"In short, I think you'll find our curriculum is specifically designed to help children like young Fidget here."

Crusade rolls her eyes. Dr. Samuels has been droning for about an hour on all the things that their school offers. It's clear Fidget's foster mom was sold on the idea when she hear the word free, which was the third word the headmaster said.

The foster mom was overcome when she arrived, extremely relieved that Fidget had been found safe. Even gave each of them a hug. It made Crusade relieved to see that this woman actually cared and didn't just kick Fidget out when she dismantled the TV. She keeps a hand on Fidget's arm, letting her futz with an old radio Dr. Samuels gave her. "I think it would be good for her to attend, I'm just not sure how to set this all up with the state. She just got started at the public school."

Dr. Samuels smiles warmly. If the dictionary had a picture next to the definition of professor, this guy would be it. In his 50's with dark hair with white around the temples, a goatee, glasses, and a tweed three-piece suit. "Don't you worry about that. We have a strong relationship with state and county education officials, we can get everything sorted for you."

She smiles in relief. "Oh good. That's a load off." She glances at Fidget as she rips the nob off the radio in her hands. "Will she stay here until she's…stable?"

The headmaster hmmms. "We could, but that would require special permission from social services. We can start her at classes here tomorrow, but it will take about a week to get that arranged."

Fidget looks up at her foster mom, concern on her face. "I don't want to stay here, I want to be at home."

The foster mom's mouth opens and closes. "Sweetheart, they know how to deal with things like this much better than I do. If you go wandering in the middle of the night again…."

Po'boy raises his hand a little and steps forward. "Uh, sorry to interrupt. How long do you think until she can sleep without doin' her thing, doc?"

Dr. Samuels regards Po'boy in his trunks and mostly unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. "Probably a couple of weeks at least."

He turns to the foster mom. "I'd be happy to help keep an eye on Fidget. At least until she's got a handle on things."

The foster mom shakes her head. "No, I couldn't risk you getting injured by one of her…toys."

He smiles. "Oh, that's not a problem. I can handle whatever she can think up."

When the foster mom is silent for a minute, Fidget looks up from her new contraption. "He helped save me, even gave me his phone so I wouldn't go find something to work on." Huh, so that's where she got that.

The foster mom sighs. "Yes, that may be nice. But I'm getting security cameras anyway. If you try and wander off I need to know." She flicks her eyes at Po'boy, leaving the rest of what she would be keeping an eye on unsaid.

The headmaster spreads his hands. "Excellent! Then we'll see Fidget first thing tomorrow for classes."

Fidget and her foster mom stand and shake hands with Dr. Samuels. As they start walking towards the door Fidget wanders over to them, her hands busy rewiring the radio. She looks up at them, eyes tired with a warm smile on her face. "Thanks for saving me from the Beach Bums. I don't care what mom says, vigilantes aren't worthless criminals."

Crusade's eyes flick to the foster mom, who is suddenly very interested in one of Dr. Samuels' degrees displayed on the walls. She looks back at Fidget. "I'm glad we could help."

Po'boy pats her on the head. "And I'll see you tonight, little dude."

The foster mom walks over to Dr. Samuels' desk, grabs a notepad, and writes something quickly. She tears off the paper and hands it to Po'boy. "Our address and my number." He takes the paper and nods. Fidget and her foster mom make their way out of the open office door, closing it behind them.

Dr. Samuels stands from his chair and slowly walks around his desk. "Thank you for bringing young Fidget to our attention. It's kids like her that benefit most from our program."

Crusade nods. "Hopefully she gets things under control soon. When we found her she was scared of her own tech, had no idea what she made."

The headmaster nods sagely. "Tinkers of this variety are rare, their specialization focuses more on the materials they use rather than a specific outcome. From what you described, it seems Fidget can make a wide variety of things, sophisticated devices, from junk laying around. When we help her to be able to focus on a specific outcome, I anticipate she'll have very few limitations. We have a tinker on our staff who I think will work very well with her."

Crusade turns to Glade. "Anything else we need to find out from Dr. Samuels?" Glade's been pretty quiet the whole time, letting Crusade do the talking. He probably heard all of this before when he interviewed the man, but this isn't an interview, they might be able to find out more. But Glade shakes his head, arms stoically crossed in front of him. She turns to Po'boy and he gives her a thumbs up. Guess they're done. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out a card. "If there's anything you might need help with, here's how to reach us."

Dr. Samuels takes the card with a small smile. "I appreciate it. Thank you, Light Brigade."

They make their way out of the school and back to where they left their car a half-mile down the road near a wooded area. Glade is quiet, his arms still crossed, and Po'boy is zoning out as they walk, a small smile on his face. Weird, but whatever. Crusade sends her armor away and leans against the car. "So, what do we think?"

Glade grumbles. "Something's rubbing me the wrong way, but I can't put my finger on it." He looks back at the red brick building with large windows they just left. "He said it was free."

Crusade tilts her head. "Could be. Didn't you say they get funding from the government?"

"Yeah, but no government funding is that good. And if it were free for everyone, he would've mentioned it for the article."

That is a bit odd. "Maybe since she's in the system the state pays for it so the foster families don't?"

Glade shrugs. "Maybe." He turns back. "Might be nothing, just getting a weird vibe."

"Vibes are important, man."

Po'boy's voice from her left startles Crusade. She looks back and forth. She could have sworn he was on the other side. Her brow furrows. "Weren't you over there, just now?"

Po'boy rubs the back of his neck. "Sorta. But I get what you mean, Glade. I poked around cause something was bugging me too. But it's all legit from what I could see."

How the hell was he checking things out when he was standing right next to her the whole time? He even talked to Fidget's foster mom and the headmaster. Maybe he makes some kind of copy of himself? She shakes her head. "We'll just make sure to come back and check on her now and then. Nothing else we can do. Her guardian made a decision."

Po'boy nods. "And I'll be keeping an eye on her for a bit too, make sure the little dude's safe." He leans against the car and points at them. "So this what you guys do? Go find lost kids?"

Crusade shrugs. "This time we did. We're vigilantes, just got to town a few weeks ago."

"What else you do?"

What a weird question. She looks over at Glade, one eyebrow quirked.

He nods once, guess he has a good vibe this time. He uncrosses his arms and turns to Po'boy. "Well, right now we're trying to figure out who's attacking vigilantes. Been two so far, might end up being more."

Crusade nods along. "But other than that, just try and keep people safe."

Po'boy runs a hand along his dark, short cropped hair. "It was really awesome how you guys stood up to the Beach Bums like that. Dope and his drugs were bad enough before, but now…. Oceanview is my home, grew up here, and now it's a shit hole cause of them. And the heroes aren't doing anything about it."

Her eyes widen a little. He wants to join them, protect his neighborhood as a vigilante. "Well, if you want to do something about it, you could work with us. We deal with stuff all over town, but the Beach Bums are on our priority list, we just don't know enough about them to really do anything yet."

His eyes widen and he smiles. "Dude, I've always lived here. I know tons!"

Glade chuckles. "What's your power?"

Po'boys lips press into a thin line. "It's kinda hard to explain. It's easier if I just show you." He pushes off the car and suddenly there are two of him standing side by side. They look at each other and give each other a thumbs up.

Crusade smirks. "I knew it! That's how you keep jumping all over the place. You make a copy of yourself."

One of the Po'boys gives her a thumbs down and blows a raspberry at her. "Boring!" He disappears and is replaced by…herself.

Glade startles a little and walks up to the other Crusade. His head rotates as he looks back and forth at the two of them. "It's really good. So you can look like anyone?"

Not-Crusade puts one hand on her hip and points at Glade. "Not just anyone!" She disappears, leaving Po'boy sniggering by the car as Glade jumps.

Crusade frowns a little. "I do not sound like that."

Glade shrugs. "Eh, it's pretty close."

She opens her mouth to argue, but all she does is yelp as a 10 ft Donkey Kong appears. "What the hell?!" The Donkey Kong slams its fists together and does the classic yell from the video games. "Holy shit, you can make that? That's awesome, Po'boy!" She turns to where he had been standing, but he's not there anymore. She looks around, not able to see him anywhere. She jumps when something taps her on the shoulder.

Po'boy stands behind her, a smirk on his face. "Yeah, apparently whenever I'm using Dickwad people don't see me as much. Makes things like snooping in the schools records a whole lot easier."

Crusade raises an eyebrow. "Dickwad?"

He shrugs. "What else am I supposed to call it?"

She chuckles. "Fair enough." She looks back at the giant ape and takes a few steps towards it. Reaching out a hand, she touches what she assumes is fur, but pulls her hand back quickly. "Is that –"

"Skin, yeah. Haven't quite figured out how to make it different textures. But it looks convincing."

Glade walks around the Donkey Kong. "You perceive everything it does?" Po'boy nods and Glade hrmphs. "Lucky."

So he makes a physical being, not a projection or anything, that he can make look like pretty much whatever he wants. He controls its movements and can perceive everything it does. Super versatile master ability. And he also gets a stranger effect on the side. Very handy. Their team could use a little stealthiness. Glade's way sneakier than her, but neither of them is what she would call covert.

Donkey Kong vanishes, leaving no trace of its existence behind. Crusade turns to her partner and speaks softly. "What do you think?"

Glade glances at Po'boy quickly. "I think he wants to protect his home, and I'm good having someone like that on the team."

Crusade nods with a smile and they turn back. "Welcome to the Light Brigade, Po'boy."

~0~0~

Crusade dives off to the side, narrowly avoiding the incoming hazy blue ball. It spins, moving almost too fast for her to track. Arcing back around, it rolls at her again. She can't get out of the way fast enough, so she raises a hand and puts up a barrier. The blue ball slams into it and shatters the wall, but it's stopped in its tracks. She takes her sword and slams it into the ball as it unfolds. Seemingly unfazed by her hit, the 3 ft tall blue hedgehog with arms and legs jumps up and curls into a ball again. It zooms off, gaining speed, before launching itself into the air and coming down on her. She steps out of the way and the spinning ball bounces once before it rolls after her again, but she's ready this time. Using her barriers under her feet, she jumps up over the spinning cannonball and comes down on top of it, whacking it with her sword. This time, when the ball unfurls, the hedgehog groans and falls back before disappearing.

Out of breath, Crusade looks around. She finally spots Jackass by a tree, face pinched in concentration. She sends her armor away as she walks over. "That was really good. You were keeping me really off balance there."

Jackass smirks. "That's a really neat trick with the way you do parkour with your power. It's like walking on the wind."

She smiles as she grabs her water bottle and takes a swig. Walking on the wind, she likes that. "Thanks." She leans against the tree next to where Glade sits, watching their little skirmish. She thought it would be a good idea to have them get acquainted with each other a little bit, not that they're going to be working together. Plus, Po'boy, or Jackass as he's calling himself in costume, said he'd never really used his power to fight before. It's always good to know your limitations before going out in the field, so she and Glade have been trading off beating on Dickwad.

She's actually really impressed with how quickly he's getting the hang of combat. The first match they had he made a big, muscley guy and tried to pummel Crusade into submission, but her armor was able to take it and she handled him pretty quickly. This time he made a speedy hedgehog and kept her on the defensive most of the time. With instincts like that, he'll get the hang of fighting in the field quickly.

Glade looks up at Jackass from his spot on the ground. "So how hard do you have to concentrate to make Dickwad move or attack? Can you do that while you do other things?"

"It kinda depends. If I just want him to go on auto-pilot then I can also do other stuff. Like if I said 'go punch that tree' he would just keep punching the tree until I told him something else. But if I want him to do something complicated I gotta focus on it."

He may be able to work on that over time. Glade has already gotten better at multitasking with his dryads, could work the same for Jackass. Crusade slides down the tree until she's sitting on the ground, glad for a moment to relax. Their new teammate suggested this secluded part of the Gouge to meet up and practice. When Crusade expressed concerns about people running into them practicing, Jackass just laughed. According to him, locals largely avoid coming to the scar of San Domenico.

Earth Aleph never had the concentration of capes that Earth Bet did, but the ones they had seemed to congregate in San Domenico. No one ever really knew why, they just did. The city was full of powered people of one kind or another. And just like on Bet, a city full of capes was bound to attract attention. Leviathan attacked, cutting into the city. Vigilantes managed to repel him, but the landscape was changed forever. The city has recovered since then, but the Gouge remains as the evidence of Leviathan's attack. The lake and wildlands in between Old Towne and Oceanview isn't occupied by any businesses or residents, just people looking for a quiet, secluded area.

It's curious to Crusade, though. There is…was no San Domenico on Earth Bet. Or at least one that she had heard of. Due to one difference or another, cities seemed to develop differently on Earth Aleph; LA wasn't the movie capital of the world, San Francisco is a much bigger place, and San Domenico is a major city. Back on Bet, she remembers there was some city near San Francisco that got sunk, theoretically by Leviathan, but no one ever knew why.

Glade stands, pulling her from her thoughts, and stretches out his back. He turns to Jackass. "Ready for another go?"

Jackass nods as he launches himself off the log. "Yeah man. This time I'll just do it myself." He picks up the baseball bat he brought with him.

Her partner shrugs. "If you're sure." He throws out a bunch of seeds and they start growing and combining into a couple of vines and a trunk.

Crusade watches as Jackass bobs and weaves, getting hit in on the creatures where he can. Three on one isn't exactly even odds, but their newest teammate is making them work for it. Her pocket vibrates and she pulls her phone out. It's not one of her contacts calling, but she answers anyway as she rises to her feet. "Hello?"

"Is this Crusade?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Desperado. We met yesterday at the Haunted Shack?"

"Riiiight. Thanks again for your help out there, really saved our skins."

"Eh, don' mention it. Did Fidget get to that school alright?"

"Yeah. Got in contact with her guardians, all fine."

"That's good to hear. Listen, I was hoping we could talk. Is there somewhere we can meet?"

Crusade's brow furrows. "Um…just a sec." Pulling the phone away from her ear, she hits the mute button. She waves down her teammates and gives a yell. "Hey guys!" They both stop and turn to her. "Desperado wants to meet up, says she wants to talk. Do we just want to invite her here?"

Glade nods. "May as well. It's not like this is a normal spot for us, we just picked a clearing." Jackass gives a thumbs up in agreement.

Crusade unmutes the phone. "Yeah, if you're free now I can send you a location. We'll be here for a bit."

"Great. I'll get there as soon as I can."

She sends the number a ping and programs Desperado into her contacts. Shoving the phone in her pocket she sits back on the ground and watches the rest of the fight. Jackass eventually taps out, sweating and holding one arm, but Glade had to send a few dryads out to repair his vines and trunk at least once during the skirmish.

Jackass joins them in the shade and collapses, rolling onto his back on the ground with a groan. "This is gonna take some getting used to."

Crusade chuckles. "Yeah, it does."

They all sit just chatting for a bit while Jackass gets his breathing back under control. Crusade is about to suggest another round with Dickwad when a crash in the brush pulls their attention.

"DANG IT!"

Crusade jumps to her feet, armor already up, and starts moving towards the voice. Glade runs right past her, muttering. "Shoot, I forgot about the lurkers." He disappears into the brush ahead of her. She follows him, trying not to laugh, as they spy Desperado half trapped in a bush.

As Glade bends down, the bush seems to part and move away from the trapped Texan. He grabs her arms and helps her stand. Her hat and targeting visor are askew and she's breathing hard. She pulls her arms from Glade's grasp and starts to right herself. "What in the Sam Hill was that!?"

"Just my lurkers. Sorry, forgot to turn them off when you said you were coming."

She looks and Glade and Crusade as she huffs a laugh. "Nice to see your powers are workin' again."

Crusade looks down at her armor and sends it away. She waves and turns back through the undergrowth. "Come on, we're over here." The three of them head back to the clearing where Jackass sits against a tree. He gives Desperado a small wave. Crusade leans against the tree she had been using before. "So, what's on your mind?"

Desperado grabs her bandolier, fidgeting with the bullets a little bit. "This is a might difficult for me. I ain't used to askin' for help and all." She pauses, realizing she's playing with her bullets, and pulls her hands away. She starts pacing instead. "I mighta mentioned yesterday that I've got business with the Beach Bums. Well, I've been goin' after them myself for a bit and haven't had much luck. They're awfully slippery. I heard there was lots of vigilantes in San Domenico, but you're the only ones I've seen going after them." She stops, huffing. "I guess what I'm tryna say is, I sure would appreciate some help dealing with these assholes."

Crusade tilts her head. "What's your beef with the Beach Bums?"

Desperado looks down for a moment, like she's collecting herself, then looks back up. "I had a shop, Fistful of Bullets Armaments Outlet. I've been making specialty bullets all my life, and risked everything to come here to start a business. It was goin' great…until a few weeks ago when it got ransacked. Trashed everything and stole everything I had. Found these littered on the ground." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small evidence bag and hands it to Glade. He peers at it for a second before passing it to Crusade. It holds a small white baggie with an 'A1' printed on it. She passes it off to Jackass.

He takes a glance at the bag before looking back up at Desperado. "You think the Beach Bums deal this?"

Desperado nods. "Source says that's a Dope drug, so I figure the Beach Bums are to blame. Plus I gotta actually find the pieces of shit that actually did the trashing." She grabs the bag from Jackass and puts it back in her pocket. "Look, I know I'm askin' a lot. Maybe we could work together for a spell? You probably got your own things goin' on, I could help out. And you could help me get this sorted so I can get my life back on track."

Crusade presses her lips into a thin line. She had her whole life ripped away from her, she can sympathize with her drive to find answers. But she's talking about revenge, pure and simple. It's a common enough reason for someone to become a vigilante, but she's seen it go very wrong. Still, the Beach Bums seem like more and more of a threat every day. Even if they're not the ones who personally wrecked her shop, they delt the drugs that led someone to do it. Either way, it's not just her choice.

She looks over at Glade and jerks her head towards Jackass. Crusade crouches down next to their new teammate as Glade sits on the ground next to him. "Thoughts?"

Glade hmmmms. "We just added someone to the team, so if we're going to shake things up now's a good time." He looks at Crusade. "What do you think?"

She chews her lip a bit. "I feel for her, I really do. I just…I don't know if our priorities align."

Jackass tilts his head. "I mean, she's going after the Beach Bums. You said that was a priority yesterday."

She shakes her head. "No. I mean yes they are. Priorities is the wrong word." What word is she trying to think of? "Principles?" Jackass gives her a confused look. "I want to take the Beach Bums down, but when we do we'll take them into custody if we can. I'm not sure she'll see it the same way."

His brows raise and he nods. "Fair enough." He twists, looking over his shoulder at Desperado. "Hey, you plannin' on killing these guys?"

Desperado startles a little, her posture tensing a little. "No, that ain't the plan. They deserve to rot in a cell the rest of their natural lives."

Jackass turns back. "There you go. I think we can trust her. She helped us get Fidget safe. We can at least give it a shot."

Crusade nods. Turning to Desperado, she waves. "Come on over, Desperado, and tell us more about yourself."

~0~0~

It's early, well before Anna's alarm is set to go off, when Leopold bursts into her room with his phone held out in front of him. She opens her mouth to complain, but he's already talking loudly. "Thanks for calling, Complaca." Anna jumps up in bed and waves him over. He hurries over and sits on the edge of her bed as the Spanish voice comes over the speaker. What kind of merc operates this early?

"A deal's a deal, and I received word that the girl was recovered. Very good. The person who hired us is named Charles Sinclair."

Anna tilts her head. She's never heard that name before. "Sinclair. Are there any other details you can share?"

"I know he came to an agreement with the Triple Six Syndicate himself, he did not ask us to facilitate. I also know what he looks like." Leopold's phone buzzes with a text notification. "I sent you a picture. This is all I know."

Leopold nods to no one in particular. "Thank you, Complaca. You've been very helpful."

"It is my pleasure. I will remind you that the contract with the STRANGE school is now your responsibility. Please follow through. And, if you need any assistance in the future, you know where to find us. Adios."

The line goes dead before they have a chance to respond. Anna sinks back onto her pillows as Leopold taps his phone to open the picture. "Charles Sinclair. Now we just have to figure out who that is."

Leopold's eyes bulge as the picture pops up and he slowly turns his head towards her. "I don't think it's going to be that hard." He holds the phone out for her to take.

Brow furrowing, she reaches out and grabs the phone from him. The picture is a screenshot of a video. A video they've both seen. The picture is of Apogee and the stern man in the blue suit who handed him the statement on vigilantes. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. She looks up at her partner. "The guy who ordered all of those attacks works for the Wardens."