'What... I don't... why?'

“Like I said. We need people to start getting to know us and that we're heroes. But nobody cares about how many people know you until you're really trying for the big leagues. Here at the street level all the heroes care about are saving lives and protecting the peace. You know, genuine good guys that want to make a difference.”

'That... that just makes hunting those heroes down sound even more horrific.'

“You don't see the big picture Ben. We're treading into a battlefield where anything can happen at any time, eventually heroes will encounter each other and its up to them to make a good impressions on each other. Frankly, you look like a villain and your powers don't exactly scream hero. So we need to find heroes that are about to get stomped in the head and help them. Find a few people using the SU and tally up a few favours to cash in at a later date. At the least it'll make people more trusting and build up a reputation, if we eventually want to grow big and get our enemy to trust us a reputation is what we need.”

'So we're going to look for heroes that are in danger and save them? You sure as hell said that in a roundabout way.'

“How I feel whenever you talk.”

'So how does this work? I tell the SU to find a hero in danger and hope I'm good enough to save them?'

“You are good enough. For the street level at least. You think its easy to take down six Mosers in a few minutes? There are a lot of people needing protection out there, heroes keeping their heads low so that they don't cause too much of a disturbance and cause a panic. They may be heroes but they don't have death wishes, somebody finds out who they are and most times their families end up dead. We don't have to find someone that's going to die, we just have to find someone that's getting beaten badly enough that they're in risk of losing a limb or something.”

'That unsettles me greatly. It doesn't feel heroic when you do things with the intention of growing a reputation.'

“Deal with it. We're saving the streets instead of finding some big name heroes and events. You're not good enough to deal with those sorts of things yet. We also can't grow too fast, it's a common thing in this world for heroes to appear, but if someone really did warp realities then its possible that they'd be watching any quickly rising heroes and be suspicious of them. Or just plain old jealous of them. Call me crazy but its what I would be doing, watching for any potential threats to my reputation no matter how unlikely they are.”

'I guess.'

Shroud gazed as the squeamish Ben, “There are people that need our help out there. Regardless of whether you feel good about it or not those people would still be in danger, putting themselves there on purpose in order to make other peoples lives better. Maybe I can't respect that. I don't know how to respect what they do since they gain almost nothing and I think their ambitions are stupid. But if you choose to hide now it won't help those people in danger. If you think they'll be in any less danger because you choose to ignore them then you're stupider than I thought you are.”

'Makes sense.'

“Questions? Queries? Anything else you want to cry and complain about?”

Ben bit his lip, Shroud was a lot more annoying than he thought. Even worse, he was probably right. Ben could feel his head trying to protest and not finding any ground to.

'There is one thing... no... I have nothing else to say. Is it really that easy to find heroes going about their jobs? It doesn't seem like something that would be easy to do considering their enemies could just ambush them like the Mosers tried to do to us.'

“Whoa, hold up. We have an alien battle uniform and the ability to teleport. There are probably less than ten people in the world with the same combination. We may not be the strongest player out there but when it comes to finding people we're definitely at the forefront. You think all villains are like us? The most they have on the streets is a bunch of thugs and guns, even the Mosers were pretty high class for a simple drug peddling. Five of them in an ambush is something most heroes wouldn't see in a lifetime. They wouldn't have access to the kind of technology the SU uses to find people.”

'Okay... So I just have to tell the SU to look for any heroes in the area then.'

“Good guess Ben. But, we're going to search for the complete opposite of what you said. That is how wrong you are. So no, it wasn’t a good guess.” Shroud crossed his arms, “There are heroes everywhere in the world, if you ask the SU to find something so vague then it'll never be able to help up, it'll just constantly switch images on us. Heroes are combatants for the most part, so the most likely place to find a hero in danger would be a battlefield. All we have to do is look for a place where a hero is likely to turn up and wait until they do.” He lifted a finger to his head so that Ben could see, “Now I wonder what possible place we could think of that has a crime and criminals written all over it and has already attracted police attention.”

A look of annoyance flashed across Ben's face, 'So we go looking for Mosers then.'

The Shroud Uniform's arm screen flickered, switching between at least three different locations where Mosers were gathering. According to Shroud the screen could only search areas within a few kilometres of the Shroud Uniform. Two of the Moser groups had several Mosers milling about and carrying boxes, the other one was a lone backpack carrier that was already being retained by heroes. Ben wasn't sure which one they would go for but before he had to decide one of the Mosers dropped a box, breaking it and sending its contents flying across the floor.

“Well well,” Shroud looked with interest as someone moved into the screen and berated the Moser, “That's the site we hit last Ben.” The figure berating the Moser on the screen was covered in a trenchcoat and hat, like those old American gangsters in films, but it was obvious just from his height and bulk that he wasn't a Moser. He lifted a gun and blasted at the Mosers arm, causing it to melt and resemble a mushy soup.

“What an incredible ass,” Shroud said, “He's probably wasting a huge amount of money by shooting the hired help. It's not easy to clone those things, whoever he's buying them from wont be happy either.”

Ben wanted to question why they were hitting this place last if they could clearly see the person who hired the Mosers was there, but he figured he would just get berated. It made sense after a few seconds of thinking, either he wasn't skilled enough to handle the big boss or it was more likely that the heroes weren't stupid, they knew that the boss would be the last person they wanted to make a move on and when they did, they would do it properly. Ben shifted onto the image of the other group and it was obvious after a few minutes that there was nobody watching over them. They were talking with each other and didn't seem to care whether or not the boxes were handled with care. The Shroud Uniform searched the nearby area and he teleported behind a huge pile of the boxes, well hidden behind them.

He watched them from the Shroud Uniform screen but he was close enough to hear what they were saying.

“Ben,” Shroud's voice cut into his mind, “don't forget.”

'Oh right.'

“SU cover.” Ben whispered so that the Mosers didn't hear him.

The area surrounding Ben immediately turned dark as the Shroud Uniform created the material necessary to cover the area in tendrils of darkness, with the uniform covering his head and body to anyone looking at him it would just look like any other dark patch. It was more than just a handy survival tool, it would allow him to go unnoticed unless someone was specifically looking for him.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The Mosers didn't notice anything different and milled about conversing, “Hey Devina.”

One of the Mosers looked up at her companion and seemed to sneer at him, “What do you want Drev?” She lifted a box and walked off, “Try talking to me when you're at least two months old. Maybe by then your rocks would have developed and you'd actually look like a man.”

Ben looked at the two through the screen, speechless.

'I thought Mosers were clones.'

“The species wasn't born a clone race moron. It was just a more convenient way to keep the species alive. They can still enjoy the simple pleasures in life. They can probably have babies too, never bothered to look it up.”

'How do they tell each other apart?'

“Don't be a racist Ben. Nobody likes racists.”

Drev the Moser looked morose and he walked towards the pile of boxes with a hunched back.

“You'll get her next time Drev.” He spoke to himself, frightening Ben by coming uncomfortably close to him, “She'll see what a great guy you are. Boxes now, big boss Drev after. Big boss Drev, yeah, I like the sound of that.” Drev walked off after grabbing another box.

'What was that about?' Ben asked.

Shroud appeared next to him, floating off of the air, “I know right. He's a two and a half meter tall rock mobster and he can't even talk to a girl. How pathetic. This guy should have come with some guts. Does he even know he can lift a car over his head and crush normal people with a flick of his finger. That knowledge usual gives you more than the little rocks he's clearly packing.”

'That's not what I meant... He's... I mean... I sort of thought that since he was a clone...'

“You find out he's a clone and suddenly you have him all worked out? Think that because he's just one of the many he's going to think exactly like them and be exactly like them. It doesn't work like that Ben. Each one of them might be clones but they aren't necessarily from the same batch, you'd never get a race of the same person without that race killing itself off pretty quickly. Each Moser is slightly different from the others and they even have their own individual minds. Sure, they grow to maturity really quickly, but that doesn't mean they all grow up the same and thinking the same. They're as much individuals as you are. In fact, we're the same person so you should understand this better than most people. You turned out nothing like me even though you are me, and I learned to regret that fact. Look at all this progress.”

Ben shifted from side to side uncomfortably, 'I mean... Yeah that makes sense.'

Shroud shook his head as though disappointed, “Are you getting cold feet now because you saw one sorry Moser getting his feelings smashed into the ground by some high maintenance chick? They're still criminals Ben. Don't forget that.”

'Right...' Ben occupied himself by looking through the screen at the surrounding area. They were in some sort of warehouse, he could tell that just by looking up and seeing the size of the place. The boxes were being packed into three separate trucks and were about a meter and a half tall each. The Mosers couldn't see past the boxes when they carried them, but they seemed to have a steady grip on them. Tripping over was probably a difficult feat for a giant rock.

“Do you want to save him?”

Shroud glanced at Ben and nodded in the direction Drev had gone, he was sitting on top of the box he had taken away and was eating what looked like a chunk of concrete by himself in a corner.

'I thought you said they were criminals, you told me not to forget it.'

“The rest of these guys are criminals, there's no denying that. But it's not like the Mosers are all criminals, just this group.”

Ben followed his gaze and saw the other Mosers weren't paying any attention at all to Drev, purposefully ignoring him, 'I'll admit he doesn't look like much of a criminal. But how can we know that for sure?'

“Ben I'm about to show you why I'm such a superior sounding jackass to you all the time,” Shroud cleared his throat and Ben rolled his eyes, “Think about it. A group of Mosers on an alien world ignoring a single Moser? That means he's not part of their original clone batch, probably a new guy come in to replace another Moser that either got jailed or died. The loser was also rejected by the female Moser and she mentioned that he wasn't even two months old yet. But for the first month of life Mosers have to stay within a cloning chamber to stabilize and grow. This is probably his first job ever and judging from the attitudes of his co-workers he probably hasn't been given any amazing criminal opportunities to shine, I wouldn't be surprised if they kept him cleaning whatever Mosers use for toilets this entire time. Those back pack Mosers we fought, those are the criminals that know what they're doing and like it. Drev over there is the new born that is doing something he probably hates by now because he was forced by whoever created him and whoever hired him. Ergo, the poor bastard is just a lonely alien kid that most likely hasn't even committed a crime yet.”

'I could have told you that if I knew as many things about this world that you did.'

“Could have, should have, would have. But you didn't.”

Ben didn't answer.

“Well, what do you want to do?”

Ben nodded his head and took another look at Drev the Moser, 'Let's save him. Now.'

“Woah. Don't go crazy on me here Ben. Remember what we talked about before, remember the plan. We need to help a hero and right now there are no heroes here. It's not a good time to make a move. Wait until the heroes come here and we can start kicking some ass.”

'I hear your advice and choose to ignore it. I'm not stupid enough to think that the heroes will let some lone Moser go away and be free. Even in my world the authorities didn't do that. They'll just think he's another Moser leading a criminal life. You said it yourself, you don't want to tell me what to do all the time. We always have that other group of Mosers to save heroes from, So now I'm making this decision for us.'

“Ha... hahaha.” Shroud let out peals of laughter inside Ben's mind, “Smart. I like it Ben. You want to make a decision? Let's do it. Let's go save this poor loner bastard.”

Ben felt a wash of relief fall over him. He had been worried that Shroud would try to argue with him. He looked down as a small smile crossed his face. For a moment he wondered why Shroud had gone with his decision so easily, but then he realized. Drev was a loner, Shroud could relate to him. Probably felt sorry for him, a sort of connection. Shroud was right, he and Ben were different people no matter how similar they were meant to be. But Ben understood that some parts of him would never change. He wanted to help this person and no matter how stupid it may seem to Shroud, he wanted it just as much as Ben did.

Shroud looked at a nearby Moser that was walking towards them, “This is the one you’ll start with.”

Ben looked up, scrutinizing the Moser. He looked exactly like the other ones, a two and half meter tall walking rock with arms and legs. It would pick up a box any second now just like the others had done. He could see the rock bending its knees to lift up the next box. If there was a time to strike it would be when it fully lifted the box and turned its back to him.

“Tell you what Ben. I'm going to go and check on a few things while you kick all their asses,” Shroud grinned smugly and promptly disappeared from sight, “I'll come back when you've finished, probably with another genius idea to make it easier to become a hero.”

Ben felt panic rise in his heart, 'What do you mean check out things? You're in my head seeing everything I am.'

“You know, think about stuff, remember things. It's not like I have photographic memory. I have to think about who could be pulling the strings on this operation and how to take them down. Call me if there are any extreme problems.”

'Call you... right...'

“You say something?”

'Don't leave me alone. I've been in one fight and I barely did anything.'

Shroud paused and Ben imagined him considering his request, “I'm constantly in your head remember. If anything bad happens I'll know about it. Besides I saw how you dealt with the other Mosers, with the guidance I gave you when we slept I'm sure you can mop the floor with these guys. Just don't try to punch one, they don't just look like giant rocks. They are giant rocks.”

Ben nodded uncertainly.

“If you never do anything alone then your life wont be any good. I might not always be here to help you, it's not like I want to talk to you and see what you see twenty four-seven.”

'Okay...'

The Mosers had already come and gone several times since the time they arrived and Ben took a second to backtrack and begin watching them for an opening. There were more of them than at the ambush, seven in total. But if he didn't count Drev who was sitting too far away to make a move quickly and the Moser he hopefully took care of in the initial attack then he would only have to fight five.

'Aim for the legs Ben.' He thought to himself.

He sat around and hyped himself up for a few moments, watching through the screen and looking at the oncoming Moser so that he could quickly take him out of the fight. He wondered what was inside the boxes, they were clearly large and extremely heavy but he'd seen one drop on the screen before and it had been filled with things too small to get a good look at. Since they were criminals it was clearly something out of the ordinary, probably guns or bullets or something. Then again, that gun that had melted the Mosers arm had clearly used something other than regular bullets. Ben was startled out of his thoughts by a series of vibrations, the Moser was shfting part of the pile of boxes and taking another one. Ben watched it bend down and closed his eyes, feeling the sudden cutting off of breath that came with his teleportation.

“SU restrain legs,”