Matt ignored the others bustling about the Heat common room. He was reading a book on deceased Parahumans from the United States, their known abilities, and their classifications (if the PRT had existed when they still lived).
As one of the most powerful and potentially important Trumps in Australia, possibly the whole world, he was placed on the sidelines a lot. Well, that, and the fact that he'd only joined a few weeks ago. In any case, he was hung back, and made to read all about powers and more importantly, power synergies. Officer Stratton - his business card proclaimed him as the 'Australian Federal Police Liaison for Parahuman Law Enforcement, Canberra' - refused to let him see combat 'until he was ready.' Whenever that might be.
After all, Stratton wanted him to stay safe until he could throw Matt at the Endbringers. Like a lamb to the slaughter, really, fattening him up until he was a viable candidate for sacrifice, using his life to buy others time, to drive back the monstrosities. Matt doubted that Stratton thought for a single second that Matt could beat the Endbringers. No, he was just another pawn to buy time, that was all.
Matt could copy powers. Only for thirty-three minutes, really. And if he didn't mind that deadline shrinking to about eleven minutes, he could copy two different powers and combine them into a single, stronger power. He could continue to add powers but more than four gave him a time limit too small for him to do anything meaningful. The only thing that he'd so far encountered that didn't yield to his touch was Alloy's Tinker ability. From that, the lab coat people assumed he couldn't copy other Tinker abilities, either.
But that wasn't disheartening to them, not really. Stratton wanted Matt to touch Eidolon and Myrddin at the next Endbringer fight and see if Matt couldn't produce some wacky magic mumbo-jumbo to drive off, or even kill, the Endbringers. Until then, he wasn't permitted to do anything. Stratton had said as much.
"He's our biggest, baddest cape if we play it right," Stratton had said as he revealed Matt to his potential teammates in a meeting last Monday. "He has the potential to exceed Eidolon, the strongest Parahuman in the world, in raw power and versatility. He might be the first of humanity's champions against Endbringers that could fight toe-to-toe with them."
Stratton had been ecstatic at Matt's discovery. Matt could understand him being a bit excited. Likewise, Matt could understand why everyone else seemed rather unenthused. Alloy was known as a bloke as friendly as he was badass; despite that, the smile underneath his Hero-inspired visor was brittle and somewhat forced. Steadfast's expression was impossibly neutral, as it always seemed to be (except when radiating disappointment, which she did often) and Matt had thought nothing of it, but realized after a week of observation that Steadfast had 'neutral' and 'extremely neutral' expressions; at the meeting, she'd worn the latter.
Duke, the youngest adult Heat member, had no tells whatsoever. His expression was that of practiced boredom, and Matt couldn't figure out what he was thinking, and didn't snag any information despite him occasionally turning his head to stare at Matt. The newest adult Heat member, Mirror Man, had his face covered with a mirrored visor, but his body language was obvious enough; he was hunched, his shoulders tense, even as he sat.
Blink looked much like Alloy, in a sense, seeing as she was the friendliest Junior Heat, and had a reputation of being friendly and wholesome. Still, she wasn't as old as Alloy, and did not have his experience; her tells we're more obvious, and it seemed like she was disappointed in her own ability, and also disappointed in herself for being disappointed rather than cheering Matt on. Wisp, the fairly popular and uncommon Shaker-Stranger combo, didn't have any tells. Although that might have to do with the fact that literally none of her body was visible, even her body language mostly concealed.
After that, Duke had been the first to approach. He came with a bright smile when Matt was alone, and at that moment Matt knew that Duke was trouble.
"Hey!" he'd said, sticking his hand out. Matt took it, and ignored his mind suddenly opening up to possibilities; increase adrenaline production, testosterone production. Usually people wavered the most minute amount even when stationary - similarly, people's eyes generally flickered slightly even when they were staring at an unchanging object. Matt had none of that anymore. Everything in his body was in complete control, unmoving when he didn't want it to be or didn't care for it to move. He manually spiked his adrenaline and any trace of fear or pain disappeared, even as Duke squeezed his hand ridiculously tight.
"I'm Duke," he'd said in a low voice. "I've been at this shit for six years, since I was fifteen. I started from nothing. I started with nothing. You? You think you're hot shit because you have a cool power, apparently. Well, it ain't true. With that sort of attitude, you're going to be killed by the end of the month."
He tried to shove Matt back, but Matt had already hit his growth spurts and was, though not as much as Duke, still fairly tall and heavy. And the fact that he had perfect motor control - just like Duke - meant that all his muscles locked up, and he didn't even budge at Duke's forceful shove. Duke blinked, trying to figure out what happened, but Matt grabbed a fistful of Duke's costume, pressed his hip against Duke's own, and forced him to bend over to meet him eye to eye. Matt allowed Duke's power to freeze his expression in a scowl, eyes boring into Duke's.
"Hello, Duke, I'm Matthew," Matt had said calmly, tone of his words at odds with his frightening scowl. "It's good to know you're looking out for my wellbeing, but I'm afraid I don't really need the advice. You see, everything you can do, I can do better than you."
Duke had glared at him, trying to pull himself back, but even his strength couldn't make Matt budge. At least, not unless he pushed his body to the point of hurting itself. "For thirty-three fucking minutes," Duke had spat. "Then you return to being boring old you. Worthless."
"Thirty-three minutes is more than enough for most opponents I encounter," Matt had replied calmly. "Do you know what Steadfast's power is? She's an Alexandria package. She can fly, and she can tank hits. Only problem is, she can't move in her Breaker state that renders her invincible. That's the only reason she's not literally Alexandria."
Duke had made to interrupt, but Matt cut him off first. "But what if she had total control over her body, all the time? What if she could control her body even while in her Breaker state? I could achieve that - that's the kind of powers I can synthesize. Steadfast still hasn't left the building to go on patrol. I could go to her, shake her hand just like I did with you, and I could hunt you down. It would only last ten minutes, but for that ten minutes, I would be Alexandria. I could take down the Baron and Killshot and Sandstorm in those ten minutes. And I could kill you. Snap your neck, just like that - your Brute 2 rating will do nothing to save you."
Matt had released Duke's hand, shoving his hand back in the process. "So, yes. You are more experienced than I am. But that's alright, I can make up the difference, pull my own weight, with raw power. Power that you could never achieve. So don't you worry about little old me. I can take care of myself."
Matt didn't recall what Duke had to say, because he'd left then, uninterested in further conversation. However, Duke had taken to avoiding Matt like the plague, so clearly Duke had understood that Matt didn't need all his, ah, advice, as helpful as he was trying to be. He wasn't the only one avoiding Matt. Alloy talked to him sometimes, but Matt suspected he was simply too busy. Mirror Man was generally shy around anyone anyway, as was Wisp, and Blink did her best to try and engage Matt in conversation; if Matt were more inclined to converse, she might have fielded better results. Steadfast didn't seem to like him much. Matt could tell she was the kind of person to take pride in her strength, and Matt was, by default, stronger than her. That was kind of the whole point of his power.
If Stratton hadn't been such a fucking muppet during that introduction, then things might have been better between them.
In any case, it was up to him to cultivate better relationships with them. Whether they liked it or not, they were his teammates now. Matt decided to go speak to one or more of them, if he could find them, and closed his book, rolling sideways off the sofa and deftly onto his feet. He glanced around, and decided to head into the Junior Heat dorms. Juniors were a safe bet, surely, them only being a couple of years older than him.
Blink's door was open. She got a nice big room, because she was, in fact, a ward of the state. She didn't actually have a proper home - well, this building, this Parahuman Law Enforcement Building, was her home. She'd decorated it in a mixture of white, pink and gold. Fairly tasteful, all told, and everything went with that aesthetic, except for maybe the shelf lined with Canberra Heat figurines. Matt, not having a name or costume, didn't occupy a spot on that place yet.
Matt knocked on the open door, and Blink's civilian face looked up. She smiled. "Yes?"
"Just wanted to talk," Matt said. "Form better relationships with my teammates and all that."
"Sure, sure," Blink said, smile growing. "Come in, then."
Matt noticed the way all of her shoes were neatly lined at the door, and he removed his own, letting his socked feet step onto the fuzzy pink rug. He looked around, curiously but hopefully not creepily, taking in the decorations. A bed on one corner, near a window; two bookshelves dominated the wall perpendicular to the window. Opposite the window, and next to the door, was a wardrobe, and opposite the bookshelves, where Blink was sitting now, was a desk, with studying implements and, right now, cosmetics. A large circular mirror hung on the wall, in which Blink was focusing, as she applied mascara to her eyelashes.
"Going somewhere?" Matt asked. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Oh, no," she said. "Don't worry. I'm meeting a friend… date… at eleven. I don't have to leave until half-past-ten." Almost thirty minutes from now. "We can talk for a bit. What did you have in mind?"
Matt had no fucking clue. "I have no fucking clue," he said.
Blink snorted. "Alright, then. Have you met the PR people yet? In the process of deciding a name, or a costume?"
"Not yet. I will later today, though."
"Hm. Well, they do know what they're doing, but I'll admit, they can get a bit carried away. Make sure to keep them on track, before they derail themselves into weird costume designs you definitely don't want." Blink paused and smiled at him through the mirror, as Matt sat down on the edge of Blink's bed, covered in pastel-pink blankets. "Have you thought of a name?"
"I can't think of anything that fits my description and one that I like at the same time," Matt sighed. "There's Fusion, which is a bit boring and apparently already used by a hero in New Zealand. I could go with Synthesis, maybe. But it's a mouthful and not very catchy."
"Hmm. I'm afraid I'm out of ideas, too. But you should know I went through the same thing you did. There are only so many names for Movers - I wanted to be called Flash or Spark or Bolt but all of them are taken. So I got the second fiddle name."
"It could be worse."
"Could be worse," Blink echoed. "So? What about your costume? Got any ideas?"
"Nah. I prefer black, though. But I know heroes aren't allowed to have black because it's too edgy or whatever."
"Not really, usually as long as it gets paired with some bright neon color to increase the contrast. But yeah, all-black generally is a no-no. Too edgy, too imposing, too dystopian-soldier sort of thing."
"Or Dark Lord."
"Or a Dark Lord. I don't think I've seen a Dark Lord before, though, not within heroes and certainly not within villains that want to be taken seriously." Blink set down the mascara and winked a couple of times at the mirror, inspecting her handiwork. She turned to Matt. "Does this look okay?"
He had no idea. "Sure."
"Great."
She began packing away her cosmetics into a little blue make-up bag, which she then tucked into a drawer on her desk. She instead pulled out a little felt pouch, tipped out its contents - little earrings and studs and whatnot fell out into her palm. She began inspecting them, holding them up to her ears as she leaned forward to look in the mirror.
"How did your costume come about?" Matt asked.
Electric-blue with sharp white lines, a similarly blue visor. Visibly armored in some places, but for the most part, it was skintight, accentuating Blink's assets. She was sometimes visibly embarrassed when someone asked about her costume on the streets, which implied that it wasn't really her personal favorite.
"Ah, well," Blink said. "My power creates a blue flash when I, well, Blink. So that's what the color scheme is based on. It looks skintight, but the truth is that there are smooth plates underneath that act as armor. Chest, back, legs, arms, et cetera. Apparently it was tricky for PR to figure out how to armor my forearms, because I don't wear gloves and the transition from armored to unarmored needed to look natural. So that I don't look like Popeye the Sailor-Man."
"Huh, I didn't know you had so much armor on you."
"Yeah, they don't really want a repeat of 2007."
Ah, yes, good old 2007, when the local Parahuman Law Enforcement was revealed to be skimping on Junior Heat's health and safety procedures. Also the fact that Alloy was working seventy hours a week on average, but mostly the health and safety part. The public wasn't exactly happy about that. This led to the transfer of Duke from Geelong to Canberra and, Matt assumed, armored skintight costumes.
"So if your costume has that much armor, does that mean that you don't actually have double-dees like the public believes?"
Blink apparently favored a more 'natural' style of makeup. It also meant it did little to conceal her mad blush. "I don't," she muttered.
"I'm assuming that bust wasn't an intentional design on your part, then."
"Definitely not," she denied. "I've asked them to change it, and they say they'll do it… and then they'll tell me about how much more approachable it makes me and how it encourages new Triggers to join the side of the law, and then they don't fix it."
"Well, you have to say they've got a point," Matt said. "I joined because of your double-dees."
Blink stared at him in abject horror, and he barked out a laugh. She relaxed. "Thank God. I thought you were being serious."
"Nah. I just know more heroes would be willing to let me copy their powers," Matt shrugged. "Besides. I was never interested in being a villain. I just… I just want to live my life, you know? But if I didn't get allies quickly, I'd probably be brainwashed by some Master and turned into a puppet super-soldier."
Blink stared at him, then nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad you joined, Matt, despite how it could have been interpreted."
"You mean the way all of you weren't particularly happy I'm as strong as I am?"
Blink was silent for a moment. "…yeah. I know we weren't particularly welcoming. I only realize this now that Stratton was being a douche like he often is, and bloating your reputation without your say-so, but back then it just seemed to us like you were trying to be better than us. Which… power-wise, you are. But it doesn't feel good to have it rubbed in, either."
"I know. I know all too well."
Matt's mind wandered to a few months ago, and he smothered it.
"So. Juggernaut?"
Blink straightened, faced with a topic safe to talk about. "Yeah. Wisp caught him yesterday, with Slipstick, the vigilante. They did well."
"And they're going to be released again."
"Yes. There's not much choice, you know. The only prison that can guarantee Parahuman containment is the Birdcage, and that's the kind of place that mass-murderers like Gavel go."
Matt held his tongue. Gavel. Probably the most infamous Australian cape, ever. Confirmed fourteen villain kills, confirmed eleven hero kills, confirmed sixty-seven civilian kills, most of them the families of his victims. Indirectly, another two-hundred plus kills, when he allowed a villain to detonate explosives in the small town of Ashford.
"If we had arrested someone without a Breaker state that renders them invulnerable, then we might be able to contain them in specialized cells in ordinary prisons. Juggernaut has an ability perfect for breakouts. We'd never be able to contain him, no matter how hard we tried, unless Alloy kept watch twenty-four-seven. Frankly, he has better things to do with his time."
Matt hummed in understanding.
"So we slap a nice big fine on him, very discreetly on his private identity, leave him enough for a new start and hope he doesn't try this shit again. We also ask if he wants to join Law Enforcement, he says no, then we say goodbye, if you pull this shit again we're going to make you a pauper and also slap legal restrictions on your civilian identity so you can't even go to the supermarket without being frisked to make sure you haven't stolen anything."
"They do that?"
"Oh, yeah. I don't recall any cases in Canberra, but I do know there have been some in Melbourne and Sydney. Murderers tend to go to the Birdcage almost immediately, but petty criminals just get things like house arrest and not being allowed to enter certain public places."
"Huh." That was new.
"The threat of being ostracized by the public every time they have to get searched at a supermarket, pharmacy, even a library, is usually enough to discourage them from misbehaving. That just leaves the people whose mind got warped by their powers - kleptomania, that sort of thing - and they tend to get therapy, paid for by the federal government. If they turn out okay, it gives the Police a chance to recruit them."
Blink put on a wristwatch, a simple one with little lines where the hours were but no other inscriptions, and stood up. She smiled apologetically. "It's been good talking to you, Matt, but I think I should go now. I won't be there on time otherwise."
"Oh. Alright." Matt stood up, and slipped on his shoes as she put on a thin jacket. "I guess I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, you will." Blink pulled on a pair of heeled boots.
"I haven't caught your name, I think."
She blinked. "You haven't? Well, I'm Olivia. Nice to meet you, Matt."
Matt smiled. "You too."
Fucking hell.
Olivia leaped, and Blinked. She flashed out of existence and, after a moment of lag, flashed into existence on the opposite rooftop, fires spiraling around it. She repeated this, looking around for people and listening for muffled shouts for help, where apparently a new Trigger had made a right mess of things.
She hadn't even been an hour into her date with James. Not even a fucking hour until her work phone rang, and she picked up, and the team leader, Steadfast, had spoken.
"We have a disaster situation. You need to come to Narrabundah immediately. Unknown Parahuman, likely a new Trigger, a Blaster-Shaker ability to launch and spread fire, it looks like."
"Boss," Olivia said quietly, not using the cape name since people were listening in. "I requested today off since two weeks ago. I've been working every day. I'm on a date, and I'm enjoying myself for once. You can't just call me in because of a new… person."
"Blink, I'll be frank. I don't care about how you personally feel of this matter." Olivia felt like she was being doused with cold water. "This new Trigger appears to be powerful and destructive. People have been burned alive, trapped underneath rubble as the foundation of buildings weaken from the heat. You are the best search-and-rescue member of the Heat. You are a hero, Blink, and you have a duty to protect and save the people. What you are currently arguing is immature and selfish. There is a car coming to pick you up and I expect you to follow the orders of your handler without argument."
Olivia made to retort, but Steadfast had hung up on her. She took a deep, deep breath.
"Is something wrong?" James asked.
"Fuck!" she screamed, startling James and drawing dirty looks from nearby parents with young children or old people. She clenched her fists. "I'm… I'm sorry, James. I've been called in. It's an emergency."
Strangely, James didn't seem too surprised. "Okay. Do you think you'll be coming back today, or…?"
"I'd say possibly, but I also don't want to get your hopes up only to crush them," Olivia murmured. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Don't apologize."
From where she was sitting in the little cafe, Olivia could see a black sedan - her usual - roll into the street around the corner, homing in on the position of her Tinkertech work phone. She sighed again. "I feel like such a shit. I'm so sorry, James."
"Like I said, it's okay."
"If it means anything to you, I really enjoyed what time we spend together."
He smiled slightly at that. "Does that mean a second date is still on the table?"
Olivia almost cried at his earnestness. She beamed back instead. "Definitely. And if I forget, remind me."
"I will."
"Thanks for taking me out." Olivia stood up, and James mirrored her. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and squeezed; James reciprocated the action. His hugs were kinda weird, not in a bad way, but she felt more secure in his grip than anyone else's. She liked it. "I have to go, now."
"Stay safe, whatever it is."
"I will," she promised. As the car arrived, she pecked him on the cheek, unfortunately missing the way he'd inevitably blush the way he did (and it was so cute) in favor of striding to the car, yanking the door open, and throwing herself on the seat and slamming the door shut.
The driver, a woman in her early thirties by the name of Jessica, didn't glance at her. "Please be gentle."
"Fuck gentle, and fuck this whole situation. What is even going on anyway?"
"A new Trigger, it appears. A fairly powerful one at that, although pyrokinetics generally are. To summarize, the Trigger can create violent shockwaves followed by an even more deadly wave of fire. The combination of fire and concussive force has torn down several buildings in the area, including a school's gymnasium, and has trapped about two dozen people under rubble. Steadfast and Alloy are doing their best to contain him, while Duke is already working search and rescue."
"What about Matt? He has power-copying powers, he can surely help Steadfast."
"He's not cleared for deployment."
"Meaning Stratton is perfectly fine risking me or the original Steadfast, but not him." Olivia took a deep breath again. This wasn't Matt's fault. Matt was a decent person, if a bit blunt and sarcastic. She knew this now.
"You can't blame everything on Stratton."
"Sure I can."
"Just like you, Captain receives orders from above. Very specific ones that he must fulfill, and the only real power he gets is what kind of interpretation he can make of these specific orders."
"Isn't that what Hitler's generals all said at the Nuremberg trials?"
"Blink, Captain Stratton is not Hermann Goering. I know you're upset, but you're not being sensible."
"Fine," Olivia huffed.
They made a stop at PLE HQ, where Blink dressed in her costume in less than a minute, and a different car - a black SUV this time, instead of just a sedan - took her towards South Canberra, sirens on. Ordinary police cruisers escorted their vehicle, and it took less than ten minutes to reach Narrabundah, which generally took fifteen to twenty minutes from HQ by car. Jessica slowed down as the sound of explosions and the sight of smoke came closer.
"Alright. I'm gonna go," Olivia said, her grumble gone, as soon as she realized how widespread the fire was.
"Be careful," Jess said.
"I will."
With a flash of light, Olivia disappeared from reality; a slight lag, another flash, and she reappeared on a tall rooftop where she could see things. Quite a bit had been burned down or knocked down. Casualties might be quite high, several dozen at the least. Thankfully it was a workday, and Narrabundah was mostly a residential suburb, meaning there shouldn't be too many people still here. But that didn't mean people were safe.
She Blinked again, and again, until she found Steadfast standing in front of a police cruiser, which in turn was parked in front of a group of injured civilians.
"Steadfast!" Olivia called.
"Blink. You took your time. Quite a few more people may have been trapped because of that."
Olivia ground her teeth. "You can't control how much time I spend in a car if I'm not driving it."
"I suppose you're right. Regardless, time is of the essence, and this argument doesn't help." Steadfast gestured towards the west. "The explosions originated from that area. Duke has managed to find most of the people there, though we might be missing some; regardless, police with dogs have taken over that region due to the lowered threat. The Parahuman in question, codename Firestorm, slowly moved east, heading towards the school over there, although it didn't pass through it directly, leaving minimal damage. Which, ironically, is a shame since the school is completely empty. It instead struck the houses around it. That area is high-risk. You will instead be looking in the areas that Firestorm just passed through. You will remain outside the range of their explosions, as they are deadly to those without a Brute rating. Is that clear?"
"Yes," Olivia said.
"Go," Steadfast urged, and Olivia Blinked away.