Chapter 31

A/N: Just a quick warning that there is a Nazi cape using a racial slur. I know some people get sensitive about that sort of thing. You have been warned.

I nervously adjusted my costume one more time before stepping through the darkness of my room and into the entry hallway of the Pelham house. I gave a light knock against the wall to signal my arrival and waited. Crystal flew down the stairs with a grin, a jacket thrown over her Laserdream outfit.

I gave the jacket a raised eyebrow and she shrugged in reply. "It gets cold during night patrols. Besides, not like we're going to be around a lot of cameras. I'd prefer to not freeze my tits off, thank you very much."

I let out a short bark of laughter. "That would be a true shame."

"Dear god, please don't talk about your tits when I'm around, sis!" The only member of the Pelham/ Dallon household that I'd yet to meet came down the stairs right afterward, flying of course, because why not? "Hey there, I'm Eric, good to meet you. You must be-" He froze upon seeing me. "Magus? Crystal's new boyfriend is… Magus?"

I laughed awkwardly and extended a hand. "Crystal didn't tell you who I was?"

He took my hand after only a moment's hesitation and gave a confident shake. "She mentioned we were going to be patrolling with her new boyfriend, but I didn't know she meant Magus!" He shot her a glare. "At the rate new capes pop out, it literally could have been anyone. You two are seriously dating?"

"Mhm. Sorry if that's an issue…"

"Issue? Dude, you're the coolest hero on PHO right now." He shot another side eye toward Crystal, then leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "Get out while you still can. She isn't like… blackmailing you or something, right? You're way too good for her."

"I think I'm the one reaching a little high. You can just call me Mak though, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Same, same."

"Well look at you all, the next generation of young heroes ready to go fight evil and dispense justice," Manpower laughed as he stomped down the stairs. "Mak."

"Mr. Pelham."

"Mr. Pelham was my father, it's just Neil when we're in the house, Manpower in the field, got it?"

"Yessir." I glanced around the home. "So um… how does patrolling usually work with everyone? I mean, you aren't a Mover or anything."

"Ah, well fliers usually pair off while I ride in the Wavemobile with Brandish and/ or Flashbang," he explained. "Panacea will sometimes tag along too."

"Wavemobile?" I asked with an amused glance at Crystal and Eric's twin expressions of irritation.

"I won a bet and got to name the car," Neil chuckled. "Patrols are fairly easy, we show the flag, make sure we're seen, and if there's a ruckus, we make ourselves useful. Usually fairly simple, not like an actual operation."

I remembered from the briefing materials the Protectorate had given me that New Wave had an 'affiliate' status and enough training and licensing to participate with sanctioned PRT and Protectorate missions. Which is technically what I was doing on paper working with them tonight. The amount of paperwork and headaches they must have gone through to earn that and keep their independence…

"But we must always be prepared regardless," Lady Photon put in as she too floated down the stairs to regard us all with a warm expression. I could easily see the parental pride toward her children. "Mak. It's nice to officially meet Crystal's boyfriend."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Photon," I said with a small dip of the head.

"You have much experience flying?"

"A little. Crystal has been teaching me some more complex maneuvers when we're both free."

"Hm. Alright then, the rest of the team should be here-"

A blonde missile cheerfully burst through the front door with a wide grin on her face. "I heard we're getting a tag-along tonight!"

"Glory Girl," Lady Photon said with a small smile. "Your parents are close by?"

"Right behind me. Mom insisted we all drive over together."

On queue, Brandish walked in. Having grown up the way I had, I immediately noticed a tension in the way she held herself. I had a bad feeling that I knew where it was coming from, confirmed when Flashbang and Panacea joined us a moment later, the former telling a joke to the team healer. Despite it having only been a week or so since I'd healed his depression, he was already looking far better, a twinkle in his eye and a bit more muscle definition, as if he'd been working out just a little more.

"Sarah, Neil, good to see you both," he said cheerfully without missing a beat, giving his sister-in-law a quick hug and a manly handshake for his brother-in-law. He spotted me and walked over with a grin in place. "So I hear you'll be joining us tonight, Magus."

"Yessir, I will. How are you feeling?"

"Like a new man. Thank you, really."

"Don't mention it. I'm sorry if I caused any… issues."

He snorted and shook his head. "No, any issues were already there, just being ignored because of my condition. You opened my eyes and cleared my head. Thanks."

Lady Photon cleared her throat slightly to get our attention. "Mark? You're feeling up for patrol tonight?"

"Oh yeah," he let out a deep laugh and slapped me on the shoulder. "Magus cured my depression."

She stared at him, then at me. "You… cured his depression?"

"It's an imbalance of brain chemicals," I said with a shrug. "It was easy. My healing power doesn't require me to manually 'heal' every bit of damage, it's more like I tell it what to do and it intuitively does it."

"That's… good?"

"You have no idea. Like a fog was lifted. Feels great." Flashbang rolled his shoulders. "So, dining room?"

As we all began to shuffle in, Panacea sidled up next to me and nudged my arm. "Thanks. For doing what I couldn't."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

She shot me a quick smile and then we were all gathered. A map was spread out across the cleared table, small figures and buildings marking various important landmarks, color denoting the various gang territories or known operating areas of independent capes.

"You guys could really use an upgrade," I muttered quietly toward Crystal.

She smirked. "It's not a briefing room on the Rig, but it gets the job done."

Lady Photon cleared her throat and began. "Alright everyone, it's good to see that we have all of New Wave," she gave me a nod, "and a guest from the Protectorate assembled. We're going to be doing a standard patrol pattern tonight. Things have been quiet lately, but we don't want to become complacent or make the bad guys think we aren't watching. Keep an eye out for any actual crimes going on. If you see taggers or runners, leave them be: Our goal isn't to start a fight, but to keep the peace. If you see something, report it in the group chat. Magus, Laserdream tells me you're still a novice flier?"

I nodded. "Yes ma'am, but getting better every day."

"Well then you'll be with me and Shielder tonight. Laserdream and Glory Girl, you two are our fastest fliers, keep up a constant loop around this neighborhood," she indicated a spot on the map. "Larger than average amount of thefts and attacks on minority owned businesses." She traced her fingers down a differently marked path on the map. "Those of you in the van will be covering this part of town. It's a bit closer to the ABB's border, so be on the lookout for Oni Lee. Word on the street is that Lung is preparing for something big, so I don't expect you'll see either of their capes, but keep an eye out regardless."

Everyone made noises of agreement and then the ground based heroes went out into the garage while I followed the fliers into the backyard. We took the skies and I once again was treated to a view of Brockton Bay from above. It was a nice sight, as always, but as we got closer to the Docks, the differences began to become more noticeable. Unkempt streets, less lighting, it was almost like a different city unto itself and well… it kind of was in many ways, thanks to the Empire doing their best to push minorities out of their territory and Lung's iron fisted rule.

As we flew, I tried to make conversation with Lady Photon and Shielder, but quickly learned that it was quite difficult while flying. Even with them using their forcefields to block the worst of the wind resistance, it was just too noisy to hear much and I didn't want to waste mana to manipulate sound for what was ultimately a trivial reason while I was out on patrol.

After a few loops around the same set of blocks for about half an hour, Lady Photon had us land on the roof of a tall building to get a good look at the streets below. "Five minutes, I need to call Brandish and confirm a few things."

She wandered off leaving Shielder and I to our own devices. "So, pretty boring compared to your usual patrols?" Shielder asked sympathetically.

"Just a tad," I admitted. "I've had a pretty eventful career according to Armsmaster. Apparently it took him almost a year before he saw as much action as I've seen."

"Well that's superhero life for ya: Boring, but with bursts of action that make you wonder why you were ever bored in the first place and begging God that things will calm down again." He paused and then gave a sheepish chuckle. "Or so my mom says. I haven't had my powers for too long."

"How old are you anyways?"

"Turning fifteen this year!" He boasted in the way only a teenager can.

"Goddamn… You're just a baby," I teased. "Why, I remember when I was your age. Barely felt like a teenager at all."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Twenty-four."

"Geeze, that's like… ancient. And here I thought you were cool."

We shared a good natured laugh at that.

"So are you so old that you've never heard of Space Opera?"

I had to dig through the original Mak's memories for a moment before I remembered what he was talking about. One of the bigger MMOs out there on the market of this Earth. "Hardly. I was playing it since almost day one, even if it is a huge Star Wars rip-off." I had been a fan of the Old Republic series myself in my previous life. "Pretty fun. Haven't had much time for it lately, with all," I gestured at my costume, "this."

"I know what you mean. I used to have way more time to just hang out with my friends and Mom and Dad still make sure I do, but like… being a superhero just feels so much more important, ya know? I'm always busy training, learning to use my powers safely, learning law enforcement procedure, plus dealing with school and being a public cape…"

I winced in sympathy. "Sounds like a lot for everyone to handle."

"You're telling me! I didn't understand why Crystal was doing what she was, but now…"

Oh? That had my curiosity buzzing. "What do you mean?"

He flushed with embarrassment. "Ah hell, I shouldn't have said that."

"But you did and now I wanna hear it."

He nervously glanced at his mom, but then shrugged. "I guess it's not too much of a secret, but Crystal was starting to step back from New Wave. Less time training and going on patrols and more time at college, studying and partying."

I blinked in surprise. "Really? But she seems real… I dunno, it seems like she has a pretty good work/life balance these days. What changed?"

"You did, at least that's my theory. She saved you and saw how much of an impact saving just one life could have, I mean, dude, you've basically single-handedly reshaped the cape politics of this city. That, plus just you being around kinda made her start taking the job a little more seriously than before."

I wasn't sure if I should feel guilty for that or not. Crystal deserved to have a life outside of being a cape, but there was no denying that being a superhero was a noble thing, especially in a city as messed up as Brockton Bay. "I'm… sorry?" I said hesitantly. "I didn't mean to turn your sister into a workaholic."

"Nah, it's cool man, you were just kind of a wake up call is all. She's still going to college and sees her friends pretty regularly, but she's taken more time to be part of the team, part of the family and it's… good. But I understand now why she was doing that. The pressure… It can get to you."

"Pretty wise for just a kid. I'll tell you what I told your cousin when she was being mopey about not healing people 24/7: You're still a person. Despite your powers, your responsibilities, you still matter and deserve to have some time to yourself, just doing what you want."

"Hey, the old man hasn't lost his mind to dementia yet."

"Brat," I snorted and aimed a slap at the back of his head, which he deflected with a quick blue barrier.

"And you're slow as balls."

"Don't make me bust out the super speed."

"Do you have that?"

I thought about it and shrugged. "Eh, I could probably figure something out."

"Crystal claims you almost joined us. I call bullshit with how stupid your powers are. I'm even surprised you joined the Protectorate. You could have been independent, easily."

"Eh, even if I was an indie, I'd still need to pay the bills somehow. Protectorate, I get a steady paycheck, a support network, and something even more important: Legitimacy. Sometimes the rules suck, sure, but it feels good to be able to have an opinion that actually matters, you know?" I eyed his costume briefly. "And even though I think I would have liked being with New Wave equally, if not a little more, I could not make that style of costume work. White just isn't my color."

"Ah, I'm sure we could have come up with something if you had joined us."

Our banter/ conversation was interrupted as Lady Photon came stalking over with a grim look on her face. "We need to move. Laserdream and Glory Girl just got into a fight with the Empire."

Shit.

"Ma'am, I can get to them right now if need be," I offered.

Her jaw worked as she considered it. "Splitting up is never smart, but… Do it."

"You misunderstand, ma'am, I meant all of us." I turned and inhaled even as my coat of Balance materialized. I'd done this once before and with just a little bit of-

Speak these words, my host.

-concentration, I was able to think of the right incantation and tear a hole through space, keeping my hands apart. It felt like holding open a curtain, though the weight was building by the moment. "Go!"

Both heroes flew through the opening and I hurled myself in right after them, allowing reality to go back to normal as we appeared in the middle of a stand-off. I recognized Hookwolf on sight, both from Mak's memories and the file the PRT kept on him. He actually kind of resembled Lung, in the sense that he didn't have a proper costume other than his metal mask. Glory Girl and Laserdream didn't take their eyes off of Hookwolf or the small group of thugs at his back, but I could see a small shield form around Laserdream's hand and flash in sequence behind her back in our direction. Lady Photon, Shielder, and I remained close to the ground, though they both began to hover slightly in preparation.

Hookwolf stepped forward, metal rippling beneath his skin as he moved. "I don't care how many reinforcements the little ladies called in, I'll say it again: This is our turf, now back the fuck off or I'll stop being so polite!"

Lady Photon floated forward a bit as well, maintaining just the slightest bit of height on Hookwolf. "I'm sure my daughter and niece had good reasons for stepping in." Her eyes swept over the group. "Initiation?"

"Ha!" Hookwolf let out a short grunt of laughter. "Perceptive, aren't you? Yeah, it was about time some of our members blooded themselves. Your girls interrupted. So like I said, back the fuck off." Something changed in his stance. The potential for violence filled the air, like an electric charge. "Maybe if you ask nicely, I'll make sure my boys don't accidentally kill the n*****s, just give'm a beating worth remembering."

I finally saw what Lady Photon had caught and what no doubt had gotten Laserdream and Glory Girl's attention: A black family trapped in their car, tires popped on one side and every piece of glass either cracked or broken. The Empire had waylaid them and begun the process of dragging them out. I saw bats, chains, knives, and a gun or two mixed in amongst the crowd.

"You know we can't do that," Lady Photon said coldly, all traces of the kind mother utterly gone. "Leave. We have all of New Wave coming down on this position and we have Protectorate assistance. I doubt Kaiser wishes to start a war tonight."

"Nah, but Kaiser has been a bit of a whiny bitch ever since Magus showed his head," Hookwolf leered in my direction. "All of New Wave you say?" I couldn't see his face beneath the metal, but I could practically hear the smile. "Good. Then it'll be a fair fight."

Lady Photon's eyes widened with panic as Hookwolf transformed into his signature Changer-form, a mass of whirling blades, hooks, and barbs. With a metallic shriek he charged.

And life got a lot more complicated.