Disclaimer is in chapter 1. So apparently Tenhawk has resumed posting fanfiction on one of his own sites ( t . evancurrie . ca ) and on (username tenhawk).

PRT HQ.

Emily Piggot stared at the screen, the video having long since finished, trying to wrap her mind around what had just been displayed.

"That is an impressively scary young man," Hannah offered up quietly from the other side of the desk.

"He's a cocky little shit is what he is," Emily snorted, shaking her head. "Playing with someone like Hookwolf is just stupid, I don't care how good you are."

"Unless he had a reason."

She glanced over to where Assault was looking thoughtfully at the screen, "What reason are you thinking?"

Assault was an irreverent fool, but also one of the most effective of the Heros under her Command, in part because he was an irreverent fool. He had an understanding of human motivations that few non-thinkers could match.

"He didn't just play with Hookwolf," Assault said seriously, "He destroyed him."

"Hookwolf was largely uninjured," Armsmaster objected.

"Not what I meant," Assault picked up his phone and tapped the screen a couple times before swiping it up and sending a file to the office computer.

They all looked to see the image appear on the big screen. It was a meme, pulled from PHO from the looks of things, showing a terrified looking Chihuahua, shaking uncontrollably, in front of a Nazi flag.

The caption simply read, The new face of the Aryan Ideal.

"At this point, PHO's meme-lords are putting out the memes faster than they can even be read," Assault said with a shake of his head. "If Hookwolf gets broken out, he'll have to flood the streets with blood just to get a fraction of the respect he lost back. Magus may or may not have known it was streaming, but his entire act was calculated to demoralize Hookwolf's followers."

"You think it was a Psyop?" Emily asked, frowning.

"I think it was more than just one thing," Assault responded. "He maximized the effect he had… granted, I don't think all of it was intentional… but enough was."

"Fair," Emily tipped her head.

Certainly, it didn't appear that Magus was aware of the Dogfighting ring before the fight. That was something that the Empire didn't advertise, as a general rule. Having it come out at the end of a video where Hookwolf was turned into a mockery… that was going to hurt the Empire. Even Racists loved their dogs, some of them anyway, and a lot of people who might otherwise see the Empire as a lesser evil would re-evaluate based on that alone.

"What kind of classifications are we looking," She asked. "Opinions welcome."

"Mover four, minimum," Battery offered. "Tactical teleportation and flight. I'm thinking more Mover six, higher depending on the range he has on that little trick."

Emily nodded, jotting that down.

"Tinker Six," Armsmaster said. "Tentatively."

"Six?" Assault looked over, surprised. "Seriously?"

"He built his method of flight, and his communications equipment is… impressive."

"Alright," Assault conceded, frowning. "His flight isn't self powered? Does that affect the rating?"

"It makes it partly a sub-rating," Emily admitted, "however the overall rating doesn't change. If he's separated from his equipment, his ratings would be adjusted accordingly."

Assault nodded slowly, "He either has a combat thinker power, or is highly trained. I'm going to say both."

Emily scowled, "No evidence of the latter yet. I ran the names he dropped, Wildcat, The Bat, and The Captain. No matches that make sense."

"I knew a Wildcat," Assault admitted. "She wasn't much of a fighter. Well, not on the streets anyw- ow!"

Assault clutched his ribs from where Battery had jabbed him, "Damn Puppy, it was from before you even triggered."

She just glared at him before, blowing on her knuckles, then returned her focus to the meeting.

"That changer trick he pulled on Hookwolf," She said slowly, "How do we classify that? Blaster?"

Everyone considered that for a moment, before Emily sighed and nodded.

"For now, I'll call it Blaster four with addendum notes. This damn file is going to get complicated," She complained.

"His power set is… incredibly varied," Armsmaster offered up with a frown. "He claimed that, by our system, he considered himself to be a Blaster/Shaker primary with sub ratings down the board."

"Wait…" Assault sat up straighter. "He said that? By our system?"

Armsmaster nodded.

"What is it, Assault?" Emily asked.

"If he feels the need to distinguish his powers by our system, what system does he usually use?"

Hebert's Home.

Taylor stared in shock at the screen of her computer, trying to process what she was seeing on her news feed.

"Dad!"

"Taylor? What is it?" Danny charged in, looking around wildly.

"Look at this."

Danny calmed, coming over curiously to lean over her shoulder and look at the screen. "What am I looking at?"

"Magus, he encountered Hookwolf last night," Taylor said through a dry mouth.

Danny winced, "Is he alright?"

"Hookwolf's in custody," She said flatly. "Magus wiped the floor with him."

"He… he what?" Danny asked, somewhat shocked. Hookwolf was not the most powerful Cape the city, to be sure, but was not to be trifled with either. His peculiar blend of powers generally made him very difficult for anyone to get a solid hit in on, and while he hadn't ever been able to actually defeat the likes of Lung as an example, neither had Lung been able to decisively put Hookwolf down.

"I watched the video," Taylor admitted. "Apparently Hookwolf streamed it as one of his Capefights… I'm thinking he's going to regret doing that. It wasn't even close. Magus beat him hand to hand, then humiliated him, before punting him into a wall."

Danny just blinked.

"He… punted Hookwolf?"

"He turned him into a Chihuahua first," Taylor said dryly.

The strangled laugh that escaped from Danny's throat startled even his own hearing.

"Wow," He said, straightening up, his mind racing. "Taylor I don't think it's a good idea for you to train with him."

"Really? Because I'm thinking it's a great idea," She countered. "He Just wiped the floor with Hookwolf dad! Who could be a better teacher?"

"Someone that didn't just become number one of the Empire's hitlist, for one obvious answer," Danny said heatedly.

"I want to be a Hero, Dad," She protested. "The Empire was never going to be exactly friendly."

"There's unfriendly, and then there's out for blood," Danny countered immediately. "They're going to be gunning for his head. I do not want you caught up in the crossfire, that's final!"

"I'm a Cape Dad!" She snapped.

"You're my daughter, I don't care what else that always comes first."

She got up, turning to face him, neither noticing the lights in the house beginning to fade in and out.

"I can't just not use my powers, and Magus says that I NEED training, remember?"

"He says," Danny countered. "That doesn't mean he's right. And you can train with the Protectorate if you must, the wards program…"

A lamp exploded, startling them both as they turned to stare in the corner.

"Taylor… what?"

"I… I don't know, Dad. I… did I do that?" She asked softly, fear entering her voice.

Wrecked Super Tanker, Brokton Bay Ship Graveyard.

The spell phone ringing woke Xander up, part way, and he flopped his hand over and around until he located the device.

"Hrmmf…" He mumbled as he slid open. "Wens? Wills? 'Zat you?"

"Mr Magus?"

Xander blinked his eyes, forcing himself awake, "Yeah, that's me. Who is this?"

"This is Danny Hebert… I… I think we had an incident."

Fully awake, Xander sat up and planted his feet on the floor.

"Talk to me while I get dressed," He said, "then I'll need directions. Be there as soon as I can."

Xander hit himself with a notice-me-not and a muggle repelling charm as he dropped out of the clouds over the section of the city he'd been directed to. It was a rundown neighborhood, but far from the worst in the city. In it's day, he suspected that it had been a respectable working man's place. Now, well it was bordering on the more unsavory sections of town and threatening to become one of them.

He landed outside the address and checked to be sure that his spell was working. With no one looking in his direction or paying him any mind at all, Xander walked casually up to the door, dropped the spells, and knocked.

He could heard footsteps from within, muffled voices, and felt a steady vibration as the steps approached. The door opened up to reveal Danny Hebert, looking frazzled. His eyes were wide as he looked past Xander, darting around a bit before stepping aside.

"Come in before someone sees you," He said urgently.

"Relax," Xander said as he walked in. "I used a notice-me-not and a muggle repelling charm when I arrived. No one saw me."

Danny just looked confused as he closed the door.

"Notice me not?" Taylor stared from across the room, eyes wide. "Is that what it sounds like?"

Xander smirked, "You'd probably know it better as a SEP field, and you'd be close enough to the truth."

"Holy shit!"

"Taylor! Language."

"But, Dad, a real SEP field!"

Danny just sighed, "Just as long as he doesn't pull out an Infinite Improbability Field, I'll be happy."

"That's not a spell that exists, not to my knowledge anyway," Xander admitted, "though Felix Fortunus does dabble in the area. Now, what happened?"

Taylor looked down, seemingly ashamed, "I blew up my lamp."

"Not too bad, I can fix that no problem…"

"And my computer…" she winced.

"That I can't do much about," Xander sighed. "Magic and technology can be… finnicky. Especially electronics, they don't like being interfered with. The tolerances on electronics are way too high."

"What? All electronics?"

"Hardened stuff lasts a bit longer," Xander admitted, "but given time you'd fry even stuff built to survive a nuclear strike."

"No computers? Tv?" She slumped a little, "Well… I guess I'll always have books."

Xander snorted.

He'd have lost his shit if he thought he'd lost TV at her age, but Hermione would have considered a more than fair trade. Taylor was reminding him of her already.

"I can show you how to build some gear that will allow you to access modern technology through cutouts," He promised. "Now, let's see the damage?"

"It's upstairs, my room," Taylor admitted, gesturing.

"Ah," Xander held up a hand, looking to Danny. "With your permission?"

Danny nodded slowly, eyes glinting, "Go ahead."

Xander gestured and Taylor lead him up the stairs. The room was small but comfortable, and he took a moment to survey the damage.

"Reparo," He said, gesturing widely to catch everything. All the damage reversed itself before the shocked and wide eyed stare from Taylor.

"I thought you said you couldn't fix the computer," She said, nodding to the pristine looking machine.

"The external damage? Child's play, literally," Xander said, "but while I likely did fix the damage you did to the chips, I also almost certainly damaged them again in the process. You might be able to pull data from the hard drive, but you might not too, I'm sorry to say."

Taylor winced, but then just shrugged, "I keep everything important backed up. Hopefully some of it will be recoverable."

Xander nodded, leaning back against the wall, "So… want to talk about it?"

She looked at him, startled, "Talk about what?"

"Accidental magic like this is a response to strong emotions, usually anger or fear," He told her, glancing around. "I don't get the feeling that you were scared. Your and your Dad don't have that vibe, so… what pissed you off?"

Taylor stared, wide eyed and uncertain. She didn't want to tell him about the argument with her father, but didn't really see many other options.

"Taylor found out about your little fight with Hookwolf," Danny said, appearing in the doorway, face stern. "She was excited about you teaching her…"

Magus nodded, tossing a sidelong glance over to Danny, "And you don't like the idea."

"I do not."

"Fair enough," Xander acceded. "Worried about retaliation, I'll assume?"

"Of course."

"Where I went to school we had a group that wasn't unlike your little Nazi gang," Xander said, laughing sharply. "Pretentious blighters called themselves Death Eaters. Cowards, most of them, like all Racists are in their core…"

"Cowards? Bastards they are," Danny said, "but some of the Empire show up to Endbringer battles. They're not what most would call cowards… twisted, sadistic, fools even…"

"If they're not cowards, they're not Racist, they're just pretending," Xander said confidently. "Racism is cowardice. If you're actually superior, why bother caring about what your inferiors do? You only let that kind of hate fester if you know deep down how inferior you really are, and you're terrified that everyone else will figure it out. The Death Eaters? They were true believers, cowards to the core because they knew they were inferior and the new blood was going to replace them."

"Not really sure where you're going with this…"

"Cowards only fight when they think they'll get away with it," Xander said. "Not even only when they think they can win… if they think they'll get a bloody nose, they'll run like the cockroaches they are even if victory was likely. You can't keep your head down and hope they'll go away. All you can do is beat them over the head with whatever rock they crawled out from under until they go right back where they belong."

He sighed, "There's nothing more destructive than someone who hates themselves so much they have to fight the world to prove that they're not the thing they hate."

"That's all fine and everything, but there's a world of difference between standing up for yourself and my daughter getting caught in the crossfire you seem intent on bringing down on your own head," Danny snapped. "I've heard it all before. Might even be right… but you know what happens to the first person who stands up for themselves?"

"They get beat into the ground," Xander answered, directing a pointed look in Taylor's direction. "Unless they know how to beat back."

Medhall Offices.

"What the hell happened last night?" Max Anders demanded, shaking his head as he looked at the others in the office.

"Well, Brad was running one of his dog fights," James offered up…

"Yes, and Bitch intervened, I watched the video," Max cut him off. "I'm talking about the new guy."

"Magus." James responded with a frustrated grunt.

"What do we know about him?"

"Aside from his dislike of Nazis?" James snorted, "Nothing."

Max stared, "Nothing?"

James shook his head, "Not a damn thing of value. As best we can tell, he appeared out of thin air the night he stopped one of our bottom feeder members who was robbing a 7/11."

Max groaned, rubbing his nose. He honestly had no idea what kind of moron robbed a 7/11 in the first place. Even robbing a bank made more sense, if only marginally so. There was no money to be had beyond maybe a couple hundred dollars from the till, but had basically the same risks and penalties.

"How is that even possible?" He asked after a moment.

"I checked with our moles in the PRT, they have the same results," James said, "Not even a hint of a classified file, even."

"If they had a classified jacket on him, the PRT wouldn't have left his public file empty," Max said. "Makes too many people curious."

"True."

Max sighed, "Alright, fine. He's a ghost. What about his powers?"

"That's where things get interesting," James confirmed. "Currently, my best guess would be to call him a Trump… however, the PRT have him listed as a Shaker/Blaster primary, with sub ratings in essentially every other category."

Max stared, "What."

"As far as I can tell, we have a Mini-Eidolon in town," James sighed. "One who apparently grew up with a Camp survivor next door."

There were times when Max honestly wished that his Father hadn't been an insane racist. Was just being a criminal mastermind honestly not enough for the old bastard? It had worked well enough for Marquis, after all, at least until the Brockton Bay Brigade kicked in his front door and he went to the Cage.

The power and leverage offered by the rhetoric was too much to give up, however, so much of his personal power was tied to it.

"Spread the word, I want any of our people who spot him to observe… from a distance," Max emphasized. "We'll pay for video, photos, and accurate information on his powers."

James Fliescher nodded, making a note, "I will see to it."

"Keep our capes away from him, at least until we get some more information."

"A lot of our ranks won't like leaving him be," James warned, "The Empire was mocked rather significantly, after all."

Max snorted.

This was the problem with the idiots his power base was tied to, of course. They were idiots.

"We'll repeat the Fleur tactic," Max ordered.

James nodded, "I'll quietly spread the word. Promotion, or cash?"

"Promotion."

"Very well, then what do we do about Hookwolf?" James asked, moving on. "He'll be shipped out for trial soon."

"Get the PRT schedule, we can't let them keep him. That would be a far more serious sign of weakness."

Hebert Home.

Daniel didn't like the way the argument had swung, but he honestly couldn't fault either his daughter or Magus on it.

Brockton was a dangerous town, that much was irrefutable, and it was even worse for a cape… somehow. Since Taylor's powers seemed to mirror Magus', and they needed training, there wasn't really much in the way of options left open to him.

"Fine," He growled, rubbing his face. "What do you intend to teach her?"

Magus leaned back on the wall behind him, considering the question, "Well the normal course load is seven years just to test out as an adult, and most of my real skills came from study in addition to that so…"

Taylor turned a pasty pale color, squeaking out, "Seven years?"

Danny almost laughed at the pitiful expression she had on her face.

Magus didn't bother resisting the urge.

Taylor folded her arms on her chest, looking put out as she glared at them both.

"You both suck."

"I've been told worse," Magus told her blithely, "Not sure yet if it was better than you or not, but we'll see. We'll have to reshuffle the course load, especially giving the city you're in, but we'll figure that out later. If we do this, however, you don't go out using your powers without my permission and your father's."

"What? No fair, other Capes don't have to do that!"

"How do you know?" Magus asked simply.

"What?"

"How do you know what other Capes do?" He pressed, shrugging. "Capes don't exactly advertise their private lives."

"Everyone knows that Capes need to use their powers," She said.

Magus raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

Danny sighed reluctantly, "That's does seem to be the case. There's some literature that's made the news, in fact. Capes that try to hold back seem to slowly start losing control of their abilities. Training supposedly can help a bit, but usually it's not enough.

Magus' face stilled, his eyes half closing.

"Interesting," He said finally. "I will have to look into that. If that's the case… I'll check with Myx."

"Who's Myx?" Taylor asked.

"You'll meet him soon enough," Magus promised. "As to your concerns, if that holds true, then you'll go out with me or another Cape I and your father designate. Most likely I'll arrange for you to get some time with the Wards, other things of that nature."

"You can do that?"

"I can ask."

Xander looked over the pair, deciding that they were both convinced enough to move on a bit.

"Now, let's get you kitted out with some learning materials," He said.

Danny looked grim, but nodded, "I'll get my wallet."

"Ah, no," Xander shook his head, "While some Apprenticeships certainly can be costly, that's not how I do things. Money is useless to me anyway, trust me, and it will be to Taylor here in short order as well."

"I… don't follow…"

"Magic is incredibly versatile, and it makes earning a living a trifle," Xander said. "As the Master, not that I've earned the title officially… ah well, have to make do, but as the Master I will provide for my Apprentice. Besides, you couldn't afford it, trust me. The richest man on this world couldn't afford it."

Danny looked pained, "We're not a charity case…"

"And I'm not a philanthropist," Xander countered. "I saved Taylor, and you acknowledged the debt…"

"I know we owe you, that's why I don't want to be deeper in that debt…"

Xander shook his head, "No, it's not how it works. Remember I tried to tell you there was no debt, but you insisted? We registered a magical debt then, I felt it click. You have magic yourself, Danny. Now, you owe me… but debts work both ways. In some ways Taylor here owes me her life, it's true, but it also means that I've accepted responsibility for what she does with her life. She is my Apprentice, Danny, I will see to her education."

He put as much finality into those last words as he could manage, and it seemed that it penetrated the other man's skull enough for him to close his mouth before he voiced another objection. Danny was clearly thinking about it, while Taylor looked nervously between them. Finally, Danny sighed and spoke again.

"What does she need?"

Xander relaxed, smiling to Taylor who seemed to also relax marginally.

"We'll start with a wand," He said, reaching into his jacket to pull out a small bag that he proceeded to reach into, shoving his whole arm into the space that seemed unfit to hold even his hand. "Hmm… let's see, I know it's in here somewhere…"

"What…?" Taylor stared in shock.

"Ah, here we go," Xander withdrew a stick and checked it over for damage before tossing it casually to Taylor, who yelped as she clutched at it, fumbling a couple times before she managed to grab it firmly and glared back at him.

He just laughed at her.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She tried glowering, but the excitement written on her face made it clear that her heart wasn't in it.

"Wave it."

"Just… wave… it?" She said slowly.

"Just wave it."

Taylor hesitated, but then nodded and drew her hand back before flicking the wand out in front of her. The rush of magic that exploded out blow open all the windows, blowing out the glass, while turning the curtains into various wildflowers.

Danny threw himself to cover Taylor from the blast, while she looked on in horror, and Xander laughed wildly.

"Nope, not that one," He said, countering her magic with his own to fix the windows and return the curtains to normal before he plucked the wand from her hand and looked it over again. "Hmmm…. You're a little volatile to mix with a Storm Bird I think… let's think about something a little more stable, balance you out some…"

He again reached into the bag, rummaging around for a moment, before drawing out another that looked almost identical.

"Try this one."

Taylor hesitated, but slowly took the wand from him while Danny glared openly at him.

"Is this really necessary?" Danny asked.

"Strictly? Probably not, but it is amusing, and it will give her an idea of how dangerous she can be if she's not careful," Xander said. "Don't worry, I'm keeping things from getting out of hand."

"Seems out of hand to me, someone could have seen that blast from the street!"

"Nah, I have the house under temporary wards, anyone who even looks our way right now will suddenly remember something important elsewhere," Xander told him. "I have it covered. I know that you guys are concerned with secret identities and the like. I may not care about them, but I come from a culture that made hiding secrets something of a cultural obsession."

Danny didn't convinced, but he didn't have anything else to say, so Xander nodded to Taylor again.

"Wave it."

"Are… are you sure?"

"Come on, you know you want to," Xander goaded her, grinning. "I saw the gleam in your eyes just before you realized the damage you did. It's magic, Taylor… you did magic. Do it again."

She hesitated, but took a breath and once more waved the wand in her hand.

Xander felt the air turn inside out, and briefly tasted the word magic. He quickly made a point of memorizing the taste for later examination, I wonder if there's an entirely taste based language our there somewhere?

When the air cleared, Danny looked odd, like he was trying to place something but couldn't quite work out what it was, while Taylor just stared at the wand in her hand in shock.

"Very nice," Xander said, examining the wand before reaching out as if to take it.

Taylor pulled back from him instinctively, clutching the wand to her chest defensively.

"It's mine!"

Xander smiled, "So it is. Curious…"

"What is it?" Danny asked, eying his daughter with some concern.

"That one is one I put together from a gift I was given," He said. "Blood and hair of a young goddess. Powerful, but not something to match with most."

He smiled enigmatically, winking at her, "I think we can expect great things of you, young Taylor. Great things indeed."