A lot of things happened in the three seconds between my button push and the Triad appearing.

First, I got a Casting Call.

[Casting Call]

[Episode: Power War: Evergreen Burn - R (Auxiliary, PG-13)]

[Role: Support Sidekick! Do you accept the role? (Yes/No)]

[Role Focus: Drama+Cunning]

Before I could accept, the APPEAL Extras started screaming as Acid Burn lunged into action. Her acid sloshed toward Fursona and me, spraying in a gigantic green wave.

Then, a gigantic mech suit squeezed its way through the portal, and the acidic attack sloshed across it, hissing and spitting against the dark steel. “ATTENTION, VILLAIN! SURRENDER! UNDERDELVER IS HERE!”

A trio of identical gold-and-red heroes soared into the air behind him, and Tele-Portal stilt-strode onto the battlefield just before the portal closed. “Good job, kids. Get these crazy Extras out of here. This is gonna be a messy one.

I accepted the Casting Call. “You got it, Tele-Portal!”

[Power War: Evergreen Burn: Act One in Progress]

As the fighting picked up, I couldn’t help but grin. This was my chance to leap into action and finally—after three long days of sitting around, talking to reporters, and putting up with angry civilians—do my full support thing. I slow-shifted into Rescue Girl Lucky Star, the burgundy, navy, and white outfit more subdued and in the background than my Understudy outfit, and Tails’s head now covered with a nurse’s hat.

“Okay, we’re online, Fursona,” I said, landing from my spinning transformation and opening my eyes.

“Great! APPEAL Extras are scattering. I’ll stay airborne and guide you to them if you can pull them out of the fighting.”

“You got it,” I said, waving up at her and racing toward the first cluster of scared-looking college students huddled near a storefront on the far side of the street. Acid Burn’s goop sizzled in the street as it flew haphazardly everywhere, bouncing off Underdelver’s armor and hissing on the asphalt.

“Hi! It’s your lucky day!” I said, smiling widely and, I hoped, winningly. When the protesters-turned-victims simply stared at me, dumbfounded, I continued. “Look, I’m Rescue Girl Lucky Star. I’m here to get you out. Who are you?”

They still didn’t say anything, though one lifted a sign that said ‘Supers Go Home’ halfheartedly. I tried—and failed—to avoid the eye-roll. Where did they think home was, anyway? A quick [Audition Notes] gave me all the information I needed about him.

[Good Thinking! +1 Cunning Point]

[Audition Notes for John Deer: This Extra is not going to listen to you. He’s a member of an anti-super organization, and he’s fully committed to the cause—or at least he thinks he is. He doesn’t know much about why he’s here; he’s just supposed to be making a statement about supers.]

“Okay. Great. Listen, I’m going to portal your butt out of here before that acid flows over the curb, okay? Great!” I didn’t wait for a response. Instead, I used [Noncombatant Teleport]. A pinkish portal—I just couldn’t get away from the color—opened below him, and he dropped through, screaming. I didn’t know where he went, and I didn’t care, as long as it wasn’t the middle of the fighting. Hopefully, it’d be somewhere safe.

[Dramatic Rescue! +1 Drama Point]

[Rescue Re-Arm! +1 Card Curio Uses]

I grinned, quickly dropping more portals under the other three increasingly terrified protestors. I got [Rescue Re-Arms] on [Audition Notes] once and [Noncombatant Teleport] twice, leaving me with most of my charges, but I could already see a possible problem. If I could use [Noncombatant Teleport] five times, and I wasn’t guaranteed a reset if I used other powers, I could easily run out for the act. I’d have to be careful not to get bad resets.

“Fursona, I’ve got that cluster. Next? And if you see Su-Bin, can you let me know?” I said into my microphone.

“A block to your left. Might want to move, though. Acid Burn’s really getting going out there. She might be able to beat Underdelver solo!” Fursona’s unmodulated voice said in my ear.

I started running just as the lake of acid on Short Street overtopped the concrete, sending waves of sour-smelling smog into the air overhead. “Got it! On my way!” As I ran, I thanked whoever was looking out for me that Acid Burn didn’t have any known lieutenants of her own.

As the fighting raged around the burning City Hall, I spent my time dodging rivers of acid, looking for anywhere I could cross the corrosive streams without getting burned, and teleporting Extras away from the fighting. Fursona stayed airborne, though she occasionally gave me a boost when I couldn’t get from one side of a street to another.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The fighting seemed…not in hand, exactly, but not our problem. We had a dozen more APPEAL protesters unaccounted for, including Su-Bin, plus locals who needed saving. “Fursona, any sign of President Pak?”

“No. I think she bailed,” Fursona said over my earpiece. She banked and turned back toward City Hall, then stopped. “Hey, I think the acid’s going down. This is gonna be a MIRACLE job for sure. My dad would kill for a contract like this.”

“Okay. Let’s keep looking around. I’ll—“

WHAM!

The breath drove from my lungs as someone in a VR headset and bleached blonde hair slammed into me. “Hello, Livestreamers! We’re live and streaming today from Evergreen!”

◄▼►

“That’s right, CastorOil736, we’ve got a very special stream today,” Livestream said as he threw me across the street, where I crashed through a plate-glass window. “I’ve got not only Acid Burn, not only the Triad, but Fursona and a hero I can only assume is Magical Girl Understudy!”

[HP 11/12]

I picked myself up, brushing off glass shards and peering out the window. Livestream’s signature electric-blue LED lighting rig glowed even in the mid-day sun, making his silver-gray super-suit positively shine. He pointed at me. “So here’s what’s going to happen, viewers—thanks for the tip, CaptainS0Obvious, I appreciate them all. You know, working as an independent villain’s got its perks, but I rely on you to be able to keep producing this show!”

“Eat talons, Livestream!” Fursona said, crashing down onto the sidewalk, feet first. She scored a trio of nasty scratches across Livestream’s back, but his quick roll dodged the worst of it.

“Hey, now, I haven’t finished explaining the rules! They're pretty simple, really. You bid on which power I’ll use next, and when I need a new one, the highest value gets used, and half the money bid goes into my account! Ready?” A camera drone painted Livestream’s colors took in every bit of the villain’s speech.

I started shifting into Magical Girl Understudy, but Fursona said, “No, you’ve got a job. I’ll keep him busy!” in my ear, and I nodded.

“Oh, one more thing! Last night, my bidders said to go after Understudy, not Fursona, so…yeah,” Livestream said. “No hard feelings, Understudy. It’s for the fans! Go!”

I started running as the drone—not Livestream, but the drone—surged toward me. Behind me, Fursona and Livestream started fighting, though when I looked back, it didn’t seem like the villain really cared about hurting her. Instead, his eyes kept flicking toward me.

I rounded a corner, the painted drone following me, and Livestream’s voice came through it. “[Flash-Intro Punch]! Good choice!” A moment later, something crashed behind me.

“Okay, now, Magical Girl Understudy doesn’t seem interested in the fight. I almost want to take it easy on her just to see what she’s up to and why she’d abandon her partner, but—oooh! The viewers have spoken! Let’s [Fast-Forward] this stream!”

A moment later, something zipped in front of me, solidifying into Livestream. He punched me in the stomach, and I got a brief view of his chat exploding with ‘F’s’ and ‘W’s’ and all sorts of comments. Then I hit the pavement.

[HP 10/12]

Okay. He really wasn’t going to leave me alone. I picked myself up as the camera drone blared on about the next move in the lottery, waited for the bird-shaped shadow to hit Livestream again, and slow-transformed back to Understudy. As I spun around, only one thought ran through my head.

If this guy wanted to fight and stop me from saving my friend, I’d give him a quick, explosive fight for the camera. He might not like it, though.

I landed, the music stopping just as Livestream broke free from Fursona again. “There she is! My target for the day!”

“Yep. Here I am, Livestream fans! [Bit-Part Barrage]!” I fired ray after ray toward the villain, each piercing the space he’d been in, but I got no hits.

“Good thing you guys picked [Green Screen], huh?” Livestream said from behind me. I rolled to dodge an energy pulse that tickled the back of my neck, then fired a [Starlance] his way. That made contact, staggering him. A Fursona screech knocked him into the road, and he started getting to his feet.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

Before he could fully recover, a manhole exploded upward in a green, acidic fountain that splashed down over us, then another. It burned through my costume, singing my skin even through the superhero damage, and I screamed. So did Livestream, who retreated to the street’s far side as a massive surge of acid filled it. He stood on the far shore, glaring and talking, and his voice blared out of the drone next to me.

[HP 8/12]

“Alright, fans, looks like the Acid Burn fight is heating up! We’ll pick up our grudge match with Magical Girl Understudy in just a few minutes, whenever Evergreen’s streets aren’t green!”

[End of Act One: Act Two in Five Minutes]

The villain—and his camera drone—disappeared around a corner, and a moment later, Fursona landed next to me. “That’s a really convenient intermission. What’s the plan? We can’t fight him if you’re in your Rescue Girl form, and we can’t save Su-Bin if you’re in Understudy. At least, not unless you can convince her to ride your sailboard or something.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s happening,” I said. “So, here’s the plan. We’re on Livestream’s show. We need to beat him at his own game somehow, but…how?”

“It’s a little late to stream the fighting ourselves, Understudy. Plus, Rocko would lose their mind.”

“They sure would. But can we hijack Livestream’s stream somehow? I mean, we’re both pretty wealthy—in theory—and maybe Rocko could help out. If we can get him to use the wrong moves, he’ll lose a lot of firepower,” I said.

Bianca grinned. “Annie, that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever—“

My phone buzzed.

“Rocko is in. This is so stupid,” I said.

“Okay, so, we just do our thing and don’t worry about Livestream, and hope Rocko can take him out of the fight?” Fursona asked. “This feels wildly out of character for Rocko. Didn’t he say that he couldn’t interfere with Vigilant Vow?”

I started jogging down the sidewalk, past the once-again-receding river of acid. “Maybe it’s different since Livestream is independent? They seemed hesitant to go after Cartman directly without unshakeable evidence, but I thought it wasn’t because of Vigilant Vow.”

Fursona nodded and took to the air. “Either way, we need to be ready. I’ll keep an eye on him for as long as I can, but there’s another threat—besides the acid lake, I mean. Who knows what else he’s done to the drone.”