“Lucky you,” I commented to Thiziri after the Humuruns commented on her suitability. “If you didn’t have compatibility here, the next option is more troublesome.”

  Her eyes widened. “You have another option to get people powers?”

  “This one is better for your purposes,” I said. “The power these guys have is perfect for being a hero.”

  “Awesome,” she said. “But I thought you’d try to recruit me to the Power Brigade or something.”

  I shook my head. “Sounds like a pain. Because of your uncle.”

  “And my history.”

  “I’m quite certain there are people with worse working for us,” I commented. Technically, Zeb had been an alien invader.

  Currently, we were looking at an owl, a pink elephant, and a shiny skunk. They were carefully observing Thiziri, doing whatever Humuruns did to determine power compatibility. From my understanding, particular Humuruns would match better with specific people, even if that person could technically get power from any of them. It made sense, of course. Personalities were likely a large factor in any sort of bond.

  Thiziri shifted back and forth on her feet nervously, like she’d never been judged by powerful extradimensional entities before.

  There were a lot of ‘hmm’ noises as they inspected her. Finally, the elephant shook her? head. “I don’t think my color suits you at all, dearie. Such a shame.”

  “Do colors matter?” Thiziri whispered urgently to me. “Should I have worn something different?”

  “Pretty sure she meant something about supernatural compatibility. But I have no stylistic talent.”

  “Really? I wouldn’t say that. You’ve got a pretty well put together outfit.”

  I nodded. “Francois will be so glad to hear that. But mostly I just went with whatever he thought that also felt good.”

  Thiziri shrugged. “I think that counts.”

  We weren’t trying to ignore the Humuruns or anything, but they sort of had to figure out the hard parts on their own.

  “Hoo. I think either of us would do just fine, don’t you think?” the owl commented.

  The skunk nodded a glossy snout. “Absolutely. I think the young miss could take her pick and be no worse.”

  “Uh, me?” Thiziri asked. “Don’t you choose?”

  The skunk’s tail shifted, reflecting lights from overhead. “Previously, we haven't had the spare capacity to have multiple Humuruns that might bond with a single individual. If the situation hadn’t changed, we wouldn’t even have considered bonding with someone who wasn’t intending to fight The Scouring.”

  “That sounds bad,” Thiziri commented. “That Scouring thing.”

  “It is bad,” the owl agreed. “Fortunately, Mage here has allowed us to double our active numbers in a short time.”

  She looked at me again. Was she always surprised at stuff? Seemed like a weakness for a hero. “How?”

  “Portals. Obviously.”

  “How many people do you think can make portals?” Thiziri said.

  “Well, there are at least two tech supers,” I commented. “And I know for sure there are people with specific powers in New Bay who handle different locations during crises. And probably Spot if he’s not lazy.” I nodded. “I’d bet at least ten in New Bay.” Obviously Wrickle could do it, and probably a bunch of other mages from Granbold. And more from other countries. But I didn’t think she cared about that.

  “Right.” She looked up and down between the owl and the skunk. “Is it okay to ask what sort of powers I would get? I haven’t done anything like this before so I’m not sure what to use to make decisions.”

  “The specific details may be hard to predict,” the owl said. “Personally, I would grant something along the signs of vision or insight. Perhaps farseeing. And of course, you would receive some sort of magical implement capable of slaying The Scouring.”

  “Magic?” she asked, looking at me.

  “It’s not the same kind,” I said.

  “Indeed not,” the owl concurred. “The ‘powers’ would also be called magic. But it would come with more specific capabilities instead of this fellow’s flexibility.”

  “Obviously,” Thiziri nodded. “So about you…?” she looked down towards the skunk.

  “My powers would tend towards light manipulation,” the skunk commented.

  “Like illusions?” she asked.

  “That could be the case,” the skunk said. “But I have no certainty to say so. But it will always have combat value.”

  “Cool, uh… what do I call you guys?”

  The Humuruns exchanged glances. “We don’t have names yet.”

  “... what?”

  “We always just let our companions choose,” the shunk said.

  The owl nodded… by tilting its whole body forward and back. Maybe it was more of a bob. “We have no requirement for names among our own people. And our companions do so enjoy coming up with ridiculous names.”

  “Huh, okay.” She seemed to be taking things very seriously, pondering things in her head. “I think I’d prefer the skunk.”

  The two Humuruns exchanged a look. “We don’t actually know what animals you believe we resemble.”

  “... oh. You,” she gestured. “The shiny, light powers one.”

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  “Excellent,” the not-skunk approached. “Normally, given sufficient time, I would make you swear to fight The Scouring. However, this case is an exception since they won’t be a threat in your world.”

  “They might be,” I said. Everyone looked at me, with different levels of concern. “New Bay draws in all sorts of things. Don’t worry, The Scouring isn’t much worse than most of the interdimensional monsters. Maybe slightly more dangerous than average.”

  “In that case…” the skunk said. “I must ask you to swear to defeat them, should they appear.”

  “Not that I’m planning to go against that,” Thiziri commented. “But what would happen to me if I didn’t?”

  “I would be quite disappointed. In extreme scenarios, I might withdraw my powers.”

  She stiffened. Perhaps for her, that was worse than some alternatives. Like death. “I was just curious. Obviously I’ll defend my home from invading monsters. Do I have to swear something specific?”

  “However you please. Sincerity is what matters.”

  She put some thought into it. “I, Thiziri Demciri, swear to fight all evil that should land within my sight.”

  “Oh, very good,” the skunk nodded. “I will happily empower you.”

  As she bent down and touched the skunk’s nose, she suddenly looked quite like the skunk. That wasn’t a given. I had seen the green bull turn a teacher into a traditionally colored Matador, for example.

  In this case, Thiziri was more of an inverted version of the Humurun. She had a white jacket, and when she turned I observed her undershirt having a black stripe down the middle. Her pants were black with white stripes down the middle of the back, with opposite colors rising into her jacket as far as the lower back. Oh, and everything was as glossy as the skunk.

  Thiziri was looking herself over for a while, seemingly quite pleased. “What about my weapon?”

  As soon as she thought that, a staff appeared in her hand. It was a twisting spiral of black and white, and I could swear that it was spinning. Or maybe I was spinning. I looked away to avoid getting dizzy. I wasn’t sure if that was an active power or just a visual effect.

  “Awesome,” Thiziri said. “Too bad there’s nothing I can hit here.”

  “This room isn’t a good place for it,” I agreed. I looked over at the remaining owl. “Do you guys need me to bring anyone else through…?”

  “We are satisfied for the moment. We would need to adequately prepare, regardless. Please continue to keep in touch, though.”

  “Great,” I said. “We’ll be heading back then.”

  When I opened up my Gate, Thiziri looked surprised. “Isn’t this Extra? I thought…”

  “They might be angry at me for… circumventing their authority. But they’d be upset with both of us if we smuggled an extradimensional power granting individual into the city.”

  -----

  Malaliel was looking upon me with disappointment. “I can’t believe that you would do something like this.”

  “... I thought your kind of angels couldn’t lie,” I said.

  She held her face in her hands. “What have I done to deserve this? It’s just an expression. If I thought you literally believed it I would have to correct your misunderstanding though.” Malaliel looked between the three of us stuffed in the room. “Why did you think this was okay?” Malaliel asked.

  “I think it’s a net good for the city.”

  “Yet you know you’re not supposed to be the judge of that,” she pointed out. “And now we have… Anima and…?”

  “I was thinking Vein,” Anima commented, looking over at her companion. “How do you feel about that?”

  “Like a collection of metal ore. I like it.”

  Malaliel obviously didn’t have any trouble treating people with animal shapes the same as everyone else. “Right. Vein, then. You’re not supposed to be here.”

  “I am bonded to a native of this plane,” Vein said. “I am supposed to be here.”

  Malaliel shook her head. “I don’t mean metaphysically! I mean legally.”

  “Outside companions are legal,” I said. “And the bond is already formed.”

  “Of course it is,” Malaliel said. She focused on Thiziri again. “Does your uncle know?”

  “My- Who? I don’t even have an uncle.”

  “I can tell when you lie.”

  “...He doesn’t know.”

  “In that case, he’s the only one not in trouble.” Malaliel looked me dead in the eye. “We could have you arrested, you know.”

  I pondered for a moment. “Would I go the same place as all of the non-native supervillains?”

  “Yes. And you know what that would mean for you.”

  “I’d get out the next time that they did a mass escape. And you couldn’t blame me because I’d be fighting them.”

  Malaliel’s eye twitched. “We are constantly working to maximize our security protocols.”

  “Do I need a lawyer?” I asked.

  She was silent for a few moments. “Only if you need one to help you negotiate the number of requests you will be doing for Extra. For free.”

  “Nah, I’m sure you wouldn’t cheat me on that.”

  I thought things were working out swimmingly.

  “Try not to look so smug.”

  “This is my normal resting face,” I said.

  Malaliel rolled her eyes. “You,” she turned back to the newly minted magical girl. “You’re planning to sign up to be a hero?”

  She nodded seriously. “That’s right.”

  “That’s difficult to do with a criminal record.”

  “I don’t have-” she glanced over at me. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have a criminal record.”

  “And we can work together to keep it that way,” Malaliel said.

  I wondered if it would help or hurt her case that she was already sworn to fight extradimensional threats? Eh, I’d let them work that out. I was certain things were going to be fine.

  The important thing was that everything was going to work out for the best. And New Bay would probably be safer.

  -----

  “Ugh, why don’t my powers work on you at all?”

  Thiziri was currently between monikers, so I was mostly calling her ‘hey you’. Heroes got to pick their names, or at least they had heavier influence over it… especially if they went into things with a plan.

  “Your powers work just fine,” I said.

  “I lasered you and you didn’t even flinch! And you always pick out the illusions.”

  “Well, none of them are real to begin with,” I pointed out. Unlike Mystrome’s power, she couldn’t animate objects. Though she was able to make some of her illusions semi-real. Which made them semi-dangerous to normal people. Probably a lot more dangerous to The Scouring, specifically. Or similar stuff. “Also, I have years of experience and you’re a complete newbie.”

  She sighed. “I thought I was supposed to be strong from the start.”

  “Sounds lame,” I commented. “If that was the case you probably wouldn’t grow. Now fix this floor,” I pointed to a section she had hit.

  “Ugh, do I have to?”

  “Depends. How many street repairs can you afford to pay for?” I don’t know if heroes were actually responsible for that stuff precisely the same as mercenaries, but they could be.

  Relatedly, our current sparring session was a cross promotional intra-city event. Or mostly just an excuse for me to fight someone new. But I would also like to fight other heroes, so it was nice to have it be bigger.

  That one mayor guy might be pulling some strings, but I think the heroes already wanted to do something like this. Maybe to show they were better than mercenaries or to research our powers, but I didn’t really care. If they were going to learn things about me, I’d just get stronger and learn more about them.

  And Thiziri was a little weak right now as she got used to her powers. Maybe a side effect of the drugs that was lingering, but Vein and the others all saw significant potential so she’d probably match Strife and the others given time. Though for now, maybe she should just train with Jerome or something. She actually had a lot of good utility, and there was magical overlap.

  But for the moment, I should make sure she worked hard to make up for everything she did to her family and stuff.