Chapter 131 Narrator.

Chapter 131: 131 Narrator.

It was a woman, tall, her hair flowing about her shoulders. She wore form-fitting spandex, and her tanned skin was appealingly muscled.

Confidence radiated off her, along with a blistering heat that I could feel even standing at the back of the panicked crowd.

She brushed back her hair, and as her fingers went through those blonde locks, they ignited, flashing into a mane of living flame.

"This facility is under the protection of Ms Fire!" the heroine declared, striking a dynamic pose. "So unless you want to feel the burn, I suggest you surrender at once!"

Glacia burst into haughty laughter, a sound as cold and sharp as shattering glass.

"So! Some meddlesome heroine thinks she can interfere with me, hm? Well then!" Glacia cried, spreading her hands. Freezing wind screamed around her as she rose off the floor like some witch of the north, her hair whirling about her, her coat flapping like white wings. "Let us see if you can face the Winter Queen!"

Ah, wonderful. That? That was a primo villainess intro. The money shot. Absolute A-tier. I couldn’t be happier.

I actually felt my chest swell a bit in pride as Glacia unleashed a blast of freezing cold, sending it surging along the floor and walls, only for Ms Fire to narrowly avoid it.

The heroine sent a burst of fire into the floor, propelling herself upward and somersaulting over the jagged ice before landing and sending a flurry of fireballs at Glacia.

Glacia raised a hand, a new wall of ice crackling between her and the heroine, blocking the fireballs with a massive hiss of steam.

This time, Glacia formed a barrage of icicles and sent them flying at Ms Fire, who twisted out of the way, her firm breasts bouncing in her tight uniform as the spikes of ice slammed into the reinforced concrete.

Not bad, I had to admit. I had tried to pair up Glacia with a real professional, and I’d fought Ms Fire before, so I’d been confident they’d be able to cover for each other and put on a good show without anyone actually dying.

But as I watched the beautifully choreographed clash of fire and ice, my magnetic powers, naturally radiating outward, snagged on something.

I could feel the metal all over the block, allowing me to sense the general form and makeup of structural supports, cell bars, and the discarded rifles on the floor.

But there was a new metallic signature moving erratically through the panicked crowd.

I trusted Glacia to handle Ms Fire, but I knew that whenever a public spectacle happened, some streeter hero inevitably noticed the commotion.

Official superheroes understood the system. We were paid villains. And the worst part was some Streeters knew this too but wouldn’t just let me do my job.

So as I spotted what looked like a hooded figure moving who his shoulders puffed out and making a line towards the main fight I knew I wouldn’t be on the sidelines for this one either.

I spotted him pushing his way through the scattering reporters. Not that they cared, most eyes were on the fight so I could deal with this cleanly.

He was dressed in a cheap black cape and a tactical mask designed to look like a hawk’s beak, his eyes fixed intensely on Glacia.

As one of the downed guards groaned on the floor, the Hawk bent down and snatched the guard’s heavy, government-issue electric stun baton.

Click-bzzzzzt. The baton sparked with highly lethal voltage.

Oh, hell no. I’m not getting an angry call from Firefly’s PR team because of this idiot wrapped in stupid.

I quickly glanced around. Ms Fire and Glacia were trading flashy, non-lethal blows, entirely focused on each other. The cameras were all pointed at them.

Right. Better make this quick.

I weaved through the crowd too, moving back to stop him before anyone would even notice he was here.

Hiding behind a particular pillar and waiting for him, hoping to end this quickly.

Rule number one: always wear a mask. Polaris couldn’t be here however, so Roger D. Reporter was good enough.

God. Guess the idiot virus going around was getting to me too.

I stepped out from behind the pillar and intercepted the vigilante just as he raised the crackling baton, preparing to blindside Glacia.

I stepped into his path, crossing my arms. He halted, gripping the baton tightly. I could hear him muttering to himself beneath the cowl.

"...trying to break out a criminal mastermind. But little could the ice witch have known that the Hawk was watching. For the Hawk sees all, and his prey will not elude him!"

Oh, great. A narrator type. There was only one thing worse than magic, and that was a streeter with Main Character syndrome.

Bad enough when your hero thinks he’s out to save the world, but when he monologues his own actions in the third person? That’s when things get insufferable.

And by the look of the guy, it was pretty clear he was trying to be Batman on a budget.

I cleared my throat. "Hey."

The Hawk whirled in surprise, drawing himself up and showing off some Kevlar abs and a belt full of no doubt thematic-shaped weapons.

"An enemy has tried to sneak up upon the Hawk!" he growled, dropping into a combat stance. "Or, perhaps, a friend? No. No, he’s not. The Hawk recognizes him! It’s the Iron Polaris! Villain and scourge of Metropolis!"

Iron Polaris, huh? Damn, that was pretty good. I might need to steal that one for the branding.

Guess the costume didn’t work. I don’t know how these guys kept crashing my jobs but it was slowly getting on my nerves.

"Yeah, alright, take it down a notch, birdman," I said, pointing at him, already wrapping my magnetic field around his gear. "Look. Don’t make a scene. This is an A-list fight over there. You’re out of your league. How about you just quietly put the baton down, fuck off into the night, and we can forget this ever happened. Alright?"

"He seeks to bribe the Hawk! To make the great hero and protector of the city forget his sworn duty!" Hawk muttered loudly, crouching lower. "But little did the metallic fiend know, the Hawk would never ignore a crime! For he is a hero above all else! ’Ha ha!’ The Hawk said. ’Do you truly believe a hero would be willing to ignore such a scene? That would destroy any right he had to call himself a defender of the weak!’"

"Are you... are you seriously quoting yourself out loud?" I asked, genuinely baffled.