42 - Let's Find Some Internships!

We dove into the maze of booths on the court. I could practically feel all the powers around us; it was like a tickle on my skin or the ozone smell of lightning in my nose. I could tell Fursona felt it too. They seemed twitchy inside their suit, and their head kept looking from one booth to another.

The excitement and energy in the air felt fantastic. It almost pushed the pain in my heart away. It almost made me forget about Peter for a bit.

Almost.

I needed an internship, and that did a better job of focusing me than anything else.

We found ourselves deep in the ‘Teams, Squads, and Organizations’ half of the room, and it was crawling with people. Oddly, they were mostly Extras. I stared at the arena door and saw a pair of supervillains. They guarded the entrance, passing out helmets to the Extras labeled ‘Temporary Hench: Do Not Attack.’

“The SSS must be using this as a henchman recruiting drive,” Fursona said. They pointed at the SSS table next to the much larger 3V1L booth. Both were doing brisk business. The Student Supervillain Society’s booth included a trio of tablets and a stack of blank cardboard boxes a touch bigger than my head. Every time an Extra student signed the form, they received a box and pamphlet, and a booth worker (there were six, and they all wore helmets with little decorative spikes on top) guided them toward a door near the away team bleachers.

3V1L, by contrast, had set up a tent right in the gym. They didn’t have papers to sign. Instead, ‘Temporary Henches’ went in, something happened inside, and devil-masked henchmen came out. The black walls of the tent seemed soundproofed since I couldn’t hear anything near them.

“That’s where we want to be, I said, pointing at the third booth in the ‘Teams, Squads, and Organizations’ section. There, a handful of heroes sat, looking businesslike.

As we approached, an angelic-looking woman cleared her throat. “Welcome to the Mutual Assistance League’s booth. We’re a small but up-and-coming superhero organization working our way into real major league representation. Right now, we mostly work to counter 3V1L’s presence in the East and Northeast Poudre districts of Tokyexico City, but as part of our growth plan, we’re looking at expanding into the University District. Are you interested in fighting for the cause of peace and justice?”

“I, um, already do,” Fursona said. “I’m the Justice-Roo.”

“Yeah, I’ve been fighting for peace, love, and justice since I was thirteen,” I said. A nearby camera drone approached us, and I waved into it. “Hello, Small Town Super fans! Remember to look out for each other and trust in your friends!”

I could feel Fursona roll their eyes behind me, but I didn’t care. They didn’t have to face the cameras directly, and I knew what my fans wanted. I cleared my throat as the drone got distracted by whatever was happening at 3V1L’s booth. “But yeah, we’ll take a brochure. We’re looking for some internship opportunities. We’ll be back after we tour the rest of the booths.”

“Wonderful,” the angel said, passing me a pamphlet, which I handed to Fursona. They tucked it into their pouch with a modulated snort. “I’m Tranquility. I’ll be here for the next couple of hours. Then War Bear is taking over.”

I nodded, shook her hand, and walked into the thick of things. It’d been crowded by the ‘Teams, Squads, and Organizations.’ By comparison, the main booth area felt almost empty. As I got closer, I realized why. Our peers had swarmed one man standing at center court and two booths near him.

The first was The Agent. How he was staying on top of negotiating with three super students at a time, I couldn’t see. But he managed. He must’ve had hundreds of Style Points to spend—maybe thousands. I ignored him. We’d already gotten what we needed from him.

McHammer’s booth was packed with villains, and Teleportal wasn’t in her hammock anymore. She couldn’t be. Too many heroes were talking to her. It seemed like every hero wanted to work with her. I had an [Inkling] that I could figure out why.

I ducked toward the booth and squeezed past Punch and Grapple. “Just want a brochure.”

“Bro, sure,” Punch replied automatically. Then he looked at me. “Hey, Underoos, you hear anything from Sara yet?”

“No.” I slithered through and grabbed a pamphlet. “You’ll get it, though. Trying to find a decent Episode was a disaster.”

“Well, good luck finding something else here,” Grapple said. “If we get an internship with Tele-Portal or something, we’ll back out on Sara, and maybe she’ll take you then.”

“Thanks.” I slipped back through the crowd and rejoined Fursona. Then, together, we read Tele-Portal’s bio.

Tele-Portal is a premier major league sidekick and support, currently working with Lightbeam and The Underdelver. Her powers are well-documented in the team’s Episodes and during her minor-to-major push during Man vs. Nature VI. With her ability to link two surfaces and move matter and light through the resulting portal, Tele-Portal’s powers help give her team a tactical advantage in every Episode.

While Tele-Portal works as a support and sidekick in the major leagues, she encourages interested recruits from Bruiser and Tank to Elementalist and Genius to try out for an internship. If selected, you’ll be required to perform at least two Patrols with Tele-Portal each month, during which time you’ll learn the ropes of mid-tier superhero work.

“She’s a dedicated support and sidekick, so she’ll make even her interns look awesome. That’s why everyone’s here. They’re looking for a fast route from the little leagues to the minors or majors. Those jerks!”

[Good Thinking! +1 Cunning Point Pending]

“Aren’t you trying to do the same thing?” Fursona asked.

“It’s different. It’s really different.” It wasn’t different at all.

“We need to get in line,” Fursona said. “We’ve got a good shot. We bring a lot to the table.”

“Did that really say Elementalists?” I asked. I was an Elementalist now. Or, at least, I thought I was. That seemed right based on the powerset I’d gotten from The Cloud’s cape. [Light as Vapor], [Ride the Lightning], and [Cloudy Disposition] all felt like Elementalist powers. The fact that the archetype had been called out specifically gave me hope.

On the other hand, the line to actually talk to Tele-Portal looked brutal. There had to be twenty heroes there, maybe more. The heroine waved a man in a black suit and sunglasses over, then pointed at one of the aspiring intern heroes. He joined her, and they were gone, whisked away through a portal. The man started talking to the crowd, organizing and taking notes on them.

I sighed. Waiting in line wasn’t going to buy us much. “Let’s go check out the rest of the job fair,” I said.

We spent the next hour wandering the B-list major league heroes’ booths. Most of them were working on their own, like the two A-listers. A couple had people in suits to help, but most were solo. We talked with Aimbot, a representative for Revengeance Incorporated who’d filled out the form wrong, and a dozen minor leaguers looking to break into the majors with some community support. They all offered internships—Aimbot didn’t even ask for a try-out. He was just happy to talk to someone, but he wasn’t what I wanted.

I kept looking for people I knew, but I couldn't find anyone other than Springlock and Milo, who waved on their patrol. The only people talking to the B-list heroes and villains, or the minor leaguers at the court’s edge, were other little leaguers like us who wanted to take smaller steps.

Most everyone was swarming McHammer and Tele-Portal, so that made sense, but I couldn’t shake a funny feeling. Someone was missing.

I hadn’t seen Tearjerker anywhere. Not since we walked in, at least. Actually, I hadn’t seen some of the villains who’d kidnapped me during the Orientation Episode. Iron Fist was here. So was Monologue. But most of the others had…left when Ikenga called our Dark Girl Anima and Blaze? Could that be right?

“Hey, where are all the villains? They can’t all be at McHammer’s table,” I asked and handed Fursona yet another pamphlet—this one to work with a Genius whose Artificial Intelligence Magical Girl did all the fighting for him. That one was probably a no.

“I dunno. I haven’t seen Gourmet since we got here. Theseus was at McHammer’s table, but that one weird villain on Punch and Grapple’s team is missing. So’s the goth chick who checked us in. And Monologue.”

“No, Monologue’s here.” I pointed at the bleachers, where Ikenga and Monologue sat at their own table. The hero and villain wouldn’t even look at each other, though both tried to bring heroes and villains over to sign them up for their clubs. They occasionally fought over table space for their signs and pamphlets.

I ducked past a heroine in a yellow super-suit with wings stitched onto it—maybe a speedster or dedicated flier—and stopped at their table. Ikenga nodded in greeting, but I didn’t go to him. Instead, I put my hands on the table right in front of Monologue and leaned in. “Where are your people?”

“The Student Supervillain Society?” Monologue laughed. “I assure you we have every intention of treating this event with the respect it deserves. We’ve gained over a dozen rent-a-hench henchmen, and I’ve signed three villains up for the SSS. How many do you have, Kingy?”

“Two. I told you not to call me that anymore, Monologue.” Ikenga looked irritated. He turned to me, rolling his eyes. “As part of the agreement we hashed out, neither of us can use our powers. Otherwise, Mays and Jackson get involved. It was a way to keep Logs over here from starting something, but right now, it’s just annoying the hell out of me.”

“So, you have no idea where Tearjerker, Lockless, or Iron Fist are?”

“Nope. I’d imagine they’re helping out somewhere. Tears and Iron Fist are on patrol,” Monologue said. “Lockless only shows up for the first meeting and the SSS parties. She’s hardly a real member.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t match what I’m seeing,” I started to say.

“Understudy, we’re not going to start trouble here, okay? There are a dozen major league heroes, plus the Doctors and The Agent. Monologue would have to be an idiot to try an actual Episode here.” Ikenga cleared his throat, glaring. “More of an idiot than he already is, I mean.”

“Get over it, Kingy. It was years ago.”

Ikenga rolled his eyes and kept talking. “I can’t stop you from digging around, but I believe we’re secure here. The SSS never tries anything without their aces in the hole, Monologue and Tearjerker, and I’ve got Monologue wrapped up here.”

“But where’s Tearjerker?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Monologue said. “She must’ve taken a break to try out with McHammer.”

“Fine. Thanks for your time, you two.” I stomped off, Fursona following me. Then I grabbed their arm and dragged them into an alley between two tent-covered booths. Why they needed a tent inside the gym, I didn’t know, but it gave me a quiet place to talk to Fursona.

“We need to find Tearjerker and Lady Lockless,” I whispered. “SSS has to be up to something, and if they’ve got Ikenga and the rest of TUSSA locked down, it’s up to us to stop them.”

“Well, Tearjerker just came out of the trial rooms with McHammer. She doesn’t look happy, but she’s here.”

“She never looks happy,” I said but looked anyway.

Sure enough, Tearjerker stood there with even more mascara running down her face than usual. She was actively crying. A nearby villain started to say something, but she pointed at him and said, “You. I warned you. Red Fern, now!”

The boy burst into wracking sobs, and she stomped over to Monologue. They started shouting at each other while I leaned in toward Fursona. “We need to find Lady Lockless. Where’s the furthest place away from Roth Arena?”

They shrugged. “I’ve only been on campus a month or so, and I’ve never explored past Ash Hall. There’s no reason to.”

“Okay. Let’s just—

Suddenly, I had an [Inkling]. This Episode had just gotten a lot more complicated. With the camera drone circling, I turned to Fursona. “We need to go if we want to find Lady Lockless and the villains who left. She’s up to something for sure, and it’ll happen soon.”

[Good Thinking: +1 Cunning Point Pending]

[End of Act One! Act Two in Five Minutes! Skill Rolls Activated!]

[Alias - Understudy] [Archetype - Magical Girl] [Community Rank - 473/523]

[HP 6/6]

[Styles and Skills]

►Archetype Skill - Transformation Sequence

►Badass (lvl 0; 36)

►Cunning (lvl 2; 22)

► Inkling 1

►Drama (lvl 3; 31)

►  Stellar Ray 1

►Flamboyance (lvl 3; 51) (Skill Roll? Yes/No)

►Signature Skill - Adaptive Armoire

►Stored Costumes: (Rainy Day)

►Starwave Sail 1

►Spotlight Strike 1

►Grit (lvl 1; 50) (Skill Roll? Yes/No)

► Rejuvenation 1

I cheered and looked at Tails as we headed for the doors. “Roll the Skills!”

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