This was…disappointing.

Menja stabbed down towards me with her spear as I advanced. She was so slow. Rather than sidestep the strike as I easily could have, I decided to deflect it. I knocked the tip of Menja's spear down, driving it into the pavement beneath us.

Menja hadn't expected that. She nearly lost her balance as the spear embedded into the pavement. With an angry growl, she wrenched the weapon free of the pavement, sending debris raining down from the sky.

My eager grin was gone. I stared at Fenja with a blank expression of disappointment. "You aren't what I was hoping for."

Menja let out a war cry, storming towards me. Moments before her spear would have skewered me, I leapt high into the sky. Now above Menja, I flipped Gae Bolg around until I was holding the sharpened end, then swung it down. With a great cracking sound, the haft of Gae Bolg slammed into Menja's head. The titan was driven down to her knees, planting an arm on the ground for stability. I flipped, slamming my feet down into her spine as I descended from above.

Menja was driven into the ground, cratering the asphalt as her giant form fell prone.

I kicked Gae Bolg up to rest against my shoulder, letting out a disappointed sigh as I scratched some runes into the air. The upheaved earth and splintered stone around Menja coiled and rolled, moving to ensnare the groaning titan's arms and legs. For the moment, she was contained.

I looked down the street, seeing a flying man in armor knock a second titan back. Dauntless's energy blasts were giving Fenja a hard time. She wouldn't be able to beat him if this kept up.

Two blows. It had taken me two blows to defeat Menja, and it had only taken that many because I'd been holding back. This world was filled with superpowers. Why were they so…weak?

The growl of a motorcycle drew my attention. Tearing down the street towards me was a woman astride a harley. She was covered head to toe in tactical gear and camo. She wore a bandanna stitched to look like the American Flag over her face.

I cocked an eyebrow up as the woman tore across the street towards me. A green flash at her side heralded the arrival of a large grenade launcher. Without slowing down, the woman opened fire, sending several canisters streaking through the air towards me.

My grin back on my face, I leapt back, avoiding the canisters as they exploded behind me, filling the street with yellowish foam that rapidly expanded to encase Menja's prone form.

The woman's motorcycle screeched to a stop. She swung her leg over the side, pulling more canisters from the bandolier strung around her shoulder to slot into the launcher. She fired two more canisters over Menja, further burying her in the foam. There was another green flash and the woman caught a small handgun, quickly holstering it at her side as she turned to face me.

"Dauntless said he encountered a new hero. Would I be correct in assuming that was you?"

I was leaning against the wall of a half-destroyed building, running my eyes up and down the woman in front of me. I liked what I saw.

Punching off the wall, I walked up to her and offered a shallow bow. "Lancer, at your service, my lady."

The woman jolted in shock, her hand twitching towards her pistol, as I took her other hand and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

Cordially, but firmly, the woman pulled her hand back. "Miss Militia. If you lost your mask in the fight, I have a spare you can use."

I waved her off as she began pulling out a plain black bandanna. "That is unnecessary. I have no need for a mask."

Miss Militia's eyes narrowed. "I'd warn you of the consequences of that," Her eyes panned over my shoulder towards Dauntless's fight with Fenja. "But I suppose that can wait for later. Can you incapacitate Fenja like you did Menja?"

I grinned throwing Gae Bolg up in a flourish and catching it behind my back as I bowed again. "For you, my lady? It will take but a moment." I planted my foot and moved.

There was a thunderous boom as the asphalt gave way under my feet, as the air parted to allow my passing. I moved so fast as to be nothing more than a blue blur, charging across the distance between myself and Fenja. I held Gae Bolg in front of myself with both hands, catching one of Fenja's enlarged feet on the haft of my spear as I blitzed past her.

The giantess's footing was lost as I knocked her leg out from under her, causing her to fall backwards gracelessly. I turned around to follow up on my attack, but paused. Dauntless was in the air above her, sending bolts of crackling energy down into Fenja's stomach, keeping her pinned. Moment's later, four cylindrical canisters whistled through the air. Back in the direction I'd come from, Miss Militia strode down the center of the street. A grenade launcher was propped against her shoulder, raining more and more canisters down on Fenja that exploded into rapidly hardening foam.

I planted Gae Bolg into the ground and leaned against it, settling in to watch the show. Miss Militia certainly cut an impressive figure, striding over fractured asphalt, hair dancing in the wind behind her as she walked slowly forward, firing rounds from her weapon all the while. That determined look in her eyes as she loaded more canisters was amazing to behold.

The street was thoroughly wrecked. The asphalt would need to be repaved and a couple buildings would need to be rebuilt. Not to mention the two giant white blobs of foam fixed firmly to the ground. Still, if the crowd of Darwin-award winners filming with their phones at the edges of the street were any indication, this was either a common occurrence or a victory. Maybe both.

Sirens and flashing lights heralded the approach of heavily armored trucks that spilled men and women in tactical gear onto the street. They started to work at the foam with special tools, but my attention wasn't on them.

I walked up to Miss Militia, Gae Bolg resting over my shoulder. "It was a pleasure fighting with you. Perhaps we can do it again sometime?" I held my hand out for hers.

Miss Militia regarded my hand with skepticism. Rather than give me her hand, she said, "The city can always use more heroes. I would be happy to work with you. Have you given any thought to joining the Protectorate?"

I frowned, my shoulders slumping. Not only was she not interested, but she was giving me the 'join the Protectorate' spiel. I was still handsome, right? Was it my skills? Was she not impressed with how I defeated the twins?

"Thank you for the kind offer," I said, retracting my hand as gracefully as I could. "But I already have a team. I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Lancer, wa–"

Miss Militia's words were lost to me as I leapt up to a nearby roof, hopping down into an alley and astralizing. Dauntless rose up into the air to follow me, but I was incorporeal before he could lay eyes on me.

I went straight back to the warehouse, allowing myself to relax when I found Taylor pacing back and forth anxiously on the warehouse floor.

"Ah! Were you worried, master?" I asked, appearing laying on my side atop a crate.

"Lancer!" Taylor yelled, a wide smile growing on her face before she immediately frowned. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I chuckled, swinging my legs over the side of the crate and hopping to my feet. "Master, those two could train for a thousand years and still not measure up to me. I tripped them up and the Protectorate came in to–"

"The Protectorate was there!" Taylor cut in, eyes wide.

I nodded. "Miss Militia and Dauntless. We didn't speak much. They contained the valkyries, then I returned here. I believe any negotiations with the local law enforcement should be done by you."

"Why?"

"Because you are my master. I will offer advice, but the final decision on what to do should be yours. Although, in this case it didn't matter. Defeating Fenja and Menja was easily done and their capture easily secured. I'm actually a little disappointed. The first fight I get in here and it's a couple of brutes with no skill. You wouldn't happen to know any capable swordsmen, would you?"

"I… Mouse Protector has a sword?" Taylor said, looking confused.

I scratched my chin in thought. "A noble cause, protecting mouse-kind. Perhaps she would make a fine sparring partner." Honestly, anyone more skilled than Fenja and Menja would be welcome. Those two were nearly completely reliant on strength.

"Hey!" Taylor said, scowling. "Worry about that later. You made me run away from the fight."

"Master, I told you that–"

"I know why you told me to run, but I don't want to run. Train me so I won't have to next time."

I raised an eyebrow. "You've already trained today, master. You could go home and–"

"Lancer." Taylor cut in, her eyebrows furrowed in determination.

I grinned. Gae Bolg vanished as I rubbed my hands together. "In that case, master, Let's get back to it."