"I was on the edge of my seat last night, man." Oscar said as I bit into my last slice of Pizza.

"Yeah. My blood froze when I saw you on the screen." Gabby added, creating a little snow figure of me in the air.

Everyone knew this shop was a front for Fimbulwinter. It was called Snowman's Pizza; they really weren't trying to hide it. But the staff were all members who had either been caught once and served their time already and "left the gang", or hadn't been incriminated yet. No current crimes on record, so they had no cause to shut them down. Surprisingly, unlike most Midgardsummer fronts, regular people visited the establishment quite often.

"Thanks. I hadn't really planned on doing it like that, but I guess it worked out." I mumbled as I finished my meal, mouth half full.

As someone who regularly did small runs for them, I was "cool" with them, which meant I got the "Family Discount." Two free Pizzas per finished job. I had about a dozen saved up for when money was tight. It wasn't right now, but...

"Are you sure you have nothing you need to have done?" I asked, licking my fingers.

"Sorry, M. We got nothing in the pipeline. Things are cool right now."

I sighed, thanked them for the meal, and went on my way.

I had enough money at the moment, but I was dreading the prospect of returning to any BHF haunt for further jobs. There was no doubt in my mind the second I set foot in one I would be told I had to move out. Too established now.

Damn. Damn damn damn.

I could stall it out for quite a while, live off what I had now, but then I'd have no cushion when I was inevitably kicked out.

What a goddamn mess.

I had somehow managed to elude any of my housemates when I returned this morning. Same when I left an hour ago. But my luck wouldn't hold forever, I knew. Smooth Criminal would never ever shut up again once he found me after this stunt. Maybe I should start a scene and let myself be humiliatingly beat up by a novice Hero while still managing to escape.

Would that lower my notoriety enough to let me stay? Maybe. Would it hurt my chances of being hired for future runs? Definitely. So that was out too.

I was distracted from my thoughts by a mass of people. There was some kind of gathering here. I looked around and froze.

Somehow, I had absentmindedly wandered to the place I was trying to avoid the most. The Tower of Light. I must've subconsciously registered the area I was in and autopiloted to "home".

Goddammit.

I turned to leave but stopped.

Without thinking much I pulled the hood over my head and joined the crowd.

I knew it was a mistake. But....I just couldn't help myself. I had to know what was going on.

A small stage had been built up in front of the entrance. That was the usual way we did it when we had to make a big announcement. It wasn't long before the circus began.

The cry of what sounded like an eagle got people's attention, I looked up and saw the first of the Enlightened making his way to the stage below.

On a large, black-and-white creature sat a young man. His mount was undoubtedly a bird, but not one I'd ever seen. He circled above the excited crowd a few times before setting down on the dais. With more grace than I would have managed he climbed down, petted his ride and within seconds it dissolved into nothing. The crowd went wild, as expected. Wilder.

I didn't know this man personally, but I knew of him. He wasn't even in the business yet when I was active, but rose to prominence very quickly in the years of my absence. His name was Animator, and as that moniker implied he could bring to life any creature he drew. A very versatile Power. I could understand how he climbed the charts so fast.

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The next to appear was another fresh face. Well, more like a fresh visor. And "appear" was a very literal interpretation of her entry. One second Animator was standing alone, the next someone was with him.

Not a lot was known about this person, only that she was a woman. A very unusual stealth Hero, she wore a shining white suit of armor. It wasn't heavy, but still not really subtle. The handcrafted suit had an incredibly ornate and, I had to admit, rather beautiful design, accented by little streaks of gold all over.

Bright Knight.

A fitting name. Like Helios, the man she replaced, she was pretty much useless at night, as her Power relied on the sun. Specifically reflective surfaces hit by direct sunlight. That was how she remained invisible up until now. She bent the light around her to conceal her presence using that shiny armor of hers.

A few seconds after her appearance, red sparks on the other side of the stage announced the arrival of the next clown. And this one I was very familiar with.

The sparks intensified more and more until they culminated in a bright red flash. When the glow receded the Future Guardian stood in its place.

Avenir. Probably not his real name. He was certainly the most unique of my former colleagues and one of the most unique Heroes period. There were plenty of his type in fiction, but he was the only real example we had to date.

Avenir was a time traveler.

That's what he claimed at least.

That wasn't his Power though. No, in fact, he was powerless.

According to him, he was from a far, far future. In his time, a certain niche group of cultist Mages had taken over centuries ago, making the world a living hell. He never elaborated on how. Said it was pointless to know.

In that future, a hopelessly outmatched resistance had chosen him as their trump card. One of their own was able to send objects back in time. Only a few minutes with his natural skill, but they found a way to enhance it for a single use. So they built something that could help them prevent this whole mess in the first place.

The robotic shell they created was not really humanoid. A quasi-shapeless, liquid metal android with a myriad of features specifically designed to counter magic. Not trusting in A.I. to do the job, they bound the mind of a volunteer to the thing.

Avenir.

He was then sent back to one week before the fateful ritual happened that ruined their timeline. I was a child when he arrived. He never told the public what he did to prevent the future, only that it had been prevented, but he was more open with his team.

They had a comprehensive list of the cultist founding members, and he used that to hunt down and....dispose of all of them within the week he arrived. And now he was trapped here, his future averted.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how much of that I believed, but his tech spoke for itself. Almost fully resistant to all kinds of spells, a forcefield that prevents mages from channeling their power, an optical system that allowed him to see through magically induced invisibility...and all of it unreproducible with our current technology. So even if he wasn't telling the truth, his kit was certainly much more advanced than anything we had access to.

Thanks to his fluid form he could mould himself into all kinds of shapes. Usually, he preferred to be big and bulky, intimidation and all that, but right now he was sporting a more humanoid look, his go-to for non-combative public appearances.

After Avenir bowed, something leaked onto the stage. A thick, black sludge of some kind poured through a tiny hole in the stage until it formed a big goopy puddle. After wobbling around a bit it slowly formed itself into a person. The last of the ones that joined after my forced leave of absence.

The one that replaced me.

Sidebinder.

Like myself, he was a support Hero. The sludge he turned himself into was sticky and almost impossible to get off. And as a bonus, it severely diminished the Powers of anyone who was covered by it. Very useful to have around. Much more useful than a Mind Reader.

I shook my head. Why was I getting jealous of this rube? I wouldn't want his place even if they offered to take me back.

Stupid brain. Stop your tomfoolery.

Suddenly something fell from the sky and a lot happened at once.

A kid tripped over his own shoes, hitting a loosely secured hot dog stand, which rolled forward and bumped into a man on his phone, who fell down, causing said phone to slide over to a woman's dog, which proceeded to bark at it, which in turn startled one of the security guards, who dropped his weapon, which, upon impact, discharged and fired upward.

Of course, it wasn't a regular old gun. Tower of Light security had access to very expensive, yet effective, non-lethal weaponry. That specific kind of gun shot a ray that halted someone in place as long as the trigger was held down. And not only that, it also erased all momentum, perfect for catching speedsters. And even though the accidental discharge had only been for a second, it hit its mark, causing the person who was hit to land on the stage gently and without harm.

King Clover, the luckiest man alive.

The only reason I caught the start of this little chain reaction was because I was looking out for it.

Clover was a man who could not be harmed, The universe just wouldn't allow it. One of a handful of Empowered with some variation of "Good Luck" as their ability.

His entrance for these kinds of conferences was always the same, yet it turned out different every time. He would go to the roof of the Tower and just....jump off. No parachute. No safety. Nothing.

And without fail, some weird and inexplicable sequence of events would save his life at the last second.

The audience cheered and clapped as he adjusted his crown. I rolled my eyes.

He and Angelica had taken over the lead of the group after Ray died. I couldn't imagine how big his ego must've gotten by now.

But now, only one of the crew was missing. Angelica had been on break since I de-haloed her, so I wasn't expecting her to show. Cortex never came to these things, preferring her privacy. That left....Luisa.

I thought about leaving before she made her entrance. Maybe I had overestimated myself. Being near her as Charles was a whole other beast than being near her in person.

But before I could make a decision I was blinded by a light from above.

The crowd oohed and aahed and then broke out into a thunderous cheerful applause. It took my eyes a bit to get used to the brightness until I understood why.

There was Luisa. But she wasn't the reason.

She sat on the shoulders of a gracefully descending Herald Queen Angelica.

Despite her missing halo, she had created a light construct to illuminate her from above. Her wings were better groomed than usual.

Made sense, after a long stint at home.

She gently touched down onto the stage and Honeybadger jumped off her back, joining the others.

As Angie approached the podium, I made my fateful decision to stay.

I just had a feeling....

This was going to be interesting.