Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter 109

Ignoring my rather off-the-cuff delivery, the PRT was happy to accept the remaining Empire capes. At first, the Wards of all things were the ones to greet me, as the rest of the Protectorate heroes were off fighting the wave of chaos and gang violence the Empire had unleashed as a cover for their attack on me. Thankfully, Velocity arrived just a minute or so after I arrived and announced my presence. By then, the PRT agents had begun carrying the first unconscious villains into the headquarters, guided to the facility's reinforced holding cells. 

"Arcanum, good to see you," Velocity said, eagerly shaking my hand with a smile. "I haven't really had the chance to thank you, at least not after having some time with the gloves you made me. They are… It's been incredible to actually be able to effectively engage targets, without giving up my edge in the process. Thank you." 

"You're welcome, Velocity. I was happy to help," I assured him, returning his firm shake. "Providing heroes with the proper tools to do their jobs more effectively has rapidly become one of my favorite aspects. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, you earned it by going to Canberra." 

Velocity seemed to stutter at that, unsure how to respond to the praise. Finally, after a moment, the red costumed hero pushed through and focused on the moment.

"Right, so… the rest of the Empire?" Velocity asked, watching Othalo, the last Empire cape, getting escorted away. "How did that happen? We've been pushing back against Empire activity all night but hadn't seen any sign of their capes... I guess we know why now." 

"They tried to pull me into an ambush," I explained with a shrug. "I think they figured they could use the twins to batter me down. They also had Victor nearby with what we think was a 20mm rifle as support."

"Jesus… would a 20mm have worked?" he asked, his eyes wide in surprise before he realized what he was asking. "I mean.."

"Honestly, I don't know, but it would have likely hurt either way," I admitted, shaking my head. "Not something I want to test." 

"Fair. How did you take down Fenja and Menja?" The Protectorate hero asked. "We struggle with them just as much as we struggled with Lung."

"I figured out their weakness," I responded with a smirk, Velocity rocking back slightly in surprise. "Their power protected them from deliberate attacks, but not from ambient changes. It's why they never fought Lung once he started to ramp up, as his ambient heat would have burned them. I designed a quick attack that would heat the air around its target, rather than the target itself. The results were not exactly enjoyable for either side, but they were effective and convinced both of the twins to surrender. Oh, and I healed them from their burns already."

"That… Okay, at least we know for the future," Velocity said, sounding a bit miffed they hadn't figured it out on their own. "And Kaiser? Was he… sealed inside his armor?" 

"Dumbass forgot I could control metal," I explained with a shrug. "Arrogance is a hell of a drug." 

That got a chuckle from the hero, who asked a few more questions about the fight before finally zipping away into the city. Once he was gone, I teleported back to pick up Smokey, Crow, and our golems, before heading off to calm the still stirred-up city. We ended up taking down a handful of Empire gang groups, all of which were doing their best to stir up chaos.

By the time the sun was rising, the city was thankfully calming down, and I made my way to the hospital to heal up any lingering problems caused by the Empire. I had already been bouncing back and fourth between the hospital and various other parts of the city, healing any serious injuries as they were discovered, but spending a few hours clearing up the less dangerous ones would go a long way to keeping the blame squarely on the Empire, rather than people lashing out and blaming me for stirring up trouble. 

Not that I ultimately cared. I just took slightly more responsibility for injuries caused by situations involving me, even if they weren't my fault. 

When the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, true to Glory Girl's word, we all ended up at a donut shop, one that the young cape was familiar with. Panacea also joined us, having spent several hours essentially doing the same healing I was, only she was centered around the PRT headquarters, keeping their people, and any nearby injured, healthy and whole. Once we were all seated, with the humans enjoying their coffee and donuts, we began reviewing the night's events.

It was a relatively informal debriefing, and I could see that it was more of a way to decompress and assure each other that everyone had made it through and that everything was okay, rather than a formal military-style debrief I would expect from, say, the PRT. I also noticed that while she remained mostly upright, Crow spent most of her time dozing as we talked. She spent a bit talking about how she had left to find Victor, but that was it.

Despite the casualness, we did make one important observation. Apparently, while there were several bits of tinker tech spread out through the various groups, there had been a few groups we stopped that had been oddly well equipped. In total, three of these groups had been apprehended, which made me worried that there might have been more that got away. Further, we had no idea what their targets were. While the standard gang groups had been happy to smash shops and roll cars and set them on fire, the well-equipped groups had been sneaking around, doing who knows what.

According to the reports some of the guardians provided, as well as what Manpower and Lady Photon reported, they were well-equipped for a simple gang group, with property military uniforms that almost resembled modified PRT gear. This included tactical gear like bulletproof vests and night vision goggles. Worse, after comparing notes, it was clear that these groups were by far the best equipped when it came to tinker tech as well, consistently armed with energy weapons and some sort of mover tech that allowed them to jump and run exceedingly fast in small bursts. 

"I don't think they were gang member at all," Lady Photon admitted, shaking her head. "Not one of them talked once they were captured, none of them shouted or screamed. They fought with precision and experience. We had quite a few close calls taking down the group we stumbled on, and I'm willing to bet the guardians would report the same." 

I looked at Smokey, who was sitting beside Piper, who was unfortunately still down an arm. He quickly nodded in agreement, leading forward a bit. 

"That follows what I've been hearing as well," he responded. "It looks to me like these are trained soldiers, working together in well-equipped and familiar teams."

"Like… mercenaries?" Weaver asked, the mouth portion of her mask removed, revealing just enough space for her to sip a cup of tea. 

"Something like that," Smokey agreed, giving the girl a nod. "But the thing is, between hiring, housing, and arming a group like that would not be cheap… It's also not something most gangs could just sneak under the radar."

"There were rumors that the E88 had connections with the Gesellschaft. I could see them having the resources to hire teams like this," Manpower pointed out. "That said, I'm not sure they would throw more resources into an already burning house."

"What about Coil?" Glory Girl asked, happily finishing a donut before speaking. "Nobody knows much about him. Heck, people aren't even sure if he has a power, but he is a local player. What if he threw some resources to them in hopes they could take down Arc?" 

"Why would he target me?" I asked with a frown. 

I recoiled slightly when everyone looked at me with confusion, eyebrows raised. Glory Girl was the first to react, snorting and shaking her head. 

"Really, Arc? You've been in the game for… what, two months maybe?" She asked. "And you took down those drug dealer capes, stabilized the homeless community, took down the city's most singularly dangerous cape, crushed the ABB, and carved out a good chunk of the Empire. I'm kinda shocked they didn't join forces sooner."

"Huh… well, if it is Coil, I'm glad he is feeling the pressure, and I'm glad we got some of his men off the streets," I said, leaning back in my chair. "We will have to come up with a plan to work him down next. If he is willing to throw in with nazis, then he is not someone im willing to let stay free."

"Yeah… plus having access to what amounts to a small PMC… assuming it was him," Lady Photon responded. "It's a concerning amount of resources for someone who was supposed to be a small-time player."

"I'll talk to the PRT, find out what they are willing to share about him," I volunteered. "After that, we can start making plans about how we will handle him. Who knows, the PRT might actually be able to help. I also need to make a few more guardians and golems to patrol the Empire's territory, but for now, we need to be the ones doing it. I'm hoping it will make the transition smoother."

"A solid plan, though I think you might be underestimating how famous you and your creations are," Manpower pointed out with a smirk. "Even before Canberra, they were becoming famous. Now you're basically a household name, especially around here. You cleaned a whole city in just a few months, after all."

I froze a little at his statement, my eyes going wide. I had purposely stayed away from media concerning myself, mostly because I didn't care what they were saying, I wasn't helping because of them after all. But, if I was already such a household name, that meant…

"Excuse me for a moment," I said, standing and heading to the bathroom.

Once I was inside the small, thankfully clean stall, I quickly took off my mask and cast a quick spell for studying ritual effects. Immediately, I spotted the problem I was worried about. When I designed my mask originally, it was intended to be invisible when I wore it, yet still protect my identity by preventing William Kalus from being connected to Arcanum. However, there was a severe limitation to the power of the ritual, specifically related to how well-known I was. If my fame grew too much, the protection would shatter, which it definitely had. I could only wonder when it had happened, although it didn't particularly matter. The only person I would have to worry about interacting with in their civilian persona was Crow, and I knew her before I knew she was a cape. 

I put my mask back on, securing it tightly before heading back out to the group. I would have left the mask off completely, but it did offer some protection against irritants and bright lights. I would make a replacement later, one focused purely on protection.

"Sorry about that," I said as I sat back down. "The enchantment on my mask to separate my civilian and cape identities was limited in how well-known I was. Turns out it had already failed, so I might as well not be wearing it at all."

"Woah, wait, that's like a huge deal!" Glory Girl said with wide eyes. "We-"

"It's alright, I'm basically a full-time cape anyway," I assured her and her teammates, who looked equally concerned. "Besides, all I was using my civilian identity for was shopping, and I can do that in costume. Alternatively, I might consider hiring someone to do my shopping for me. I'll have to talk to Charles and see if there is anyone he can recommend. With a couple of teleport stones and a shopping list, I could send someone anywhere in the US, after all…"

I trailed off as I talked, considering the idea. It would work, and would be very helpful considering that pretty soon I was going to start working on mass enhancement projects that would require considerably more resources than I could gather at the local stores. I shook my head after a moment to focus back on the conversation. 

"Don't worry, it's fine. I have plenty of friends to talk to who don't need to worry about the whole costume thing, like you guys. The few friends who it would matter about knew me as Arcanum first, so it hardly matters."

The more experienced capes at the table seemed a bit skeptical of my dismissal, but that was understandable. They had seen firsthand the difficulties associated with losing their civilian identity, and they belonged to a system that placed a lot of importance on the division. After all, while they had voluntarily become open capes, doing so had been a specific, dramatic statement highlighting the importance of the division. 

The difference between us was that they saw a division between a civilian and a hero persona, whereas I never really saw the point, even before I was dropped here. Watching Marvel and DC characters whine about their cape lives overwhelming their civilian lives had always struck me as strange, especially considering just how many people belonged to their community. Surely it made more sense to dive in and live one life, with like-minded people who were familiar with just what sort of struggles you went through on a daily basis. Although I suppose I was biased, I had always been distant from my family and my peers. 

"I appreciate the concern, but I will be fine. My civilian identity didn't have much attached to it anyway," I assured them, before purposely turning to look at Weaver, changing the subject rather heavy-handedly. "Weaver, I understand this was your first major night out. How did it go?" 

Weaver started a little when I directed the table's attention to her. She froze for a moment before carefully placing her cup down on the table. Alya whispered into my ear about the bug biome around us becoming agitated, as Weaver, rather dramatically, became perfectly calm. 

"It was… eventful," She admitted. "I did not expect to stumble into such a big event." 

"I'm glad you did," I assured her. "I'm not looking forward to ever finding out what such a big gun would have done to me. Thank you again."

"You're welcome," She responded, giving me a solemn nod.

"Would you like to be included in future patrols?" I asked, giving Lady Photon a subtle look, the older woman giving an equally subtle nod. "I'm sure New Wave would be happy to show you the ropes. I would be as well, though, as I said before, we already have the overwatch role filled."

"I… I would like that." 

"Great, then once I talk to PRT, we can discuss setting up patrols and working together," I said with a smile. "In the meantime… we should probably do some casual patrols so that everyone can get to know you, and your powers. Synergy is important when talking about patrol composition." 

We continued to chat for a little while longer before Taylor eventually had to leave. I got the feeling she was already running late, and I could only imagine she was hiding her nighttime activities from her father. We made plans to meet up soon, with Taylor promising to call Glory Girl when she was free. After a quick goodbye, we went our separate ways, with Crow, Smokey, Piper, and myself teleporting back to the forest compound.