Mage Among Superheroes

A good hard look passed between the porcupine we had come across and myself. It was looking curiously at all of our party from its perch on a stalagmite, in fact.

“Porcupines aren’t native to caves, are they?” I asked.

“They most certainly are not,” it replied. “But I am not a porcupine.”

I nodded, “Ah, gotcha. You must be an alien, then.”

The porcupine slid off of its stalagmite in surprise, tumbling to the ground.

“Miss porcupine!” Zeb hurried forward, much more accurate in her movements even with only partially fitting night vision goggles. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am alright,” the porcupine said as it stumbled to its feet. “I didn’t expect anyone to pierce so directly to the truth. Then again, your varied styles of clothing indicate that the majority of you are not from this place, are you?”

“Plus we have two aliens that look like animals,” I pointed out.

I still found myself somewhat confused that we could understand each other. Translation wouldn’t have immediately resulted in perfect communication, and this porcupine-like individual certainly wasn’t speaking any language I had heard before. The weirdest part was how I couldn’t really pick out any individual words.

Then again, it was a magic porcupine, so there was that. Which in turn made me suspicious. “Are you really an alien?” I asked.

“You were the one who suggested it,” the porcupine replied. “Why are you now uncertain? Of course I am. Not from this world here, of course.”

“Why does an alien have mana?” I asked.

“Isn’t it natural?” a head swiveled back and forth. “All of you do.”

I crossed my arms. “This is an exception.”

Malaliel shook her head, cutting off further progress along that line of thought. “I believe this is enough suspicion for now. We should at least introduce ourselves. I am Malaliel. We are seeking to stop those individuals who shot lasers at you. And you?”

The porcupine bowed, though the stubby legs made it a somewhat uncertain gesture. “I am Lady Eglantine of the planet Humurun. I ended up here through quite convoluted events that caused me to be separated from my companion.”

“I’m Zeb!” our energetic canine replied. “I was an engineer for the Bunvorixians but it turned out the leaders were really bad and now I have animal friends! It’s okay that you’re not an animal because we can still be friends just fine. Humurun wasn’t in our databases.”

Midnight decided that he should be next. “My name is Midnight Deathstalker, of the Celmothians. We are also not aware of the planet Humurun to my knowledge.”

We went through our whole group fairly quickly, ending with me. “I am Turlough. I’d use a code name but it’s dumb especially in this world. Like Sir Kalman I was a native of this world. Now I’m a citizen of Earth, though.”

Eglantine perked up at that. “You’re from Earth? Then perhaps you have heard of milady Strife?”

I tilted my head. “Strife? Is she from New Bay? I don’t recognize the name. I don’t think I heard of her in Yew-Kay either.”

“New Bay?” the porcupine looked confused. “I’m not quite sure where that is. Milady Strife is from Japan.”

“... Is Strife a Japanese name?”

“Of course not,” Eglantine replied. “It would be, like most of yourselves, merely a moniker used to conceal her private identity.”

“Sounds like a villain name,” I commented.

She deflated in front of me, creating almost a puddle of quills as she flattened out. “I told milady that she would receive such comments frequently, but she found it appropriate given her powerset. But she is far from villainous. She is a mighty heroine and a defender of Earth. She has pushed back the Scouring more times than I can count.” I looked over at Malaliel for help. Or literally anyone, but they all seemed as confused as I was. “But I have been wasteful with our time. I would prefer not to be so crass, but I must ask you for a favor even upon our first meeting.”

“You want us to help you track down your friend and save her from… probably the dark elves?” I surmised.

Actual sparkles filled Eglantine’s eyes, revealing some odd coloration on the rest of her body with the benefit of actual light. “Your insight is astounding, sir Turlough. I am aware it would place your team in peril but-”

“Which way? We’ll totally fight them,” I declared.

Translation was helping interpret the surprised facial expressions of our new acquaintance. “... Just like that?”

“Do you think we’re wandering in these tunnels for no reason at all?” I countered. “If she’s currently in battle…”

Eglantine thought for a moment. “I can’t be quite certain. Just that she is alive and is low on remaining magic.”

“But you know where she is? Let’s go,” I said.

-----

Flower, being small and agile, scouted ahead alone. While Miss Flutter was native to the caves and not particularly poor in her stealth capabilities, it was still determined that it would be best if she remained back with us in our particular circumstances.

There weren’t many branching paths, though Flower did have to wait for us a few times. Our porcupine friend was able to lead us down the right path with ease.

We didn’t have to go terribly far, which wasn’t that surprising given the speed at which Eglantine was able to move. When given options for travel, she ultimately chose to allow Sir Kalman to carry her, as she would not have to worry about injuring him with her quills. Though I was pretty sure it wasn’t a huge danger if she functioned similarly to an actual porcupine, as long as nobody held her the wrong way and she didn’t try to puncture anyone.

Soon enough we approached a large chamber with numerous burn scars everywhere on the stone throughout. There were also several visible bodies with blood pooling around them. And someone hidden behind a stalagmite.

“Strife!” Eglantine called out. “It’s safe to come out. I have met some… friendly individuals.” When it didn’t seem that her companion was going to show herself, Eglantine moved to the front, circling around the stalagmite in question. I hung further back but moved far enough to make out the individual in question, appearing like a dark bundle of cloth crumpled against the stone. “What happened?”

A head of dark hair turned to reveal distinctly asian features… and a patch over one eye. Strife- that was who she had to be- held one hand up to cover said eyepatch. “I had to use it. And…” she gestured towards the rest of the scene. Translation actually had to do something there. It was a good thing her words were simple.

“I understand,” Eglantine said. “I saw the results. You look like you need to be patched up.”

“We can help with that,” I commented. “And by that I mean… three people who aren’t me in particular.”

Strife’s eye locked on me. It seemed she could function well enough in the dark as well. She slowly stood, turning her formless shape into one that was more clear. And far more confusing. She was wearing an extremely elaborate black dress, and her hair was impractically long for battle.

Her other hand was held to her stomach, with clear signs of blood trickling through her fingers. “I don’t need help.”

Bandage was already approaching. “Say what you want, goth girl, but you can barely stand.” It was unclear if her words properly translated to Strife, but the woman didn’t seem to be able to move before Bandage reached out her arm and blasted her with healing magic. “That should at least stop most of the bleeding. I can do better if you let me take a proper look at you.”

Strife took a few hasty steps back, and then she was suddenly surrounded by about a hundred needles sticking out in all directions. Needles that looked much like Eglantine’s, but glowing. And both extremely colorful and sparkly. It was like the hue shifting paint that cars sometimes had.

The light also revealed more patches of red on Strife’s outfit- but brighter. Her whole outfit was red and black. She stood there unsteadily, surrounded by spikes. She was also saying more than a few things seemingly directed at Eglantine, about a third of which translated. “... who are… how… strange people…”

“Just keep talking and Translation will begin to do its work,” I said, intentionally trying to speak so she would understand. “Though I suppose Eglantine can translate as well, because apparently she just works.”

“She’s speaking a universal language,” Malaliel explained.

“I see. So that’s also magic,” I nodded.

“Well… that’s not wrong,” Malaliel admitted.

Eventually the situation had been properly explained, and we could somewhat directly communicate with Strife. I had many important questions, starting with… “So why are you wearing a dress? Seems hugely impractical for combat. Did you get pulled through a portal during a party or something?”

Instead of Strife responding, it was actually Punk Monk. She just sighed. “Dude. Clearly she’s a magical girl.”

“I’m sure all of us can sense the magic, yes,” I agreed. “But that doesn’t really explain the rest.” I wasn’t sure if I would call her a ‘girl’ either. As I watched, I noticed that the bloodstains and burn scars in her dress were fading away, emphasizing that it was her actual gear. Unless she was rich enough to afford self-repairing material for formal use.

“She is right,” Strife spoke concisely, perhaps not quite trusting in the effects of Translation. “I am a magical girl, infused with Lady Eglantine’s powers and sworn to fight the Scouring and their minions.”

Again, that explained nothing. But everyone but Sir Kalman and Lyklor seemed to accept it, besides me. Fortunately, Malaliel took charge of the conversation from there. “I see. In that case, how did you end up here?”

“Well…” she seemed hesitant. “We spotted some agents of the Scouring retreating through a portal. We gave chase, not realizing that it would nearly immediately close behind us.”

I nodded seriously. “Portals can be tricky like that.” Though the one I came through had actually stayed open for quite a while.

Malaliel brushed past my interruption. “I understand. In our world, I work for a group responsible for balancing extradimensional and extraterrestrial interactions. Your situation is not unique. If you remain with us, we will do our best to return you to your proper world.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Lyklor commented. “But Flower has detected additional incoming foes. Most likely they were tipped off by fleeing comrades, as there are a few injured members among them.”

Strife clicked her tongue, swiveling her head. “They’re after us. You should flee and let me handle it.”

“How many?” I asked Lyklor.

“Fourteen,” he replied clearly. Apparently, Flower was better at counting than Miss Flutter.

“I see. Can you fight, Strife? I don’t mean in general, but are you currently able?”

“I’ll have to manage,” she grunted. She reached up to her eye patch again. That was an odd habit. Had she just lost her eye? Why would she have a convenient eyepatch then? “Though there were only eight before…”

Whatever. Being able to fight was good enough. “Great. You start on the left side and we’ll meet in the middle. Midnight, could you prepare a barrage of Light? Everyone else, buff up.” I looked at Strife. “So is it useful for you to be faster?”

“What?” she asked.

“Whatever, you get to be faster regardless.” I gathered mana for a Multicasting of Haste, focusing on the various bonded individuals for the greatest amount of total individuals. Maybe that was a risk, since I hadn’t tested the extreme limits to sharing with bonded individuals. But I was content to just believe each group counted as one. Myself and Midnight were one, Zeb, Fluffy, and Miss Flutter were two, Lyklor and Flower were three, which put Strife and Eglantine as four. Oh, maybe I had one more now? Malaliel was the last individual I considered. And everyone seemed to get the boost. Neat. I made a mental note that I should hang out with Zeb more.