My opponent was named flare, an A-class energy type, fire obviously, just by the name. He was wiry, about my height at six feet, and had cold blue eyes and short blond hair that was spiked on top. He wore a red, yellow, and orange suit, with white and blue accents. Obviously, all the colors of fire.

  Millicent gave her usual speech, and she told us to fight.

  I could have dodged, exchanged plasma, and perhaps sonic and electric strikes to his fire. It was quite probable I’d even win. I could dodge very fast with my gravity drive, and the inertial dampers would ensure I wasn’t harmed by radical changes in direction and G forces.

  I already knew the rail gun was out, I’d cut him in half, I didn’t think he had invulnerability at all. Just fire, flight, speed, and an energy shield made up of fire and magic.

  There’s that word again, I’m just going to say meta-energy from now on. Not that the word really means anything, but it isn’t magic, just an unknown energy type.

  Point was, I won by conserving as much energy as I could, and in being smart about fighting.

  Instead of a drawn-out battle, I took off from the ground when he did, intercepted and wrapped my arms around him tightly, and then blasted straight up at seven hundred miles an hour. He was jarred as my arms went around him, and his shields dug into mine. My heartrate picked up, and my body was flooded with adrenaline, it always did when I fought, even when I was sure I could win.

  When we hit ten thousand feet, I tripled that and hit Mach two and then some, I imagined those below would have heard the sonic boom. His face was a little panicked as we kept going higher, and he kept blasting my shield with explosions of fire, but it wasn’t long before his shield started to sputter out, and his attacks became weak, way before I came even close to being in danger of running out of power for flight and shields.

  Not because he was out of power, but simply because fire needed oxygen. A plasma energy producer wouldn’t have been affected in that way, but a normal fire starter did have those limits. My plasma didn’t have those limits either.

  When his shield dropped, I released a cuff spell from my gauntlet, and his arms snapped behind his back and his legs snapped together. The cuff also started to absorb Flare’s pool of internal meta-energy. A super with super strength could break it long before it sucked away all his energy, and flare could destroy it with energy, if he could light up without oxygen that is, which was why it would work.

  Point being, normally I had to fully wear them down before I could put the power draining cuffs spell on, but I’d eliminated his power in another way that allowed me to get around that.

  My scan systems monitored his energy drain, and I waited the fifteen seconds or so that it took to drain the rest of his energy with the cuff, then I took off back toward the ground at a fairly good rate of speed. I didn’t want to harm him after all, and a lack of oxygen for too long would do that. I had my own internal supply in the suit, which wouldn’t help him at all.

  I was back on the ground, and I placed him down carefully just under four minutes after the fight started.

  He was gasping a bit, but his color was good, and he was fine. The regenerating energy was being drained before he could make use of it, and to power the cuff spell. The fight was over.

  Millicent smirked, “Very good, but how are we to evaluate that, when we didn’t see what happened?”

  Oh, damn it to hell. I may have just outsmarted myself out of a job. Her amusement was the only thing that gave me hope that wasn’t true, it was the first time I’d even seen that emotion on her face. Nate looked at me like I was a piece of excrement, and Carina winked playfully.

  I got the idea Carina didn’t take much seriously, at least, outside of battle.

  I reported, “Sorry. Fire needs oxygen. I starved his shield at high-altitude, and then used my cuff spell to subdue him and drain his energy, then I took him back down before he could take harm from lack of oxygen. Without super-strength he couldn’t escape my grasp, and without being able to use fire he couldn’t harm me.”

  Millicent asked, “Cuff spell?”

  I said, “Same concept as the physical power suppressing cuffs you use, just with magic and nothing physical.”

  She nodded, “Very well. Well done.”

  I released the cuff spell, and then walked back over to the wall. Flare would be fine, and back up to strength in a few hours.

  There were twenty-three more fights to sit through, so there were fifty-two of us altogether that had made it past the verbal interview. Some of them were slug matches, although even those had levels of subtlety and skill that were quite impressive. Others were energy against energy. A few times one of us on the sidelines were blasted, and I winced. Not because anyone died, or was even all that hurt, but I suspected a part of the fight evaluation was us, that we counted as innocent bystanders as far as the test.

  Collateral damage wasn’t acceptable, not when it came to lives, even property damage was frowned on, but sometimes unavoidable. I suspected that those were automatically disqualified in Millicent’s mind, or at least I’d caught her grimace and slight head shake when it happened.

  I felt good about my battle, and how I’d taken out Flare, but I second guessed myself based on the whole being evaluated part. Who knew, maybe she’d see it as a good thing, not that she’d said so, but in essence I’d taken the fight high in the sky, where there was no real possibility of that collateral damage I’d mentioned.

  Needless to say, the field was lit up with lights when the sun went down, and it was close ten-thirty before all the fights were over with. It’d been a long day, especially with the flight. The flight had taken a few hours, but I’d gained back three hours in time zones and had gotten there relatively early in the morning. To my body, it’d felt more like one-thirty am when it was finally over.

  When it was all over, Millicent had us gather together in front of her, with Carina and Nate on either side of her.

  She said, “Very well done, all of you. We want you to all to return tomorrow morning at nine. You are all heroes, and show dedication and perseverance, just for the right to keep wearing those suits and to keep fighting crime. Unfortunately, I can only choose three of you. We’ll be going over the data tonight, and we’ll sleep on it before considering all we’ve seen and heard. A decision will be made. For those of you who don’t become a part of us, both Reno and Albuquerque are holding similar trials in two days. Thank you.”

  We split up, and I hoped I could find a hotel with a free room.

  Chapter Five

  The sun was bright overhead, and it was already warm, fortunately my suit enchantments had built in life support for space, so of course that included heating and cooling. I felt a bit nervous, I’d found a decent hotel to spend the last nine hours, and I’d only eaten half a muffin and drank a cup of coffee for breakfast. It was all I could get down. I supposed I could try again in another city, but it felt like my whole future was on the line.

  I also had to admit, there was a part of me that wanted to be on this team, simply because the White Witch was on it. Sure, she was cute, but that wasn’t why, it was her power and ability I was curious about. I wouldn’t quite say I was a fan, but I definitely admired her. She’d been saving the west coast from huge sea monsters when she was still in high school.

  Millicent didn’t drag out the suspense when she walked out the door with the aforementioned White Witch, as well as Nate and Carina.

  The White Witch was in her super suit this time, which amounted to a pure white bodysuit, not a full body catsuit, just a leotard really, that hugged her torso and pushed her generous b cups together and up, and on the sides it was cut high to reveal the outside of her creamy thighs. Her body was petite, curvy, and in perfect proportion. Outside of the white leotard, she also had diaphanous white robes over it that covered her from neck to toe, and it was transparent enough to just make what she had below it more titillating. She also held a deep green staff in her hand, and a pair of calf high bright white boots, with four-inch heels that made her five foot five.

  Her angelically beautiful face was also far more striking, when it was framed by long and sparkling in the sun white blonde hair, and stormy gray eyes. I mean that last part literally, her eyes weren’t a human gray color. They literally looked like gray storm clouds, whirling and billowing, it was obviously a glamour of some kind, illusion over her warm brown peepers, and gave her a strikingly intense look.

  As I said, Millicent didn’t dally, she was obviously a no-nonsense person, and didn’t bother with any games or drawing out the anticipation, nor did she take petty enjoyment in her power over our fates.

  Millicent nodded gravely, “Welcome back. The following three names will join us inside, the rest of you I truly wish you the best, and hope you consider applying in one of the other cities running these trials. Tina Johnson, Carol Burns, and Daniel James, please step forward and join us.”

  I felt my stomach unclench.

  Well, we’d just all been outed, and for the first time I used my change enchantment to take off my suit in public. I’d only ever done it before in front of people with authority that had known my name because of government registration. Underneath, I was wearing business casual that time, khakis and a collared pull over blue shirt, not quite up to the professional clothes of the agents, but better than jeans and a t-shirt.

  I also learned a moment later, that Tina Johnson was Red Siren, and Carol Burns was Myriad, when Millicent greeted us all by specific name and a nod in our direction. Of course, the White Witch was Alyssa Carlson, she’d been outed last year by one of her peers in high school.

  I glanced over and gave my new teammates a friendly nod, and was a little disturbed by Tina’s annoyed glare, and Carol’s cold and empty dark-blue-eyed return look sent a shiver down my spine, but I ignored it and shrugged it off. Heroines tended to be judgmental of all the male heroes, I was sure they’d warm up once they realized I wasn’t an arrogant sexist pig.

  Sure, it was shortsighted to judge us all like that, but in honesty most male heroes were that way, completely arrogant and entitled. It wasn’t a mystery why. The corrupting lifestyle, power, money, and all the hot empty sex they got whenever they wanted from groupies, it was just human nature, that kind of thing had a big impact. It wasn’t fair, but life wasn’t fair, and it was what it was, time would fix it, or they would lose out.

  Hell, even I’d been tempted by it, what man wouldn’t be? But I was thankfully old enough to realize how empty it would be.

  Millicent said, “Thanks for joining us, and again, good luck in the future.”

  The other heroes and heroines didn’t look happy, as they flew off, or zipped off the property, some few walked, and there was even one that teleported away.

  Millicent relaxed her posture slightly, and the presence of the White Witch in all her glory suddenly took on another significance. They’d expected there would be trouble, and she’d been there to stomp it if there was.

  “Excellent. Come on in, Jenna will give you a tour and show you your apartments. We’ll have our first meeting in an hour’s time.”

  Her eyes were intimidating, but the White Witch’s smile was welcoming as she added a friendly welcome of her own.

  We all nodded in agreement, and the three of us moved toward the door. Alyssa wouldn’t be coming, she’d already been around, and had lived in the building for a while. I let the ladies go first, and got an even nastier glare from Tina for my efforts, what the hell was that about? Although, I guessed I should refer to her as Red Siren, at least when she was in her super suit.

  Now that we were outed, that kind of thing might get complicated.

  Jenna greeted us with a stunning smile, and her hands were fidgeting a bit with excitement as she took us in.

  She said, “All of you, call me Jenna please, and if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to ask, that’s part of my job, from dispatching assistance, to stocking your favorite food in the kitchen, to calling the plumber if you have a problem in your apartment.”

  I smiled, “Thanks, as long as there’s coffee, I’m good.”

  She laughed, and then subtly looked me up and down with an alluring smile as she turned. No wonder we’d been ordered to behave around her, she was one of those high energy, cheery, and naturally flirty types. At least, that was my first impression. I normally didn’t like the look of women with very short hair, but she was a total knock out, and her short spiky golden blonde hair really worked for her.

  Red Siren said, “I’m looking forward to working with you,” in a sweet alluring voice. Even her speaking voice was alluring and captivating, and that was without her magic. Not sultry, although there was a hint of that in there as well, just extremely pleasant and attention grabbing.

  She looked over her shoulder as she led us down the hallway, “Thanks! Me too. All of you are pretty amazing. The first floor is mostly offices and conference rooms, it will also be where approved interviews with the press happen.”

  Yeah, that was another thing about the government taking over the superhero racket, and in controlling it. The branding and marketing of the super team would be done by a government representative. We’d still get most of the money for branding, but they’d get a healthy percentage, which would go towards city repair toward that unavoidable property damage to minimize costs. It would also be what paid for our free room and board, food, all that.

  We’d still make plenty, in salary working for the government plus our branding.

  Point was though, we couldn’t just go out and give interviews anymore, or even talk about fights we were in, or supervillains we were after, not until it was approved by the government.

  “The only other thing down here is the armory, for the tactical teams’ multifunction rifles, armor, and suppression cuffs.”

  She opened up a door, and we walked up the stairs to the second floor.

  I was pleasantly surprised.

  The décor was much nicer, with dark gray rugs that had swirling patterns of red, brown, and lighter gray on them, warm light beige walls, and there were even plants in an attempt to make it homier.

  “This second floor is where you’ll probably spend most your time, when you aren’t out patrolling or assisting one of the tactical teams. It’s completely off limits to anyone that doesn’t work here, you won’t have to worry about getting blindsided by a reporter when on the second or third floor.”

  We were led through the floor, as she showed it to us. In the front of the building, it contained a large entertainment room in one corner big enough to fit thirty, a large command center in the middle, and on the other side it had an extremely large kitchen, a walk-in fridge and freezer, two stovetops and a double oven, and a full-sized griddle. Next to the walk-ins was a walk-in pantry that was pretty large, and it was stuffed with dry foods. There was also a large table that would fit thirty. That made sense, there were twenty in the TAC teams, four of us heroes, and then Millicent and Jenna.

  That was twenty-six, but we still hadn’t met whoever our press and branding liaison would be, plus a few seats to spare, just in case we all ate at once. I supposed there could be more as well in the staff that we hadn’t been told about yet.

  We went back down the hallway, where there was a washer and dryer room, four each. There was also a large empty training room that looked to be reinforced, for sparring practice. A separate workout room that was quite vast, and it had at least four of every type of weight and workout machine I could think of. Last but not least, there was a clinic of sorts, no doubt for the humans without invulnerability. It appeared to have its own scanning tech, and blood lab.

  Then she took us up to the third floor, which was split up into thirty small apartments. As I’d heard, they were just a small living room, and a decent sized bedroom with an attached bath that would get the job done. The furniture was very basic and sparse, and I decided to get my POD storage delivered as soon as possible.

  Rose said, “I can take care of that for you.”

  Right.

  You can read my mind? Not to mention be active while inside the amulet.

  Rose replied, “Yes, of course. It’s how the suit works, you mentally control many of the systems through me.”

  Of course, that made sense. So, she wanted to fight crime, and be my assistant? I wasn’t going to say no, if she wanted more duties.

  Go for it, I thought in her direction.

  She didn’t respond, but I assumed she was doing it. Rose wasn’t very garrulous at all, apparently.

  The apartments also had voice recognition and retinal access, and Jenna set that up for the three of us. Then she left us in peace. I took a moment, we had a while before we had to be back downstairs, for our first meeting. I imagined she’d be setting expectations, and a schedule of some kind. Regardless, getting in on the team had me feeling kind of numb in that moment, it was a good surprise, but it was still a shock.

  Don’t get me wrong, I was confident, and I’d earned it, but no more than some of the others that hadn’t been signed on. In short, it was a relief, and I just sat on the couch for a few minutes and took it in.

  My stomach settled, and I felt somewhat normal, still a bit high on the fact I’d made it, as I got up and headed down to the second floor. Besides all the other kitchen appliances, I’d spotted a Keurig in the corner, with a whole bunch of mugs on shelves below it.

  Alyssa, Tina, and Carol were at the table, and their sharp whispers cut off as I walked into the kitchen, and I headed for the coffee maker after giving them a nod. The latter two glared at me, and Alyssa blushed even as her eyes narrowed. Whatever, what had they told Alyssa?

  They were all in civilian clothes like I was, which was why I used their regular names and not super names. Still, I felt prickles on the back of my neck as I grabbed a large mug and brewed ten ounces of the god juice. If looks could kill, I’d imagine I’d have died about then. I added a splash of milk from the fridge and walked over and joined them. What else could I do? I couldn’t work with a team that hated me.