"Well, they certainly didn't waste any time, did they?" I mused as I looked over a few news sites covering what happened yesterday.

'You don't sound very surprised.' Ddraig commented. 'Not worried about everyone labeling you a villain?'

"Someone was going to do it eventually." I said distractedly as I pulled up another article.

To be fair, the PRT hadn't come out and called me a villain just yet. But their press release on the fight and the small charity event I apparently interrupted were very careful about reminding people that rouge capes didn't necessarily need to commit crimes to be dangerous and people should be careful about approaching me in public.

I had put my own account of the events leading up to the fight on PHO, but it wasn't really changing public perception that much.

People were more interested in the drama rather than the truth of it, and it was my word against several heroes. Not that New Wave didn't at least try to make up for it. Both Crystal and her mom had defended me multiple times saying that the situation was more complicated than it first seemed with the latter going out of her way to encourage me to talk to the PRT to get my name cleared. Hell, Glory Girl actually gave me an apology for not giving me a chance to explain myself.

…too bad those comments were buried under all the other bullshit getting shoveled.

"Besides, I was never really going to pay much attention to the whole 'cops and robbers' game most capes get into." I continued as I read through some not so subtle comments pointing out various 'coincidences' in my name, costume, and powers to several villainous groups.

I wonder if these people got a commission for everyone they successfully labeled a villain?

'Not going to fight it then?'

"Well, I'll certainly fight the people that come after me because of this crap." I scoffed, "but I'm not going to go out on the boardwalk and scream from the rooftops about my heroic intentions and get locked into a PR battle. I don't care nearly enough about that."

That got a chuckle from my partner.

'Might be fun to do though.' He said before going quiet. Probably going to take another nap.

Lazy lizard.

That did leave me up in the air on what to do with today. I had no intention of going shopping two days in a row and I had done so much cleaning over the past few days that I might be developing an allergy to cleaning supplies.

I misclicked on a link by accident and was sent to an announcement page that said the charity event would be extended into today because of the disruption I was involved in.

Suddenly I knew what I was going to do today…

-o-

"Are you absolutely insane?!" Crystal hissed once I made it to the front of the autograph line. "What are you doing here!?"

I gave her a winning smile. "Nothing much, just out here supporting…" I gave the program I had picked up a glance. Oh? It was for a children's hospital? That was a charity I could actually get behind supporting. "...a good cause and taking advantage of that to meet the local heroes."

I could actually see the vein throb in her temple.

"I'm taking a break." She announced to the assistant next to her. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged by the arm towards a secluded corner.

"Is it okay to just abandon your fans like that?" I asked. I was here to mess with her and the other heroes. But I didn't want to ruin things for everyone else.

Crystal gave me a weird look. "What are you talking about.

"The autograph line?" I tilted my head and pointed back the way we came. "Won't they get upset?"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Rias, that was a line to buy raffle tickets." she huffed.

"Oh." Well now I felt silly.

"That's not the point. What are you doing here?" She repeated. "The PRT just put out a warning about you. You should be keeping your head down, not going out doing," she waved a hand at me vaguely, "whatever this is."

"I'm just going out and enjoying this lovely day." I protested innocently.

"I don't believe you for a second." Crystal refuted immediately, going for her phone. "But if you're so interested in supporting the charity, I know just the way you can help out…"

-o-

I had to admit, Crystal came up with a pretty good idea for keeping me out of sight in the two minutes she had to come up with the idea.

Since, by my own words, I was here to support the charity then I wouldn't mind volunteering to help out, right?

So that's how I ended up as a target for a pie throwing stand.

The goal of the game was simple. For five dollars you could throw three custard pies at one of the several people working the stand.

Oh, I absolutely could have refused. In fact I was sure Crystal was hoping I would and using it as a way to get me to go somewhere else. Too bad for her I actually didn't mind getting a little dirty if it was helping out some kids.

Of course I had slightly underestimated how popular the chance to throw things at a very pretty redhead would be and, well…

"You okay there, Rias?" Jolene, the person in charge of the stand, asked as she handed me a towel. I was practically covered head to toe in custard at this point. I don't think an inch of me escaped unscathed.

"A bit sticky but fine." I replied as I did my best to clean myself off. Unfortunately, while I was able to get a good amount off my face, all I did was smear the custard on my clothes around. I guess I was going to need a very thorough shower later. Thankfully the clothes were provided by the event staff so mine were fine.

"Yes, well thanks to you we made quite the haul. We weren't expecting to run out of pies so quickly."

"Is that a problem?"

"Oh no, not at all!" She denied quickly. "We'll just shift the staff around to another stall. But that's for us to worry about. You've done plenty. Why don't you go enjoy the rest of the event? If you keep the staff shirt, the first round of every game is free."

"You sure? I don't mind helping out some more." Especially because the longer I spent as part of the staff, the longer I had a legitimate reason to hang around to be spotted by the heroes wandering around. I wonder what Crystal's blood pressure was like right now?

"Go, go." Jolene waved me off. "Go get clean and enjoy yourself. Maybe get a few autographs. You're young yet. Go enjoy it while you can."

Well if she said so…

-o-

"Hi there! Would you mind an autograph?" I asked with a smile. Ignoring Crystal slowly covering her eyes with a hand.

Thanks to the design of his helmet I couldn't get much of his expression beyond a glimpse of a smile, but I could tell by the stiff posture and strained voice he also recognised me. "...Not at all…I would be happy to."

I happily accepted the now signed card back from the Protectorate hero and carefully added it to the several others I had collected –I had gotten most of the custard off beforehand but there were still several spots that were only semi-dry and I didn't want them ruining my trophies– before going in for a handshake.

Today had been fun.

I got to spend some time helping out a good cause and playing around the rest of the stalls basically for free. Then I got to thumb my nose at nearly everyone I fought yesterday by walking up and asking for an autograph. Paladin wasn't here obviously, and I hadn't run into Glory Girl yet, but I did manage to apologize to Shielder for breaking a couple ribs. Actually I hadn't seen any of the Dallon side of New Wave, were they not here today?

"She's really doing this." I heard Crystal mutter off to the side.

That caught Dauntless's attention and his grip tightened.

"You know the 'Rules' don't stop us from arresting Capes in their civilian identity if they out themselves." he whispered in my ear. "If you try anything we will stop you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said with a razor sharp smile, "I'm just here for the event and to thank you for driving off that dangerous villain yesterday. Afterall, compared to the murders, hate crimes, drug dealing, and assaults done by the other villains in the Bay, Lucifer's crimes clearly make her the top priority to tackle."

"If she ever wants to discuss her status, she can always call us." Dauntless replied through clenched teeth.

He seemed upset. I wonder if he got chewed out for his actions the other day?

"Well if I ever see her, I'll let her know." I gave his hand one last squeeze and wandered off towards the last two heroes I hadn't gotten an autograph from.

Lady Photon was watching me like a hawk, but she was much calmer now that I wasn't throwing lightning at her kids or breaking their bones. Her husband, Manpower, on the other hand was smiling calmly at me like I was just another person in the crowd. Also, wow he was big. I was not expecting a seven foot Charles Atlas lookalike.

Before I could talk to them though, Crystal intercepted me and tried to pull me away without making it obvious she would rather be throttling me by the neck.

"What the hell are you doing?! It took hours to convince mom not to hunt you down for what you did to Eric. Yeah, she calmed down when the full story came out but she does not like you." She hissed.

I held my hands up defensively and turned to placate the angry blonde.

"I'm not going to do anything to set her off." I protested. "Just apologize again for breaking Shielder's ribs and getting an autograph to not seem out of place. That's all, devil's honor."

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "Devil's honor? And that is supposed to make this better?"

"I'll have you know Devils are very particular about honoring deals and promises." I sniffed imperiously, but then relaxed again. "I won't if you don't think it's a good idea though. No reason to ruin the event for everyone else. BUT! As payment you have to get your parents' autographs for me."

"And you'll leave right after?"

I mean I was going to leave after talking to Lady Photon and Manpower anyway, so…

"Sure, we have a deal!" I stuck a hand out with a smile. Crystal took it with an eye roll.

Oddly, I felt my magic respond to the action. A small bit –so tiny if I hadn't been surprised by the reaction in the first place I never would have noticed– reaching out and latching onto her and pulling out some kind of energy. Internally panicking, I tried pulling it back but it refused to move. It almost felt… oh shit, did I just form a contract with Crystal?!

Sure enough, when she returned with the signatures, I felt the energy move a tiny bit but since I hadn't held up my side of the bargain it stayed in some weird limbo state.

"There you go, two Autographs." Crystal said tiredly, pushing the cards into my hands. "I wish that was it, but Mom wants to talk to you. In costume. I'll call in a couple days to figure out the where and when, since somehow I've been caught in the middle of this."

I winced. "Sorry."

"Make it up to me by stopping being a pain in my ass."

"Well, I can promise that for today. No telling about tomorrow though." I joked half heartedly, but moving towards the exit all the same.

The second I was outside the event grounds, that little bit of energy merged with me. It was so small I couldn't actually tell if it did anything but the knowledge I could actually form pacts was interesting. On an academic level anyway. I wasn't sure if it would be worth doing for myself but if I picked up a peerage member…

Any thoughts about magical contracts and future friends were cut off by a loud growl from my stomach.

Come to think of it, I hadn't actually eaten much today, had I?

'If you're doing takeout, I want BBQ.' Ddraig put in his two cents.

I was good with BBQ.