So it turned out the store I was looking for didn't exist. I had come to the boardwalk searching for the 'Dollhouse', a store run by a Rogue Cape going by the name Parian, since it was one of the few places I could think of that would have a parahuman just hanging around.

Unfortunately for me that was a fannon thing that clawed its way into what I considered 'general knowledge' of the setting I was dropped into despite being completely made up. That was disappointing. Lucky for me, it wasn't a complete waste though. Parian actually partnered with several stores to animate mascots and the like and was in the area.

A bit weird in my opinion since I thought mascots didn't work well outside advertisements, but whatever, I found the girl I was looking for talking to a nervous looking man outside a store.

I wondered why they bothered with the mascots honestly. The idea of a parahuman that looked like a Victorian doll come to life showing off her power to passing tourists seemed like a much bigger draw than anything the owners could come up with using a mascot, but I guess they were satisfied with it.

Anyway, normally I would wait until they were finished talking but I had actually drawn a small crowd on my way here. Better to let them know now since someone was sure to be recording this.

"Ah, excuse me? Do you have a sec–"

"I already said no." the doll cape snapped at me. "Hounding me afterwards is not making me any more agreeable."

…

"I'm sorry?"

"Apology accepted, now please leave."

'This is going well. Looks like you made a friend.'

'Shut up, I have no idea why she is being so hostile.'

"Um, right…before that could you tell me what you're saying no to?" I asked reasonably. "I've never talked to you before now."

I watched as the man Parian had been talking to ran off into the crowd while the cape tilted her head in confusion. It was nice of her to do so, the full mask made it hard to read her body reactions.

"You're dressed like that and you're asking why I'm saying no? Is this some sort of joke?"

I looked down at my bodysuit. Nope, seemed fine to me.

"Is there something wrong with it? I thought I did a pretty good job."

"It's pretty well designed." Parian admitted. "For a member of the E88."

A member of the…what?

I stood there slack jawed long enough that Parian actually began to fidget awkwardly.

"Um, you are a–"

"Let me get this straight." I spoke over her. "You thought I was a member of a white supremist gang trying to talk to you?"

"I-I mean you are wearing their colors?"

"They don't own the colors red and black. Just because I wear the same colors doesn't mean I'm part of a gang. You might want to learn how to not make snap judgements based on someone's appearance." I scolded her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

'Wait, wasn't she the one who-'

'Was going to unmask as middle-eastern despite marketing herself as a European to draw attention to racial biases or something? Yes, now shut up. I'm twisting the irony knife.'

'Heh, you certainly live up to being a devil despite only being one for a short time.'

"I mean it's one thing to be a bit cautious if someone you don't know suddenly walks up to you," I said aloud. "But to just assume I was a criminal because of what I'm wearing…I'm honestly shocked!"

I could see my words hitting the other girl hard enough to make her flinch at each point. Petty, but I never claimed to not be.

"I-I apologize, I simply–"

"Thought exactly that, right?"

"..."

I waved a hand through both my hair and the air around me. "Fine, let's start over shall we? Hello Parian, do you have some time to talk?"

I could hear some chuckles in the crowd behind me. Apparently this was entertaining to them somehow. I thought it was just painfully awkward.

"I should, uh, would you like to move somewhere a bit more private?" she asked, much more polite after taking some time to recompose herself.

"If you have a place in mind, sure."

As it turned out, the 'place' was simply the store's breakroom so it wasn't exactly somewhere to have a long personal chat with someone since we were probably being recorded still, but it was better than the crowd of rubberneckers that were probably still outside.

Parian took a seat at one of the cheap looking tables and invited me to sit down while setting out two water bottles only to immediately run into the issue of having a full mask. She wasn't able to drink anything without removing it.

"So you said you wanted to talk?"

Okay, apparently she was just going to ignore the issue.

"Right, so I'm new to the area and wanted to get an idea of what's going on from a local. I did a quick search online and you seemed like the best person to talk to for a mostly neutral view on things."

The Doll cape tilted her head in confusion. "Wouldn't talking to the PRT or Protectorate be better for that, unless…are you a villain?!"

I gave her a distinctly unamused look. "This is literally my first time out in costume. I'm not anything at the moment. I just wanted to hear about the local scene from someone involved and not a sock puppet for a PR department."

"That's…fair." And now I made her self conscious. I sighed at the sight of her fidgeting more and rubbing at the base of her neck. "Is there anything in particular you wanted to know about?"

"Whatever you think I should know that isn't general knowledge I guess. I mean I already know E88 are neo-Nazis, ABB are sex-slavers, and Merchants are street dealers. I know about the whole 'unwritten rules' thing of not targeting families or killing. But I don't know much about the smaller players or who is safe to approach without getting branded part of their group by everyone else."

"I said I was sorry." Parian said grumpily. "But if you know all that there isn't much else to say. I try to keep out of the whole Hero-Villain thing. There are a couple independants for both sides like Sere or Circus, but you likely won't run into them that often. The only one really making a name for themselves right now is Paladin who's been targeting the ABB pretty heavily lately. Rumor has it he is looking for a new cape of thiers."

Oh fuck, that's my fault isn't it? He was targeting them because he thought I was obsessed with Japan and joined up when really I had spent a lot of time fixing up my new house.

Actually, no. I wasn't going to take the blame for the fanboy's actions. He can deal with the consequences himself.

"Interesting…" I hummed. "What about things to do in the city? Honestly, a good bit of my motivation for this meeting was that I was bored and new here, looking for something to do."

"Well, I don't have many ideas for cape activities unless you want to get into advertising." the blonde wigged woman snarked. "But if you are looking for normal things to do then I recommend…"

-o-

We ended up talking for quite a while. Turns out that Parian actually got a bunch of tourists asking similar questions while she was working so she did have some good ideas about what to do around the city if you were looking for tourist traps.

Most of them seemed to be around the richer areas of the city away from gang areas, which made sense, and I made a mental note to check a few of them out the next time I was bored.

"So you know my name but I don't think you ever introduced yourself?" Parian mentioned while we were heading back outside.

"I didn't, did I?" The crowd was mostly gone by now, with only the most dedicated of them hanging around. "I'm not sure I'll keep the name but for now just call me Lucifer."

Parian stopped and gave me a flat look. "Lucifer? As in the devil?" She said dryly. "Are you sure you aren't aiming to become a villain?"

"I've got a better claim to it than you would think." I smirked at her. "Besides I didn't say I was keeping it."

"You really shouldn't. A lot of people get really upset with Capes taking mythological names. Especially ones associated with bad things."

"I'll keep it in–"

"Halt, evildoer!" Oh fuck, no.

Paladin came crashing down from the sky right in front of us, sacred gear deployed and immediately causing a scene.

"Evildoer? Lucifer, I thought you said this was your first time in costume?"

"Lucifer?! So I see you have chosen your moniker as tribute to your Brother! Very well, I can do no less…"

I tuned out the idiot in front of me and looked at Parian. "I wasn't lying. Paladin thinks he knows me from somewhere else and looks like he has a bit of an obsession. I really don't want to talk about it…"

"...my burning love will save you from the shadows you have fallen into…"

"Yeah…I understand that feeling." She admitted helplessly. "So, uhm, are you going to fight him? Creepy obsession or not, he is still a recognized independent hero."

He is? Seriously? I'd say low standards, but… yikes.

"No, I have better things to do today. Not sure what they are yet, but I'm sure I have them. I'm just gonna leave." I said as I unfurled my wings, long, jagged, and jet black just like you would expect on a devil. "If you're up for it I might swing by another day for another chat, just to get to know you some more."

"You have wings…" Parian said somewhat dumbly. "Actual, honest to God, devil wings."

I winced at the sudden stab of pain someone uttering His name gave me -and that was a thing that carried over, just great- but pushed it aside as I started hovering off the ground a bit.

"I did say I had a better claim to the name than you'd think."

"...now then, Satan Lucifer! Are you ready for an epic battle between Good and Evil?!" Paladin finished his dramatic speech, which was being recorded by several people. Welp, I was probably going to get stuck with that name now.

"Not really, no." I deadpanned as a bright red spell circle bloomed underneath me. "Seeya Parian, other people." I gave the crowd a short wave and with a snap of my fingers, teleported back home.