Chapter 85 Superstars.

Chapter 85: 85 Superstars.

All that praise was going to give me an inflated ego, but Steve had always been good at making me feel like I could walk into a room and own it. Hell, that was practically half the job description when you were a henchman.

Nothing made a hero take you seriously faster than having enough disposable manpower to throw at them.

Getting into the Omnidome was easy enough. Lacey had clearly been waiting for us, because we were met almost immediately and escorted toward the stage.

The place was a hive of activity. Workmen crawled over scaffolding and hauled equipment into position, while others wrestled with cables and machinery.

The sound systems being assembled were so massive they looked less like speakers and more like artillery batteries.

Lacey was already on the stage, talking to three young women who could only be the Superstars.

She was dressed in the same professional but undeniably attractive suit-and-skirt combination I’d seen her wear before, her hair neatly done, which made her look almost painfully mature next to the three girls she was managing.

They were all somewhere around eighteen to twenty, bright, energetic, and colour-coded in the way younger women tended to be. Attractive group, I’d give them that, and judging by how comfortable they looked in their costumes, none of them were exactly new to the superhero business.

The redhead was obviously the leader.

She wore crimson from head to toe, and I was willing to bet money that the colour wasn’t purely aesthetic. Her costume featured a stylized phoenix across the chest, its wings curving upward in a way that seemed designed to emphasize her already impressive figure. Slim, but with enough curves to make the costume work overtime.

Next to her stood a brunette who looked like she’d rather be sleeping. She had the whole emo-goth thing going, with glittering feather-like sequins running along her arms.

The third was someone I’d seen before.

Mysteria.

Except the black-and-white costume meant she’d apparently gone through a rebrand.

Probably Wraith. Maybe Raven.

Superhero marketing had gotten fucking lazy.

Psyren and I reached the stage just as Lacey spotted us, and her face immediately brightened.

"Miles! Psyren! Excellent, right on time." She gestured toward the three girls. "I’d like you to meet the Superstars. This is Phoenix, Beeatrix, and Wraith."

Ha.

Fucking called it.

"Nice to meet you." I shook their hands one after another, though Wraith seemed noticeably less enthusiastic about hers. "Looking forward to working with you."

"Yo, bitches," Psyren greeted them with a casual flick of her fingers.

I closed my eyes for half a second.

So much for professionalism.

Phoenix gave Psyren a cold once-over. "So you’re the villainess?" she asked, the word carrying just enough disdain to make her opinion obvious.

I ignored that and studied the redhead instead. "You look familiar."

"I’ve been around for a while," she replied.

Something clicked.

"Wait." I pointed at her. "Weren’t you Hot Sauce?"

The other girls slowly turned toward her.

Phoenix’s eyes widened. "I’m... not sure what you’re talking about."

"Yeah, you were." I looked her over again, remembering the old costume. "Burger Brigade, right? You had that little hat."

"I did not have a hat."

"You absolutely had a hat."

"No."

Knew it.

A lot of heroes started out doing grunt work as sidekicks before they were finally allowed to move up the ladder. It was honestly one of the better ways to enter the business. You learned from someone experienced, got practical experience, built a reputation, and eventually struck out on your own.

Assuming the brand let you.

Sidekicks who got too old without establishing themselves were often quietly retired. Nobody wanted a thirty-year-old still following some famous hero around in a colourful costume. It looked weird, and corporations had little interest in anything that made their customers uncomfortable.

The superhero industry was about money first, after all.

Unfortunately, that meant more former sidekicks ended up as streeters than I’d have liked. Those could be some of the nastiest villains around. Getting discarded by the industry after years of training, or getting half beaten to death by some lunatic in clown makeup wielding a crowbar, had a way of souring a person.

And unlike your average criminal, they already knew how to use their powers.

Some, thankfully, found a second career as villains instead.

I knew a few who’d made a decent living threatening the very heroes they’d once worked beside. It was difficult to pull off without looking pathetic, but the whole fallen-partner angle was practically free publicity.

Still, if Phoenix didn’t want to talk about her past, I wasn’t going to push it. I’d had enough experience with wanting to leave old jobs behind.

Instead, I looked across the stage. "So word got out already? You’ve got the stage crew ready?"

"A good number," Lacey said. "Cameras, seating, screamers. The girls will handle the opening songs, then Psyren comes on toward the end to close out the performance." She turned toward Psyren with that polished smile PR people seemed to develop naturally. "If there’s anything else you need, just let us know. We’ll make sure everything is properly showcased as we continue working together."

"Sure thing." Psyren looked around the stage, clearly taking everything in. "I’ve already got a few ideas."

"Good." I nodded, then looked back at Lacey. "We’ll also need some spare security uniforms. Steve is going to play the brainwashed guards who get hypnotized and turned against the Superstars along with any band members who get caught."

"Nice to meetcha," Steve said, giving the three heroines an exaggerated bow.

He nearly tipped himself over doing it.

I sighed.

"Don’t worry about hitting him too hard," I told them. "Steve’s a cloner. Any copies you knock around will disappear before the day’s over."

"Excellent!" Lacey clapped her hands. "We’ll have that arranged immediately. Guys, could you escort Miles’s friend over to security?"

The two stone twins finally turned their attention toward us.

Guess Drax was right. If you stood perfectly still long enough, people really did stop noticing you.

"Of course, ma’am. This way."

I honestly couldn’t tell which one had spoken, and judging by Lacey’s expression, I doubted she could either.

"Have fun, sis!" Steve called, waving at Psyren as the twins led him away and down from the stage.

One less thing to worry about.

I turned back toward the Superstars. "Now, most of the big scene is going to happen up here, obviously. But I want to establish one thing now. Psyren isn’t a combat hero. She won’t be getting into a fistfight with any of you."

"Understood," Phoenix said, though she still looked skeptical. "But a few security guards and band members aren’t exactly enough to make this convincing."

"No, they’re not." I glanced toward Lacey. "Which is why I asked her to find another hero for you."

Lacey smiled.

"Did you?"

"Of course." She turned toward the backstage area. "Golden? Would you mind coming out here?"