaller, vaguely spider looking baby spider monsters.

Now let's see, I'm on the Seventh Avenue and Road 14 is on the other side of the city, which means I can either travel through a monster infested region and get there quickly, or go around and the outskirts with lower incidence of enemies. Considering I'm not build for long combat, going around it is.

Stashing the map at my pocket, I made my way towards my new destination.

~~O~~

Three hours later of a rather uneventful run, by which I mean I managed to outrun most of the opposition, I managed to fin the location.

From a far, far away place.

You see, now I understand why I could run around so carelessly across the city with few truly dangerous encounters: most of the monster population was gathered nearby a building complex, waiting patiently like an endless horde of zombies.

There's also a fuckhuge wall not far away from here too, now that I mention it.

How the hell I missed that?

 

The building itself didn't looked inhabited, so I decided to run away as fast as I could in this short distance, hopping that my stamina would pan out. At 30m/s that translated to 112km/h meaning I could outrun a lot of creatures. Most monsters couldn't keep up with me, but trust me when I say that they tried.

Still I managed to avoid all of them, until a creature that looked disturbingly like a Zergling appeared from the ground and I narrowly dodged it, taking some scrapes in the process.

Finally I reached the wall, and I found out it was tall. Easily fifty meters tall the damn thing. Again, how the fuck I missed it? It basically goes from horizon to horizon, and how they made it with all those crawling monsters running around? Whatever, it will soon not be my problem due to me getting outside this hellhole.

I created a hand of stone under me, to let it throw me once more towards the top of the wall, but before that someone shot me in the face.

Seriously, is my face that attractive to harm?

Fortunately it was only a fresh wound, so I kept to my previous plan. Before I could be thrown however I heard voices upward. "Something climbing up!"

"Stop shooting me! I'm not one of those monsters!"

More gunfire hit around me, missing by a hair breath before I was throw high in the air. I almost missed the ledge but with some magic assistance I managed to get to the top.

My first impulse was to scram as fast as I could since even if I could summon enough protection to survive a .50 caliber to the face, like I did just now, I was tired about getting shot. So I slowly put my hands on the back of my head. "So long as you don't shoot me or toss me back to that hellhole I'm willing to play ball."

They didn't said anything, making me sigh in frustration. If really necessary I could try to fight my way out of the city again and just ignore the soldiers this time.

My thought is interrupted by them spraying some kind of foam like substance on me. I tried to spray it away from me on instinct but it quickly covered me, paralising me in place. Fortunatelly I could breath through the hardened foam, though trying to open my mouth to whisper the magic words would be a terrible idea. Besides I'm out of juice.

 

"So", said the clerk in front of me, "where did you come from again?"

"Balamb Kingdom, Riveroak village." I replied once more, feeling a bit irritated, "it's in another dimension."

"Riiiight, let me write that down", he said with no small amount of skepticism.

Once I realized where I were, my first instinct was to panic, since I was in the world of Worm.

A world that could be best described as a superhero setting meets eldritch horror story. The world was running on a timer, and the one that would 'save' the world was a mentally unbalanced girl that could literally throw an endless number of parahumans at the golden moron, and if what I gathered was right, it was less that she won and more like Scion lost due to being hit by chronic depression by being constantly reminded of his mate's demise. He could have just as well entered into a berserker rage and blow the fuck out of everything instead.

The question was, how could I make a difference? At best I could become just another warm body in between Scion and Skitter, if events pan out the way it happened in canon, which aside from very broad strokes I had no idea about. Then again Contessa might be running a prediction model to 'gather the biggest motherfucking parahuman army to ever exist' with her bullshit powers and keep canon on rails.

If I were someone like say, Naruto or Commander Sheppard I could diplomancy the hell out of people and make an army of parahumans that wouldn't rely on the whims of a broken girl. Or if I where someone like say, Goku, I could become strong enough in time to tank a planet busting attack to the face or even rip apart space-time with a Ki infused shout.

But I was neither of them, and while my abilities where rather strong at the street level it would take a prohibitively large amount of time going through appropriate challenges to rise my powers to matter on the long run. Or perhaps not, if I buy the right Advantages and Skills at the right time, but would it be effective at all for someone without the right temperament to do those things?

'Fear not Children.' I heard a strange yet familiar male/female voice in my head.

I jumped on my seat, startling the clerk in front of me. "Sorry, I got a sudden cramp on my leg." I said before he went back to filling the documentation.

It didn't take much to figure out who was talking with me. 'Goddess Marae?'

'I see you recognized me, False Champion.' Uh oh, things haven't started well. 'I can feel my mark in you, I even feel that your soul, strength and memories are those of one of my favored, and yet I had no say in that matter', I could feel the sheer anger coming from her, 'however muddled with my power will pay in time, but I have something else in mind at the moment.'

'Such as?' I asked mentally, curious as to what she wanted.

'As you already have my mark I wish for you to perform great deeds and spread my name, so it can be exalted and the sounds of prayers will reach my ears.'

Back into Clair's dimension the universe and all within it was created by unknown primordial beings that shaped the very existence into form and within it things like space or time came to be. One of their creations was the Wheel of Samsara, with the Six Realms that primarily exist. In the human world, mortals live and die every day, but their prayers and beliefs where shaped into Gods. Those gods had their own powers and domains attached to parts of the non-mortal realms, and those faithful to their dogmas would eventually find themselves drawn into their domains instead of failing into the wheel of reincarnation proper. Within those domains the souls would eventually lose their memories and merge with the god's domain.

Other gods however came into being by managing to transcend the wheel of karma after multiple runs in the reincarnation machine. Once the mortal transcend the cycle of reincarnation they find themselves with world shaking powers at the very least.

Both gods that arise from prayers and transcending samsara asks for prayers, the first for health and continued survival, while the second ones use it to help those still trapped in the cycle of suffering into transcending it, though a few of them take roles similar to the belief gods for reasons unknown.

The thing about gods is, those that transcended Samsara are very strong, easyly on par with at least a donzen belief gods in sheer power.

Marae is, despise what is talked about her powers and domains between closed doors, a transcendental goddess which means she is rather powerful indeed. She's also one of the few that likes to hear prayers and have her name being exalted by the mortals, much like a belief god do. Of course, prayers aren't only for bragging rights, they are a form of energy that can be shaped and ironed into wonders, from magnificent luxury items to world shaking artifacts. But that's not here or there at the moment.

Currently Marae, the Hermaphrodite Goddess of Fertility and Virility, is basically conscripting me to be her champion, just like Clair was.

'On the contrary', I heard her in my head, 'those who bear my mark are already my champions, all I'm doing is reminding you of your duties.'

'But I didn't asked to be your champion!' I received no reply at that.

Some of Marae's champion duties where quite...lewd to say the least. Goddess of Fertility and Virility indeed. I could in turn avoid the divine like the plague just like Clair did, or...

'Can I at just fight in your name?' I finally asked.

'You may, but in time, you shall attend to your other duties.'

I nodded to myself, and went back to filling the forms.

There was much for me to do.

 

PRT Director Chief, Rebecca Costa-Brown

She was a busy woman, being the chief director of the PRT, but she still had to make time to read certain reports, like the one in front of her right now.

She glanced at the contents and wasn't very impressed.

Real name Clair Riveroak, cape name Archmaiden. Claimed her powers came from 'magic', and she couldn't help the sneer on her face as she read that.

Low to mid brute rating, mostly rated at raw durability than brute strength, and she could temporarily further increase her durability with 'magic' or use it to exert force with her conjured materials.

Low mover rating, being able to run faster than a normal human but overall slow for a car, unless she sprints for short periods of time which she can reach up to 112km/h.

Low to mid blaster rating with her 'magic', rated at about the same as a javelin rocket launcher. Impressive, but not ground shaking. Maximum range of only about 50m and only works at line of sight.

A bunch of grab bag powers cape mostly centered around a weak generic kineticist theme, with the unconfirmed promise that she could get stronger.

Still, it wasn't anything impressive compared with other capes that came to her desk. She committed the name to memory in case it came up, but otherwise the file would lay forgotten in her archives for a while.

Galbadia, Teris Province

A young man named Gem wakes up as the first rays of sunlight hit his tent, getting a fitful sleep. Except he immediately remembers he was supposed to be on the last watch for the night and curses his luck. Did something happen to Clair? He gets up and out on the open.

The fire on the camp had already died down into embers and he quickly finds his team mate lying down on the ground face first. She doesn't seen to be harmed, and fortunately no enemy patrols came in during the night, but seeing his team mate in that state scared him. She was clearly attacked by something at some point during the night.

Quickly reaching to her he tried to wake her up, shaking her. "Hey Clair, are you alright? What happened?"

The young woman in question slowly wakes up, with a bit of droll on her mouth. "Huwhu? Wha, what happened? And why my head feels like an earth golem is hammering into it?"

"No idea", replied her team mate, "I found you on the ground unconscious. Please tell me you didn't took a nap while guarding us."

She rolled her eyes before sitting up, "I would never do OUCH MY HEAD!"

Quickly Gem caught her up in an awkward hug, before pulling her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I just remembered what happened last night. Some kind of bright light filled the camp, and when I came to be you were waking me up."

"Did you hear someone approach?" Gem asked while looking around to see if there were footprints around the camp.

"No, it came suddenly and took me off guard", she said while taking a sip of her water, "I'm just glad no patrols came in while I was out."

'I see you're awake child.' Said a voice on Clair's head, making the young woman groan in response.

'You again? What do you want now?' Thought Clair.

'I came to inform you that a new champion has arisen.'

"What!" Came the explosive reply of Clair, making Gem turn his head to her which she ignored for the time being. "Didn't you say you choose a champion once every generation? Are you telling me you could have picked someone else than me?"

'The reasons behind my actions are beyond your mortal keen', started the Goddess, and Clair was sure she said it just to piss her off, 'but unfortunately the matter of empowering my new champion was taken away from my hands. A third party came and copied your body and soul and abilities, implanting it into another mortal while still leaving my mark, inadvertently creating a new champion in the process.'

That caught Clair's attention. For someone or something to mess with a transcendental god abilities and getting away with it must be really strong and sneaky. "Back up, did you say 'copy my body and soul'"?

'Yes. Also, my new champion is much less reserved on his duties. I dare say he might be more grateful to my assistance than you.'

"So he or she's one of those", she said with scorn before feeling a shiver down her spine as she realized a potential sexual deviant have access to her body, even if it's just a copy.

'He's as reserved about the most sacred duties of being my champion as you, but he doesn't have a problem with defeating his enemies while exalting my own name.'

Clair knew baiting when it appeared and was still resolute on her choice. You start fighting for the goddess, then you start performing some of her rituals, and when you least expect...

Her cheeks turned red and she shook her head to disperse those thoughts. "Why are you telling me this?"

'The world my new champion resides in is nearing it's breaking point. I wonder which one of my champions, my own chosen one or the unexpected champion, will achieve greater deeds?'

Clair had no response to that.

 

A few days have passed since I found myself on Elisburg, and after I got a clean bill of health I was being temporarily assigned to New York and did my power testing.

Overall nothing impressive even if I'm a champion level mage, but on a world with superpowers running around from street level to almost planet busting levels it's difficult to get full of yourself. At least I won't have nearly as much problem with thugs. As far as overall threat level goes I'm low to mid rank, specially if you consider that my abilities requires me to use a limited resource per day. I also told them that I could become stronger with time, something better to keep on the open since it's definitely true. After all just when I arrived at New York I got a new point of 'experience', which implies that I can slowly become stronger even if I don't do anything too drastic.

Speaking of New York the building of PRT looked rather interesting. A rather large compound in the middle of Manhattan, made after Behemoth came and trashed the city. They didn't had 9/11 like my memories supplied, but they had the next worst thing it seen. Apparently most of the city had been leveled and there were high levels of radiation for months before it dissipated back into acceptable background levels.

The protectorate members were also quite personable, specially Legend and his second in command Gem.

"How did you got into Elisburg out of all places?" Asked one of the other protectorate member, a man named Blue Lightning. "And without anyone finding out in the first place?"

"As stated in my report, I was probably kidnapped by however used the light to blind me initially."

This time it was another hero, a woman named Razornator, that asked. "I heard you said you came from another dimension, is it true?"

"As far as I know, yes."

There was some more talk, with me getting to know some of the other heroes. So far they sounded rather amiable and things were going smoothly until I saw someone hesitating about asking me something. Years of experience got me on my guard before the moron started talking.

"Is it true that you have..."

"That's personal medical information you're about to spew", I said with a cold voice surprising the insensitive moron, "how did you got it?"

"Er, I read that you could be an evolution on case 53s and got curious and asked some medics and maybe I took a little peek?"

I summoned some magic to form electrical sparks to float around me before putting on a sickeningly sweet smile on my face. "Really? You have been a bad boy. Perhaps I should discipline you?"

"EEEK!"

"Archmaiden, Flamedisco, Snooper, please report to meeting room 7", said the radio on our waist before I nodded and addressed the rest of the heroes who came to see the me.

"Sorry, but duty calls. See you guys around."

Without pausing to hear their responses, if they had any, I started to walk towards the meeting room 7. Though I'm here only for a day and half I already familiarized myself with the places my security clearance allowed me to go, which included practically all meeting rooms. It does help that most of them are dispersed through the building in a orderly fashion.

Looking at my side I saw my two shadows, Flamedisco and Snooper, the guy who 'took a peek' at my medical files. The first was a pyrokinetic that created balls of multicolored fire that shot in semi-random directions with him being immune to his own flames and the fire being unable to affect inorganic matter. He wore what could be simply described as a 70s disco dance outfit, being as stereotypical as possible with a huge afro and it reminded me that some capes were sillier than the 'serious all the time' grindark tone the rest of the series had. Of course that just meant those capes were targeted by the villains because how dare they try to make this crapsack world less of a steaming pile of shit.

Snooper on the other hand was a Thinker, but I didn't got much info on what specialty is his. If I had to bet it allowed him to check on my medical files, but I admit that's me trying to be a bit petty.

Once in the meeting room we were greeted by vice director James Heller. "Glad you three came in a timely manner. How are you adapting Archmaiden?"

"There were some bumps", I said while pointedly looking at Snooper who had the decency to wince, "but overall it's pretty good. The room assigned to me is quite spacious all things considered so I don't have much to complain."

"Good", replied the vice director, "now as you were informed you were supposed to debut after the press conference, but we decided to allow a 'leak' to the public, so you will be patrolling the next few days in highly visible but low risk locations. Any questions?"

"Is my outfit ready? I can go in my civilian garb no problem, but I'm lead to believe I have to choose a proper hero uniform."

"Yes. It as fortunate that the outfit you choose is easy to make. The PR department liked it and plan to market it as a new line of clothing at some point."

"Glad to know I'm fulfilling my dream of becoming a model after so many years." I tried to say in a deadpan voice, but instead it came out as really eager, my memories supplying that something like that was actually my dream when I where little before I decided to join the military. Frankly it's getting annoying to have those tibits of memories coming at the most inopportune moments.

For his part James smiled, no doubt catching the tone of my voice. "Glad to know we're helping. Anyway, both Flamedisco and Snooper were assigned to be your partners for the operation. Your patrol starts tomorrow. Please make Archmaiden welcome you two."

"Yes sir." Came the double reply.

"Dismissed."

~~O~~

Next day came quickly, and I finally found out what Snooper power was. Apparently he have the ability to see through objects, peeling them away like layers in order to see further inside, a three hundred sixty degrees vision and the necessary mental ability to parse through this information. Basically a cheaper Byakugan since he could only maintain this enhanced vision state for up to ten seconds each activation before having to rest. He was also an accomplished martial artist and marksman, to the level he could operate alongside the PRT sniper team.

Unconsciously I placed my arms around my body with a blush, self conscious of him before he groaned.

"Why nobody listen to me when I say I don't look at people naked?"

"I don't know about others", I told him, "but you would have much more credibility if you didn't looked at confidential medical information".

And wasn't that an embarrassing time when I had to do a full medical checkup? I told them about Marae and being her Champion, but as expected they didn't believe me. Well, they will hear a lot of Marae from me in the next few days I suppose.

"Now that you are ready to fight in my name, I shall teach you the ritual words my Champions are required to say as my Chosen Warriors."

Marae told me the words which started innocent enough before I started blushing. 'Can't I put some more emphasis on the warrior part? Please?' I asked, no, begged the goddess.

"Those ritual words are important for my Champions, almost magical spells on themselves."

'Magical spells? Does that mean people need to hear everything I say?'

"... it's preferable."

Oh thank goddess I can whisper the most embarrassing parts. With my magical training I know how to quickly whispers words of power, and since what she demands me to say is quite a mouthful regardless of their content it's a good skill to have.

"Now go, and spread the glory of my name!" She said imperiously to me before her presence receded from my mind.

I sighed, before taking to the rooftops. This is going to be a long night.

 

"So, how much trouble you guys have on this city?" I asked Flamedisco while we went rooftop jumping.

While they didn't had enhanced Ability like me, they had some pieces of thinkertech that allowed them to keep up with me. Flamedisco for example had special boots that allowed him to jump and sprint great distances with a small inertial compensator on it, allowing him to move pretty fast when he wanted. Snooper on the other hand had a special, almost magical grappling hook that allowed him to swing across town like spider-man.

"Parahuman activity is high, all things considered, but there isn't much organized crime in that direction. Most villains are independent or work in small teams, differently from places like Brockton Bay or Boston where the situation is almost feudal with them."

"The only notorious gang in the city is simply called Mafia, led by one know as Kingpin, a brute of rather notorious strength that arrived after Behemoth hit us."

Kingpin? Seriously? I know that Marvel and DC are still a thing here, even if their sales dropped like rocks due to the parahuman emergence, but you couldn't be much more of a nerd unless you had arachnid powers and called yourself spider-man or made a team of super powered teenagers and called them X-men. At least in this world the government wasn't stupid enough to make sentinels, though to be fair superscience is the exclusive realm of parahumans so it wouldn't have helped either way.

"Any minor team that's troublesome then? Or anyone we should watch out for while patrolling?"

This time it was Snooper who answered. "Well, there are the Infamous Six and the Avengers that are a more common sore eye to us, but due to their low numbers and reluctance to use unpowered minions they are easier to fend off as a whole, but they always come as a full team so it's harder for the patrolling protectorate members to fight, and when we finally get enough manpower to turn the tables they escape and leave us with the bills for the collateral damage the fight caused."

That's ultimately the problem with dealing with close teams. Ultimately too weak to be a threat on the grand scheme of things, but usually too strong to deal with those patrolling, who would range between single individuals or pairs. It's mostly what made the Undersiders too effective in the story, not strong enough to bring the full wrath of the Protectorate, but too strong to deal with smaller groups. Only people like Lung, or perhaps Skitter with some preparation could deal with them.

"I see your point", I finally answered him, "but unless we find more intel on them we will have to deal with this problem as it comes. Anything else I should be aware of?"

Flamedisco continued, as we jumped towards another building. "There are a few individual villains that are troublesome on their own, but they usually operate on the outskirts of the island. There's also a semi-villanious rogue tinker whose robot creations sometimes get out of control and we have to deal with them. We haven't dealt with him before because his creations were useful in the past but as they started to break down and start to act crazy we're thinking on limiting his inventions, by force if necessary according to the higher ups, though I'm sure things won't go really well if it comes down to that."

I grimaced inwardly, since it looked like we had something close to a Dr. Willy or a Robotinic situation at hands. Hopefully things won't escalate beyond control.

I stopped for a moment before making my next jump, before sighing.

Of course thing would escalate beyond control. This is worm we're talking about, even if skitter is years away from getting her powers.

When I learn Planar Teleport I'm so getting out of this shithole.

 

"Mwahahahaha!" Yelled a male voice through the speakers of some semi-humanoid robot. "Soon the world shall learn to fear DOOM. Run from DOOM, unworthy peasants, least you be reduced to your component atoms!"

I really wanted to pause and give a snarky comment but the robot/mecha in front of us was spewing high powered plasma randomly on the street bellow. Most hits missed anything important, but a few hit the walls on the nearby buildings which melted it away. Fortunately it moved slower than a bullet, but with enough speed to continue it's trajectory for at least ten meters away without much drop.

I jumped behind it, and called a magical spear made of complete darkness and shot it behind it's back. It probably had heard me approaching so it had enough time to turn around, but it wasn't fast enough to avoid a direct hit on it's back, but it still took a massive attack on it's body. Even while using my currently most powerful magical attack I saw that I only did minimal damage to it, meaning this thing had a very durable armor.

It was fortunate that the words I learned from Marae could be said either before or after engagement, and was glad the god was sensible in some matters.

"Who dares to strike DOOM? Fear the wrath of your betters!"

It's arm canon whirled quickly and shot a small plasma shot that I managed to deflect at the last minute with my magic enhanced durability, swatting at the attack with my hand away from my face. I could still feel the warm sensation of the attack on my hand, but fortunately my technique and resilience managed to resist the damage.

Just as I was about to call my mana for the next attack I heard a gunshot hitting the robot, and with both of us looking up we see that Snooper had used his sidearm to try and distract the enemy, with Flamedisco being nowhere to be seen.

"YOU! DOOM remembers you! You shall become dust under DOOM's heel!"

Just as the robot said that I finished my quick incantation and I called another spear made of darkness, and threw its chest. Once more I hit him and dealt some damage, but the enemy armor was too strong for me to properly pierce and only superficial damage was done. The enemy ignored me this time for it's most hated foe, shotting a few plasma attacks which almost hit Snooper if he didn't had taken cover beforehand. Before I could do something though a shadow came near me and the robot and with a quick burst of speed it hit it with an electric mace of shorts.

Some kind of catchy song started playing, one I couldn't quite put my finger on but I knew somewhat from my fragmented not-Clair memories that this sounded like Disco.

"You're going down, Doombot!" Flamedisco said at the side of the robot before taking some distance. "Burn Disco Inferno Burn!"

It's good that Flamedisco have a backup weapon in case he had to deal with non-living opponents, or at least those with heavy armor behind, but his attack gave me an idea, and gathering more mana I made a lightning bolt in my hands. Not a real lighting bolt spell which is innate stronger, but if the way the robot took the attack was any indication it meant an elemental attack like that would fare better. With a mighty throw the spear soared the air, hitting it squarely in the face and blowing a large chunks of it's metallic head.

"D-d-damn Y-y-y-you! D-D-D-D-DOOM shall r-r-r-remember t-t-this!"

The robot charged it's arm cannon, but instead of firing it it keep charging and charging.

"Get away!" Yelled Snooper, but before I could do anything the robot blew up in an impressive final attack. The explosion hit me squarely in my face, sending me backwards several meters away, burning at my outfit before I finally landed back in the ground with a roll.

Pieces of plasma hit the nearby surroundings, but fortunately no civilian was caught in the blast, they having the decency to quickly evacuate the place as the robot started to rampage.

My outfit wasn't exactly ruined thanks to the magic that makes me tougher, but it had seen better days. A black dress with a miniskirt and a black shorts bellow, a black corset in my waist with light blue strings closing it up and a light blue hooded sort cape in my back.

So it's a color shifted Ruby Rose outfit, sue me.

Flamedisco quickly came to my side. "Are you alright Archmaiden?"

"I'm fine, just a bit charred", I replied, taking away some of still hot metal bits from my hair, "speaking of which..."

With a cough I prepared myself for my speech. According to Marae it's paramount for me to say those words before or after a battle, even if there is nobody listening, though a proper audience would work better. Well, with my two team mates I think that would count.

"'May the eternal, transcendent glory of the goddess Marae be spread through my actions, may her enemies be ground to dust and be returned to nothing as her Champion walks through the field of battle, may her followers prosper'" and I finished the rest in a quick whisper, and just as I said that I felt something inside me get warmer and with a quick inward look I felt that I gained another 'experience' point, yet another flame lighting up inside my soul. Now I had five of them and soon enough I should be able to become stronger.

For their part my two team mates looked at me strangely, and I just shrugged. "It's a religious thing" I supplied and to their questioning gazes. Flamedisco for his part just laughed before patting me on the shoulder, while Snooper groaned and muttered something about weirdos.

"It was a good thing Doombot was found by us", finally said Flamedisco after his laugh subsided, "my backup weapon is an electric mace I use to knock people up non-lethally with a setting against brutes which is surprisingly effective against Doombot creations, and you can create electrical attacks on demand. Must be good being a kineticist, we don't have many of them running around."

"Should I be concerned by more of those things?"

"Kinda", replied Snooper, "Doombot is one of those rare tinkers who can mass produce his creations, but they are usually pretty shit combat wise, being rather frail when deployed en mass. Only when he takes his time to design and construct his creation they become a threat, but they all have a vulnerability to electricity so we know how to deal with him."

"I see", I said at this remark, "Doombot?"

"He calls himself Doctor Doom", remarked Snooper, "but we can't call him that officially due to copyright laws, and he simply doesn't have the same flair the original have. He still tries to act like he's a big shot but don't worry, anybody with a proper weapon is a credible threat to his creations, even normal cops."

I nodded, remembering how the thing went down quickly when I switched to electric attack. Thank good electricity is a valid element for my generic magical attack spell. Still the attack I sent him previously was rather strong, and I can't underestimate my opponents when they are parahumans. It's kind of fighting against Stand users in a way, even if the rate of complete morons on parahumans side is higher than with Stand users.

"Whatever, let's just finish this and continue our patrol." I finally said, "unless I'm missing something."

They both looked at me with pitying gazes, "oh you poor thing. You didn't heard did you? It's time for you to deal with the worst enemy a protectorate hero has to face."

I was a bit wary from their tones, but asked anyway. "What enemy?"

They both said as one.

"Bureaucracy."

 

I couldn't believe how much bureaucracy there was after a cape fight. In the fanfics I read it made it sounds simple, or at least make it look like the paperwork would came after the conflict where done and the heroes were debriefed, not almost immediately after the fight. Then again it could be because I'm a new cape and they want me to be highly visible for as much as possible.

While I listened to both the police officer and the PRT officer talking with me I made a quick mental check to measure my mana, and found out that I was almost out of juice after this fight. I need to learn higher level spells ASAP in order to save some of my mana, and keep this spell only for the thugs. Then again getting a spell with wide area of effect with low damage might prove useful in the future, or perhaps a wide are sleep spell should do the trick in the future.

I guess I will need to curry more favor to Marae since she's the only one that can give me access to the necessary base spells so I could more easily research further spells.

... man that PRT trooper talked a lot about regulations and collateral damage in a fight, I didn't knew there was that much stuff to go through. A small crowd gathered to see us over the 'keep out' yellow tape. "Excuse me", came one person as close as possible to the tape with a recorder in hands and a cellphone, "is that person a witness of the incident? Is she a new protectorate cape? Can I interview her?"

Another PRT trooper was quicker, and brought me to the side as 'discreetly' as possible even as he whispered for me to look back at the crowd and give them a wave, just for him to pretend to scold me over. "It's not what we were expecting when we wanted to give a leak to the press, but it should do."

"Am I going to keep patrolling or will I get cooped up in the barracks? Last I heard the press conference was three days away."

"Maybe on the eve of the conference, but otherwise you will keep patrolling on low risk, high visibility areas."

"Low risk?" I said, skeptical. "I should mention that if it were anybody else caught in that explosion they would have died."

"Well, it's parahumans. They're not a very predictable bunch. No offense."

"None taken", since I wasn't a parahuman. I wonder when that will come out.

Speaking of coming out I really hope the PR machine doesn't take a look at my medical files and get any bright ideas. Other than that, I just realized I need to develop an anti-precog spell ASAP. Fucking thinkers, stupid Contessa and her Path to Bullshit Lazy Writing.

~~O~~

We finished the patrol for the night before coming back to the headquarters. All three of us offered our report, with me taking the cue from my two team mates in order not to make a fool of myself.

"Good work you three, though in the future try to coordinate with your team mates before engaging an enemy. I know he was endangering civilians but miscommunication could have just as well caused injuries or even casualties." The vice director said with a light admonishing tone.

"Well, I am a Brute so I knew I could tank or dodge his attacks if it came down to it, and I thought that making him focus on me instead of the general population would take priority. Besides I knew that both Flamedisco and Snooper were veteran heroes so they should have know how to deal with him, the best team action I could do at the moment as the most durable person on site was to distract him for a while."

"I'm not saying your decision was wrong, but please be careful out there. We don't want something to happen to you before your debut after all."

"Don't worry", I told him, "unless something outright kills me I should be healed with a good night sleep. It's in my file as a throwaway line but since they couldn't test it without half-killing me it never came up."

"Nevertheless, we need all manpower available, even from those who are still coming on. Still, good work today. Dismissed."

I had to remind myself that I wasn't dealing with Piggot and was glad for that. Speaking of he not-Cadmus fat woman, she probably survived Nilbog a couple of months back before the wall was built. I wonder if they already gave her Brockton Bay.

"How about we commemorate for a job well done?" Said Flamedisco at my side, "while Doombot is kind of a pushover it's not every day he can be defeated without causing too much collateral damage. I know this bar downtown that serves good drinks."

"I'm more of a dinner kind of girl", I told him walking around, "but it's been too long since I enjoyed a good drink. Who else is coming?"

"A few friends. Don't worry about payment, we can put the tab into your PRT account card at a later date. The place often caters to PRT personal, from troopers to office workers."

"Neat. Just let me change to something that's not charred first and then we can go whenever you're ready."

~~O~~

It was a surprise when Flamedisco, or Mark Oddwick , afro hair turned out to be a wig. Granted, it as tinkertech wig to look like those from the cartoons which were super realistic and could be put and taken with minimal effort, but it was still a surprise.

Snooper, or Clark Houston also came and I found out he wear glasses and put his hair in the most boring haircut I ever saw before. If only he were a reporter in his civilian garb...

"As if I never heard of that one before", he muttered darkly, to the amusement of Mark. Apparently those two where close friends even if you consider the amiable atmosphere of the group.

"Boys, don't embarrass us in front of the rookie", said Ghost Soundress or Rebecca Smith at the moment, "please don't mind them, they're a bit of a clown duo."

"I resent that remark", whined Clark, making Rebecca just stick out her tongue to him.

"Still, we need to go clothes shopping one of those days", said Ursa Aurora, or Denise Ackerman, "you only had your clothes in your back when you arrived and your other uniform, not even a t-shirt and some jeans. It's a wonder the clothing is in that good condition and doesn't stink."

"I do laundry every day", thank you Prestigitation, best spell ever.

"I wish my laundry could dry after only a single day", murmured Denise.

As we arrived at the bar we took our seats and asked for our drinks. It's been a while since I drank something stronger than lemon juice, with my newly enhanced constitution I should be able to enjoy it without dropping on the ground drunk.

We all got to know each other, and I got to practice a bit of my civilian cover as they asked me questions as new coworkers. Basically I came from generic small town on the country and decided to make a living on the big city, landing a job as a civil servant in the PRT. I just arrived and I am still moving my stuff into an apartment downtown and we're now 'breaking in' the rookie into the organization by throwing a small drinking party.

I didn't drink much, mostly just sampling the various selections of cocktails they had when suddenly the front door exploded. To be fair the place was packed full of PRT soldiers and even some cops and they all reacted instantly, but they were also caught off guard when a giant green fist made of some unknown energy blocked their bullets and made a giant mess of the front.

"I know you heroes are there!" Yelled a voice from outside. "Come here and fight us!"

Of course in my first night out to relax things like this would happen. Specially after I'm down to less than half my mana.

Of fucking course.

 

"There's a passage in the back we can use to escape", whispered Snooper as we crouched down behind the table, "did you guys brought your emergency masks?"

Everyone nodded, and I made a simple mask with my Prestigitation. It was a fragile thing, but even if I'm targeted in the face 'losing' my identity wouldn't be much of a big deal since I don't have a civilian life to protect anyway. Besides if I'm right in my assumptions the identity of parahumans are one thinker away anyway.

Just like right now.

Ghost Soundress looked at my cheap mask a bit surprised. "You can do that?"

"One of my spells, Prestigitation, allow me to summon simple objects for one hour. It's convenient."

She looked at me for a few instants, and I think I heard something about 'not another one' from somebody else. I promptly ignored the skeptics and addressed the group. "How are we going to do this? Go from the back and circle the group? Snooper, any luck in identifying who attacked?"

The senior hero nodded. "Yeah, I know who they are. Green Projector, Blue Mercury, Infectionator, Hierophant, Epitaph and Dr. Bees. What's really strange is that they never acted as a group before, and none of them had a particular vendetta against the protectorate heroes besides the normal for villains. It doesn't make sense they would attack this bar, specially because none of them are brutes and a large group armed with guns could seriously injure or kill them."

As we started to discreetly move Flamedisco took my improvised wig, which looked more like a black pompom than hair with a grimace but put it in his head with a low thanks. "Some of us will get in the front to draw the head of the attack while the rest sneak attack from the sides of the buildings".

"I will go ahead," I volunteered, "I'm a brute so I can take more damage from them, not counting the fact that I can dodge their attacks fairly easily".

I saw that he tried to protest, but the sudden burst of fire from inside the building pinging on the green forcefield and the subsequent retaliation taking down the soldiers made him think back. "You can dodge bullets, right?"

I nodded, even if it wasn't exactly accurate. I had 66,6% chance to ignore small arms fire from a mundane thug, and while dodging was factored in this sometimes I simply deflected the attack with my bare hands thanks to the innate magic that enhanced some of my abilities without cost of mana. At least that's how I flavored my superhumanly high characteristics, it could have been anything really.

"Alright, you and Ursa Aurora have the better possibility to deal with a frontal attack. The rest will give you cover fire alongside the soldiers."

Another trashing in front of the store, and some more incoherent yelling before Flamedisco pointed to the door. "Go go go!"

Ursa created two bears to act as shield and directed them forwards, and while they were walking slowly compared with my top speed I was grateful for the cover. If push came to shove I could beat the villains with my bare hands since none was a brute and thus had normal human levels of resilience, but hopefully it won't come to that.

As we arrived outside I saw the group of about six villains ready to attack just as we arrived. The guy with the green forcefields had a giant fist ready to attack us, and while he looked the immediate primary threat I knew I could take a bit of beating for the moment, so I decided to gather all the magic I could in order to split it into five attacks, targeting the rest of the gang. Five lances of lightning dashed through the air and hit their targets, all but one of them instantly yelling in pain before dropping like sacks of potatoes, the sole survivor of this assault still standing due to a luck positioning that made my attack miss.

Of course said villain was attacked by my ursine partner, while the other forcefield bear tried to distract and tear apart the giant fist in front of us.

"What? You, you, you BITCH!" The one I can only assume is Green Projector said while creating another forcefield fist to appear ready to punch me. However either due to rage, poor aim or simply underestimating my abilities I jumped over the projection before gracefully landing nearly on the same spot, the green fist impacting with the wall behind us.

He was about to do something when a rock hit him, bouncing off a forcefield around him that only now I noticed before said rock exploded like a grenade, sending him tumbling a couple of meters away, while the other remaining villain was shot in the neck with what appeared to be tranquilizing shots, stumbling for a few paces before hitting the road with his face.

Once more I gathered my mana for probably the last time this night, creating a large ball of stone in my hands that I shoot towards Green Projector. It hit him at great speeds, shattering his defense and impacting on him before exploding into smaller shards and fragments and finally becoming motes of light. Due to magic there was no actual knock back effect on him stronger than making him stagger a few paces back, landing on his back unconscious. I internally winced since I used a lot of power in that attack, thinking he could take it.

This is going to be a thing when I'm not fighting brutes, isn't it? Hope I don't become a PR nightmare and have to deal with then on a regular basis.

"Good work team", said Flamedisco from the position he was, walking carefully to Green Projector to check on his vitals. "Really nice work Archmaiden, even if you went a bit too far against him."

I looked away embarrassed for my slip, memories of the early training of Clair coming to mind when she couldn't really measure her strength when she was a small child, powerful even that young.

"Sorry. I saw him taking that explosion from Ghost Soundress without being worse for the wear so I thought he was a brute and something stronger was in order. That and I think I got a lucky shot on him."

Ursa Aurora made a couple more bears to guard the fallen villains before walking to my side. "What did you hit him with? It looked like some kind of big rock, but his forcefield was strong enough to take a grenade explosion and shrug it off."

"Uh, something stronger than a javelin rocket launcher. Back in my home it would be classified as the same rank as a dragon breath attack."

"That's some mean dragon you guys got there", said Ghost Soundress at my side, "javelins are used to take down fully armored tanks and are no pushovers after all. Though there wasn't much bleed over energy from the impact, something on that strength should have send him flying."

I shrugged. Once again, magic. "Wasn't the group lacking in brutes? I thought he could only make those fist constructs, or at least a barrier with a wider area instead of practically hugging his skin."

"He must have figured out the trick to it", said Snooper finally arriving at the scene, shotting the other villains with his tranquilizer darts to make sure they would stay down until the PRT van (and the ambulance) would come. "It's not unusual for capes to learn new tricks about their powers after a while, even if it's somewhat rarer than expected. Then again most parahumans aren't bastions of creativity with their powers."

I nodded and went to Flamedisco who finished looking at him, a grimace on his face making me wince. "How is he?"

"Bad. Multiple fractures, some exposed, probably a concussion. We're lucky we have a thinker specialized in medical treatment in the city that built a lot of machines in case of emergencies like this, but it means he will stay in bed for a long time. Hopefully behind bars."

"Sorry, I got carried away."

He shacked his head. "Don't worry, you were attacked on your civilian identity in a place that catered to what amounts to superhero cops, not even the higher ups will reproach you, specially with the low intel we had. There was no way for you to predict how strong his new brute ability would measure up to your blaster attack, still I wasn't expecting such high firepower for a low blaser rating such as yours. Besides, he's still alive so that must count for something."

"My blaster rating is relatively low because I can use my magic attack spell at full power only a couple of times per day before being out of mana."

He made an 'ahh' sound before looking at the side of the road, with the PRT van coming in alongside the ambulance.

Sadly that wasn't the only thing that came. A news van also came to report on what happened.

"So, should I stay or scram?"

Flamedisco grimaced. "Better to get out, the PR don't like when their carefully scheduled debut press release gets derailed."

"Sorry for having to deal with this. Just my luck that on the day I'm going to relax the place was attacked."

"Don't worry about it. I have a feeling that more things are at work here than luck, so it might had happened anyway. Now go before you get into trouble."

I nodded, before turning around and starting to run at my maximum speed. I would tire out in about half an hour, but the HQ wasn't that far. I just hope my luck holds out and they don't try to chew my ass for almost killing a villain. I heard that's a big no-no after all.

Crap! With everything going on I forgot to say the ritual words to Marae! Oh well, I'm sure she will forgive me and I can make up to her later. After all, there is that press conference coming in.

 

EDIT: I changed it from being a mere OMAKE into a proper interlude since it is actually plot relevant now that I think better on it.

~~O~~

"According to the recommendation of our senior hero you are going to be tested once more on your powers. Apparently the group that did the testing underestimated your abilities." Said the scientist behind the blast walls on the wide room.

"Well, back in Elisburg I just did some basic testing to give the higher ups an idea of what I could do. They said if necessary I could request another power testing to have my threat ratings altered. I guess it simply slipped from my mind."

"Alright then", said another scientist, "let's see what you can do."

BRUTE TESTING.

"You said your brute abilities have a passive and active effect?"

"Yes", I nodded, "the passive effect is divided in the form of vitality, my ability to survive taking actual damage, and toughness which prevents me from being damaged in the first place. If I don't try to move my passive toughness is rather weak though, only marginally better than a normal person. When I can move however my active defense is in effect and I can block and deflect attacks much stronger than before, sometimes even milking a few more efficiency from my passive toughness."

They nodded and we started the brute testing. First was raw strength to confirm if I wasn't supernaturally strong or something, and they realized that while I was above average for someone of my gender and weight class, mostly due to inheriting the active lifestyle of this body from Clair, I was well within limits of normal human parameters.

Next was my passive defense, with me placing my arm under a hydraulic press both with a flat surface and a needle like point on it, and they concluded that my resistance was about on par with a light kevlar vest. Afterwards I was tested on my active defense, and there they saw a great increase in effectiveness. Starting from rubber bullets, normal 9mm bullets and increasing the caliber until we got to the .50BMG rounds and took only minor damage. Afterwards they switched to a grenade launcher, scaling up to a javelin rocket launcher which I blocked, but took enough damage to be noticeable, more shots where taken, until I felt that I couldn't go on without becoming seriously injured. "That's about my limit, more than this and I can die."

"Hm... I can see why you got a low brute rating with the low strength and the fact that a sniper could in theory take you out, specially since you don't have any combat regeneration. We know you can regenerate your injuries with a night's sleep so we don't need to test that for now. It think it's safe to assume your Brute rating will become 2/5. Two for when you are caught immobilized or unaware and five when you can actually defend yourself."

I nodded and proceeded with the next test.

MOVER TESTING.

I keep running at full speed on the treadmill, reaching my fastest in an instant and maintaining the pace of 30m/s. "How long can you sustain that speed?"

"About half an hour easily, but after that my stamina can crash almost immediately. With some luck I can last up to an hour like this, maybe an hour and half, but afterwards I will be too tired to do anything for a couple of hours. It's a bit random how long, I think it ranges between one to six hours of feeling utterly miserable."

"We will see about that", said another scientist, sir whatshisname. "You can also run at a lower pace for longer, right?"

"Yeah, if I keep my pace to a normal running speed instead of sprinting I can definitely last for six hours, then after each hour of running there's a chance for me to be too tired to continue, but I could get back to my feet with an hour of rest. My last record was eight hours of constant running."

"This might need at least two days of testing. You also said you can dodge bullets?"

"More precisely I can dodge 'attacks' depending on how well the attacker aims and predict my movements. It doesn't matter if it's a bullet or a tank shell or an arrow. It's more convenient than taking the hit head on in my opinion."

Two days later I got my Mover 4 rating since I'm considered a speedster while going all out, not only with sheer running speed but with the fact that it requires specially trained or purpose built targeting systems to reliably hit me when I try actively to dodge. The synergy between my mover and brute rating meant my overall threat would be higher than normal, even if it wasn't stated on my official ratings.

BLASTER TESTING.

"Tell me more about your abilities."

"Alright, but I'm not going to alter the terminology of my abilities just because a few people are offended. Anyway I have an ability to use magic, and using my internal reservoir of magical energy called mana, I can cast a variety of spells. One of them is a general spell called magic attack that allows me to attack a target up to fifty meters away from me, and since I have a universal talent to use magic I have access to all forms of elemental damage, like water, fire, air, and earth, alongside some other elements like electricity, light or pure darkness. This attack power can range from low to high, consuming more mana the stronger the attack. The raw destruction I can cause with those attacks are roughly the same regardless of element I use, a few minor effects logical to the element used excluded of course. By paying a greater mana cost than normal for the attack I can also split the attack into smaller, multiple attacks, though the limits of this spell are only five different targets with the weakest damage potential and yes, it have to be five distinct targets for this multi attack option to work."

The chief scientist nodded and we went to test my powers. It took overall a whole week to throughly test those attacks, hours and even days devoted do me showing them each attack rank I could use before I was out of juice. I had access to 25 rank 1 or 12 rank 2 or 8 rank 3 or 6 rank 4 or finally 5 rank 5 attacks per day, being able to mix and match those numbers as I saw fit.

Overall I got a Blaster 4 rating due to my limited number of charges per day and the fact that I did almost no collateral damage to my surroundings when using this blaster power unless I specifically target it.

TRUMP TESTING.

"Tell us more about your magic", said one of the scientists without the air of dismissal I usually heard from other scientists.

"Well, it requires a certain level of skill to use the most high level spells, a degree of skill I'm starting to attain, but I dedicated myself to increase my magical stamina, overall skill and vitality first before branching out into various spells. I found out that what I had right now was enough for my purposes at the time."

"When you say you can use magic, you can cast spells right? Does that means you know more spells than your magic attack, or even can learn more of them in the future?"

I nodded. "I have two spells that are immediately relevant, magic strength which allows me to apply raw force and manipulate objects and magic protection to improve my defenses."

"Why didn't you told us about those in the Brute testing phase?"

"Well, my magic strength can be used at a short range so it mostly counts as a Blaster effect under your classification, or a Master effect I'm not sure. Anyway while it allows me to apply a lot of force it's also overall weaker than my magic attack for the purposes of dealing damage, I could use it to restrain people, but it's not something I'm used to do."

"Please remember that in the future. We don't want another incident like the last time."

"Will do", I said a bit embarrassed and annoyed at the reminder. "And my magic protection lasts only for a few seconds. It's not much reliable and each time I spend enhancing my protection it's mana I don't use to cave in the face of whoever is shooting at my face."

"Anything else?"

"I also have my Prestigitation spell, which is pretty much useless for combat. Trust me I tried, and I don't think you guys want to throughly test that one. I can also cancel or detect magic, but the few tests I did all returned negative on anything that I didn't made myself so I doubt they will become relevant in the future. But most importantly I can learn new spells with meditation, research and communion with my goddess."

"What kind of new spells?"

"All kinds. How to put people to sleep, how to summon elementals or create magical creatures, changing my body into an element, teleportation, stuff wizards are famed to do you know?"

"And how long it takes to learn new spells?"

"A bit. I need to use some power to properly crystallize the knowledge into a proper spell, but I'm banking this energy to improve some of my traits first."

He blinked at my remark. "What do you mean?"

"Well, from where I came from every living being, intelligent or not, had this special energy inside themselves. Some call it Soul Power but personally I call it Experience. Basically it's an energy that allows us to become stronger, faster, tougher and smarter if certain conditions where meet. For example if you survive life or death situations, if you grew as a person, if you defeated worthy opponents, stuff like that. When a certain amount of Experience is collected you can improve some of your traits and become better than before, almost exponentially so. A normal man could have the strength of a gorilla, or learn how to shoot laser eye beams, or learn how to use magic."

"And you have some of that Soul Power?"

"Yes. Currently I'm half full for the next lowest improvement, hopefully by next week or at least the end of the month I should have enough to become stronger."

"I see. Are you 100% sure of that?"

"Yep. As sure as I can be."

There was some whispering from behind the blast window before they all settled down and we went back to testing my powers. Finally I earned a Trump 3 rating due to my less used magic spells being considered 'new' powers and my promise to learn new spells or become stronger. Some where skeptical, well more like almost all of them, but there was enough agreement to give me the more definite trump rating. They asked me if it was possible for someone else to be gifted my Experience, but as far as I knew there wasn't a method to transfer experience to other people for that purpose and Marae was rather tight lipped about that topic.

"Well, we will just finish with the customary brain scan and call it a day."

~~O~~

Director Rebecca Costa Brown

She looked at the report in her hands before remembering its previous iteration that passed through her desk and cursed. After making sure the preparations were complete she said in a loud, clear tone while clutching the report.

"Door to Cauldron."

The customary portal opened, and she stepped into the headquarters of the shadowy organization, a few lines of the report firmly sticking on her head.

'We were unable to locate the subject corona potentia or the gemma'.

 

"Archmaiden, what thoughts do you have about the city?"

I had talked with the PR department long and hard, and I decided to keep my story as being Clair of Riveroak. Which means magic, being born in Balamb and my connection with Marae. I did that mostly to the benefit of the goddess in order to butter her up a bit, but also because other than that I had no personal history. I knew a bit of worm but I didn't exactly read the story myself, my knowledge being supplied by forum discussions and fanfictions, which I could remember more than I could remember my own past.

I knew I was male before, that I was overweight, that at some point in my life I had fucked up massively, but other than that and some minor stuff I couldn't remember the most important bits, like what was my actual fuck up, if I had any living family before being dragged to this mess, what my face looked like, or even my real name.

Because of that I took the identity of Clair as my own, and decided to run with it. While she had some bad memories of bullying from kids and even some scorn from adults after the secret of her blessing was discovered, how she had no clue, her life wasn't as bad as I thought they would be. She was raised by a single mother whose father had died in the war as a hero, and went to the local academy to learn the adventuring arts, finding herself a prodigy in acquiring and shaping Soul Power, or Experience, and eventually getting the rank of highest form of magical manipulation, learning all the magical schools in a single, massive school called Arcano. Only divine spells where barred from her, and that's because she decided to not deal with the divine under any circumstances after finding out her condition was due to being marked by a god.

A decision I didn't had a luxury to choose since aside from Marae and a lot of trial and error that could take weeks to months, I didn't had access to spell books or spell scrolls in order to learn new spells. I need the power, and I need it as fast as possible in order to survive this mess. Not only that but I was on a very strict timetable, since according to my research Simurgh haven't attacked yet. I wasn't sure if the rulebook of 3D&T had it, but I really need some spell to block out precognition and mind intrusion in some form otherwise things will go from bad to worse really, really fast.

But all those worries were for the future, and right now I had some more immediate, but equally urgent things to deal with.

"It's a wonderful city, and it's people are very friendly. I came here only a few days earlier and I already feel welcome."

Most questions and answers where already rehashed previously, no small thanks to the PR department, but some of them were outside the usual norm, both because I requested to talk abut Marae and because the reporters were allowed to ask some of their own questions from time to time so long as they aren't out of line.

Another reporter stood up, this one a woman in a suit and I had to suppress a shudder, reminding myself that not every woman in a suit was actually Contessa in disguise.

"Are you going to fight in Endbringer fights?" She asked and the room fell silent for a few moments.

"Of course", I replied without missing a beat, even if this wasn't one of the scripted questions, "what kind of hero I would be to not go and help against the greatest threat to humanity? I'm not sure if I can injury it like Legend or Eidolon can, but even if I'm not able to damage it by myself every bit counts and I'm fast enough to help with search and rescue if it comes down to it."

She was slightly surprised by my unhesitating response, but nodded satisfied and sat down. I had prepared for such question being asked at some point even if it wasn't on the script, and I was just waiting for this moment in order to do my own bit of talking actually. Before another reporter could talk however I took the mic closer to myself, a signal that I do my own thing, which was reluctantly approved by the PR department, mostly because I wouldn't bulge on it and cited some spiel about freedom of religion and other such things.

"You might not know it", I started startling some of the other PRT personal present, but they were quickly reassured that this was part of the script if an unconventional one, "but I come from a different world", I stated while feeling my heartbeat starting to go crazy, and the room becoming silent.

"The existence of Earth Aleph might be common knowledge, but there are other worlds out there. I came from a world we called Gaia, a word with meaning shared by the ancient greeks of this world, from the Kingdom of Balamb. There I was born and grew up, learning about the world and eventually learning about magic. I realized when I was young that I had been marked by Marae, the Transcendental Goddess of Fertility and Virility to be her champion, and it was because of her blessing that I enjoyed the tittle of prodigy and genius in the arts of magic and war. As I grew up I eventually enlisted in the military and fought in the war between my kingdom and the kingdom of Galbadia. It was there during a mission that a bright flash of light hit me and I somehow got stranded in this world. Alone and confused, the PRT saw my potential and asked me to be a hero and I accepted, but I never forgot about home."

I took a deep breath, glad that nobody started to talk yet. "I don't know if I will ever get back home, but since I'm in this world I will make the most out of it, defending those that took me in and hoping to become strong enough to deal with the enemies of mankind. One of the things that I kept however was my connection with my goddess, and it is my duty as her champion to spread her word and glory to all who can see. I hope to one day save the world, and my goddess will aid me in my endeavour. 'May her glory be eternal, may her wisdom guide me, may her strength aid me, both in this and the next life'", fortunately there wasn't any embarrassing oaths ins this small plea, "thank you for listening to me."

The silence stayed for a couple of seconds more before an explosion of questions came, and I tried to answer as best as I could. Questions about magic, about my world, and to a lesser extend about Marae. No, while I was going to exalt her name I wasn't ready to officially spread her religion in this world. I doubt I would survive the parental backlash from that one. Besides I know that Marae still have some things in hidding, and until I learn more in deep about my patron I'm perfectly happy with the population taking what I already said and reaching their own conclusions. At least it will deflect some of the headaches coming my way.

After the press release I went back to the preferred lounge of the group of heroes I went drinking with. There Flamedisco was sitting taking a sip at his latte. "Laying a bit thick there, didn't you?"

'On the contrary, you behaved exceptionally well. To have my name spread over so many people after so long without retaliation is a good change of pace my dear champion', said the ever present voice in my head. I filed the implications of that statement for later before addressing Flamedisco.

"I said what I had to say, nothing more, nothing less. As Marae's champion, and pretty much only worshiper it's my duty to spread her name and glory."

"I never expected you to be a religious person, that's all."

"Well", I said a bit embarrassed, "I wasn't until recently, but I had to review my options since once I curry enough favor with her she will be my best source of new spells for me."

"Wait, are you telling me that you can actually talk with this goddess?"

"I pray to her, and she answers to me". At this point I had already told the higher ups and they are mostly alright with it, dismissing my words as the delusion of yet another parahuman who doesn't know the source of their powers (as if anyone not being a high ranking Cauldron member actually knew it), but I'm sure someone in the higher chain of command will take my words with care, but unless they make a fuss about it I should be safe to commune with Marae as long as I want.

"Still", Flamedisco continued, going to the coffee machine to refill his drink, "I'm amazed that you managed to get away with it. I thought the PR department would have throw a fit over what you said in the press."

"Oh, they did throw a fit before, but I pressed on. You'd be surprised at what you can get away with when you use the words 'freedom of religion' in this country."

He lout out a loud laugh, startling the two new arrivals while I allowed myself a small smile.

'You're still going to pay the proper sacrifice', Marae reminded me and I pouted.

That's twenty Experience points I had to fork in order to get the proper patronage from Marae and be able to learn the new spells from her, and hopefully get some more concrete help from her in the form of miracles or something like that. I hope.

Guess there really isn't such a thing as free lunch regardless of world you are.

 

Kingpin

The large man sitting in his desk took another look at the document in his had, it was a report on the organization finances, both the front companies and other such legal endeavours to give a legitimacy to his own power and to help laundry the fruits of some of illegal activities.

The one know as Kingpin was a large man, at least six feet tall and built like a tank. His bones where nearly indestructible and his muscles denser giving him superhuman strength on the five ton range, even his skin being as strong as kevlar which helped him to resist attacks, but above all else was his incredible regeneration which allowed him to recover from life threatening injuries in seconds. Even crippling injuries like losing an arm or a leg didn't put him down for long, the missing limb taking only a week or so to regrow back into shape no worse for the wear.

All in all the perfect kind of powers for an enforcer, a thug.

A minion.

He was anything but a minion. Working his way through the hierarchy of the criminal syndicate he now controls, he used every ounce of his guile and sharp intellect to bribe, coerce, blackmail and murder his way to the top, while not neglecting other opportunities, getting a degree in law and making contacts both in the mundane and cape scene while carefully making sure to stay away from the cape culture while at the same time leverage his considerable abilities when it was advantageous to do so.

It was nearly impossible to hide the fact that you're a parahuman with thinkers and trumps that can locate parahumans seemingly without cause, but he held great pride for managing to hide his real abilities for so long from his enemies. Proof that his intellect could stand shoulders to shoulders with the best, his real powers being a trump card in the past since he made sure that no one who knew his secret would live to tell the tale.

But that's in the past and the cat is out of the bag, but that doesn't mean he couldn't throw more curve balls at his enemies.

Currently he managed to employ a rather powerful master, if you know how to leverage it. He had to find a way to make this master be utterly loyal and dependent on him in the future, but at the moment showering him with money and staying at least two degrees of separation away from him, and disposing of the intermediaries later, should have to suffice for now.

This master power was rather subtle in it's application, which made it all the more useful. The cape in question was what one of his personal jokingly called a 'diplomancer', with a set amount of powers based on a certain theme. First if he started talking those hearing him had to let him finish, no matter how long his speech or how out of line or even how provocative it might be to his listeners. Secondly he could slowly, subtly, convince his subjects that a certain idea was appealing, no matter the listener moral views or convictions, though certain people required several applications of his power to be fully convinced. Third, the listener would all eventually believe the idea implanted on their heads was theirs all along, making it nearly impossible to track down the source of the master effect if he was careful enough.

In a sense Kingpin was fortunate that he caught this cape when his career was in it's infancy, after committing several amateur mistakes when using his power. He was also fortunate that this cape was a greedy simpleton who could be brought with money, women and drugs. Still he keep an eye on his to make sure he toed the line.

A knock on the door and Kingpin let the man enter. He was a unassuming presence, less because he was plain and more because he had a non-literal aura of discreetness on him that made him a perfect secretary. "Did you call me sir?"

"Yes", he replied with a gruff voice, "the group we sent to deal with the protectorate, how did they fare?"

"Not really well", the man was ashamed to admit, "in fact according to witness they were taken down awfully quickly."

Kingpin frowned at that. The information his thinkers got from him told it would be a good opportunity to deal with a couple of protectorate members, if anything he could either publicly unmask them without being traced back to him, or he could have then killed. Did something happen for his thinkers information to become invalid? "What happened?"

"They had a new cape with them, one named Archmaiden according to our sources. She alongside with Ursa Aurora took a frontal assault against the group we sent after the protectorate and in an instant took down all but one of them in record time. The ones we sent barely lasted a minute once she engaged with them."

Ah, a new cape then. They usually screwed with thinkers since he doesn't update his information every waking moment, which could make those small blindspots in his information network. "Well, she might be strong, but unless she is on par with the Triumvirate she isn't close to being invincible. We will gather information on her and be more prepared on future operations in any group she's part off. Is that all you wanted to say?"

"No sir. I also have this file on her. It cost us a lot to use our moles in the protectorate to get this information, more so than usual for when a new cape joins the protectorate or wards. It has been classified Omega-1."

Kingpin took the file and scanned it for a few moments, and it wasn't until he saw the very end of the document that it clicked on him. "Is this true?"

"As true as our sources can confirm sir."

He looked at the file for a few moments before smiling. A mystery on his hands, and suddenly he simply HAD to have this cape either in his employ or promptly killed to deny her to his enemies.

"As usual, thank you for your good work", he said to his secretary, after all some well deserved praise went a good way to keep the morale of his employed, "you're dismissed."

The man nodded and promptly left the room, leaving Kingpin alone.

He stared at the photo attached on the file, chuckling to himself. "She's also quite a beauty herself, I wouldn't mind having my hands on her too."

He tossed the file of one Clair Riveroak on his desk before going on his personal bar to pour himself a drink, after all he found himself suddenly in a very good mood.