All this messing around with planar boundaries people were doing was really starting to become an annoyance. First the outer planes began closing off access so I couldn’t ferry paladins around to unlock their abilities, and now the material plane was rejecting certain people.

I didn’t know how to deal with that, either. It didn’t stop my Gate from forming, so I couldn’t just… push harder. I might be able to learn to circumvent it, but for the moment we were going to test who it would properly let through.

Actually, if it had worked would Extra have had a bunch of agents with class abilities? As long as they were working under people like Zorphax and Malaliel it was probably fine. I’d never had issues with our local branch, and the restrictions they had were sensible.

Malaliel was an interesting question. The plane didn’t reject her, even though she would normally be considered an extradimensional being. Neither did she have any class abilities as far as I knew, as her world’s angels seemed to be different.

Well, not that I was going to complain if she unlocked such abilities. Personally, everyone having ‘powers’ would be fine with me. It was only annoying when people like the Darkstargirl fanatics got powers and thought they could do whatever they wanted because everyone else didn’t have them. And if they only attacked me then I would only be upset if they interrupted me during something important. Experience was good, after all.

Though we were only working on a single point of evidence and a particular theory, the Power Brigade wasn’t going to let a chance pass them by. Because if the Portal Squad newbies got access to the full suite including points, they’d be much more effective.

Thus it was that an hour later, which was just about enough time for Midnight and me to recover half a Gate’s worth of mana, all of them were suited up and waiting for transportation. Their outfits were a little less filled with primary colors and spandex than the typical super, but despite some theming related to their classes they were still clearly from modern times. Especially with Punk Monk’s hairstyle.

If she wanted me to call her Iron Hawk she would have made that known, so I didn’t bother. Anielka didn’t particularly like being called Bandage, but I didn’t have a great name for her so she’d have to go by her official name. The rest were fine, though Boom seemed like his name should have already been taken by someone. Honey Badger, Bolster, and Twirl accepted their monikers as part of the whole Power Brigade package.

Midnight and I prepared to open a Gate. If it didn’t work, we’d have to reassess- perhaps only the two of us could go through after Malaliel. But for now all we had to do was-

“Wait wait wait!” came a familiar series of barks. I knew a tiny portion of Bunvorixian now, so I knew that wasn’t the only thing such hurried barks could mean. Either way, I almost constantly had Translation active, since Midnight needed it and would share if I was near whenever he refreshed. Zeb came running up with Fluffy as the van began to pull up. “I heard something about lasers! Fluffy wants to come too! Also me!”

“Well I don’t know if-” I paused my statement, because I realized she looked different. Her suit blended in so well with her fur I hadn’t noticed it. “Where did you get that suit?”

“The clothes guy got it for me!” She couldn’t possibly say Francois without Translation on, but I knew who she meant pretty easily. “He said he wanted to work on more non-humanoid forms! It might keep me from dying, which is pretty cool because I never got anything like this back home. I can’t just send Fluffy, obviously, since you’ll be in a different dimension and stuff.”

I didn’t want to be the person to tell her she couldn’t come. Both because I didn’t want to see her disappointed and I didn’t want to stop her if she felt like it. She was responsible for her own risk. “I think you have to ask for permission from Calculator or… Extra or something.”

“Oh yeah,” Zeb said. “But Calculator said I could go out soon and soon is now!”

“I think the driver will need to be told,” I pointed out.

Zeb shook her head, not disregarding my words but to swing around something around her neck. “Hello? Calculator?” She used the Bunvorixian word for calculator, obviously. The bark, growl, and whine variations in the language were something I’d have a hard time discerning non-magically.

I was very pleased to hear similar sounds in return. “You do realize this is an emergency contact device, not just something to chat whenever you want?”

“I need to go to the place with the laser people,” Zeb explained.

“Why?” Calculator asked, his confusion defaulting to English then being repeated in Bunvorixian. That guy learned fast. Also I was pretty sure human vocal chords weren’t supposed to make sounds like that. Did fancy mental processing abilities let you do weird things like that? Then again, he was speaking through a computer so it could be something else.

“... Because Fluffy likes lasers?” Zeb tilted her head. “And I need to… test this suit.”

“Not good enough,” Calculator replied.

Midnight interjected, as one of the few who could understand. “Tell him it’s to get in Extra’s good graces.”

“Midnight said to tell you that I’ll be extra good.” When she saw Midnight paw his face, she stopped herself. “I mean, wouldn’t it be better to show Extra I can help, since this is their thing that they can’t do?”

Silence. Then after precisely five seconds, Calculator replied. “I’ve authorized you to go. Don’t screw up. Listen to Mage, Familiar, and Malaliel.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Alright everybody,” said the lady driving our van. “Finish up this… discussion and start packing it in.” She paused, pulling out a device that had beeped. “I guess that includes the Bunvorixian and her companion.”

Zeb hopped into the back of the van as the doors opened despite likely only understanding half of that. Though I cast Translation on her a couple moments later, so she could converse with the others.

“I need someone with hands to strap me in,” Zeb said. “I don’t have cool magic ones or any Flexipaws.”

“And what are Flexipaws?” I asked.

“They’re like Midnight’s stuff, but… Bunvorixian. Well, not a whole suit though.”

Boom, who had not been privy to the conversation until the point of the van, commented, “Should Fluffy be strapped in or…? Also, welcome along.”

“Fluffy is fluffy so he will be okay if we stop real fast. Also yes, hi everyone! I got permission to come with you guys to stop the laser people!”

Everyone smiled slightly. The Portal Squad had been training with- or at least around- Zeb since she’d first arrived. Until recently most of her access to the Brigade had been a particular training room, though she was slowly being integrated into the group as a whole. I don’t know if anyone actually asked if that’s what she wanted, but I was certain she would have said yes and not just because she was agreeable.

There were now more reasons than before to not just Gate from inside the Brigade. Aside from the general desire of Extra to limit extraplanar shenanigans, the building was now warded against more magical versions of things, whereas before it had mainly been proof against the sorts that came with super powers. Not that they couldn’t have prevented magical teleportation or intrusion, but narrow tailored defenses were more effective. HQ had a lot of layers of stuff.

Ultimately, an hour and a half after we were supposed to all join Sir Kalman in my old world, Midnight and I finally got our chance along with a very different arrangement of people than Extra had originally planned. Midnight and I split the cost for Gate, and this time I noticed some tension in its creation that I hadn’t before. It had probably been there, but the formation was still easy enough.

Zorphax did insist that one Extra agent attempt to pass through, just in case it had been a temporary block for some reason. But the guy couldn’t pass through, and the rest of our squad began to move into the tent. “Ah good,” we heard Malaliel from a different angle. “I’m glad that worked, at least.”

Midnight and I went through last, as was tradition. Though once Midnight got some more levels- enough to cast Gate alone- we could split up between front and back. That would be something like four more levels or three and a rank up for the spell. Though that wouldn’t work well for dimensions that were harder to travel to, like ones with tenuous connections. In general, we liked to use the full power to maximize time and portal stability.

A gauntleted fist immediately came for my gut after the portal closed, but I was ready. I caught Sir Kalman’s arm and managed to throw him, though he didn’t go as far or hit the ground as hard as I might have hoped. Our impromptu wrestling match was encouraging, because that meant there wasn’t anything urgent that had to draw away our attention.

Even with Power Brigade training and a decent advantage in height, Sir Kalman was going to beat me nine times out of ten. His class boosted martial prowess, after all. Even if he didn’t use any active things, he was just better suited for such a match. But losing wasn’t a bad thing. The point was to gain experience, much like orcish tradition, so even the inferior should come out ahead of where they were.

Fortunately Sir Kalman had his own healing for my bruises, because Bandage didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about the thought.

“Now that that’s over,” Malaliel said. “Sir Kalman was able to explain the situation to me in detail. There is almost certainly extradimensional influence, and the most likely candidate is our world given what we’ve seen. Without seeing things in person, I am unable to assess whether it is connected to Doctor Doomsday or some other group, though he is the only one we know to have undue influence on extradimensional incursions especially as it relates to this world.”

“Okay,” I said. I pointed to Fluffy. “This guy eats lasers.”

“So I’ve heard,” Malaliel said. “It is my understanding that Martians generally consider their kind pests.”

“But he’s so adorable!” Zeb said. “How could they think that?”

“He did try to bite you,” I pointed out.

“That was before we were friends! But now that we are friends he’d never hurt me on purpose!”

Well, she was right about that. For multiple reasons, really. I was fairly certain he couldn’t have become her companion by force, but once it was in place such a bond tended to increase fondness between anyone involved. It was good for both parties, so it made sense.

“Anyway,” I redirected the conversation. “He is quite resistant to lasers and theoretically valuable against most sorts of technology. And Zeb is here to control him.”

“If I get a bunch of levels I can eat lasers too!”

I looked over at her. “Really?”

“Maybe!” Zeb bounced around. “I can get Aspect Sharing which probably does that.”

“I would suggest testing with something other than being shot by lasers until you know for sure,” I pointed out.

“I could eat wires!” she said. “I kinda wanted to try it before. They’re like pasta!”

“No sauce though.”

“Hmm. Good point.”

“So speaking of classes,” I looked at Malaliel. “Did you get one?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know why I would. I already have my own magic.”

“From being an angel?”

“More or less,” she said. “It should be quite similar to the abilities of these paladins here. Healing, battlefield auras, and even augmenting my attacks.”

“What about laser resistance?”

“That is what my equipment is for,” Malaliel pointed out. She wasn’t in her normal office worker garb. Instead, she was outfitted with military gear, though lacking in bulk. Most likely with super tech involved, so it should still be quite effective. “Though in general, I am more resistant to damage.”

“Maybe I should have been born an angel,” I said.

“Somehow, I have no doubt you would have still ended up quite similarly placed,” Malaliel said.

I just decided to assume that was a good thing. She liked me, right?