Two men and a woman were gathered on the rooftop of one of the city of Prospero’s skyscrapers. All of them were dressed in the stylized, form-fitting, body armor colloquially known as “costumes”.

One man wore a costume that was colored black and red. He wore a cowl that was shaped like a smiling cat, but the ears were replaced with rectangular sound devices. The devices were a combination of ultra-light radio systems and audio speakers. He also had a set of thin, flexible speakers mounted in his shoulders, chest, back, and belt.

The other man wore a costume that was colored gray and white like a cloudy sky. His hair was similarly colored white. He wore a round white mask and his suit and gloves were lined with metal filaments. There was a large sigil on his chest that depicted a moon hidden by clouds.

Finally, there was the woman. She wore her blue-brown hair cut short. She had long pointed ears that ended in elegant furry tufts.

Her costume was a mottled brown, had a white fur-lined collar, and came with a heavily loaded utility belt.

She wore a short, light brown, cape, and dangling at her side were two club like weapons with perpendicular handles. Tonfas. Instead of a mask she wore a set of multi-faceted goggles.

Behind them appeared another man. His figure tall and slender. His body un-costumed. He was dressed in black business formal garb, wearing a suit and long coat.

His dark hair was covered by a wide-brimmed hat. His face was unmasked yet somehow indiscernible. His eyes glowed an eerie green in the gloom. A certain palpable aura issued from the umbrella that he was leaning on.

“Excuse me?” said the man.

His soft, low, voice, carried across the rooftop jolting the goggled woman and white masked man. The cat cowled man merely turned around. The lenses of his mask, and smiley faced mouth guard, hiding his expression

“Who are you?” said the Cat.

“Your hero-assistance for the evening.” said the man in the hat.

“I didn’t request any hero-assistance for tonight.” said the Cat.

The man in the hat shrugged and smiled. His teeth gleaming in the darkness.

“That may be. However, all I know is that my presence here has been requested and the league and my client have already assigned me the job. If you wish, you may feel free to pretend I’m not here.” said the man in the hat.

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Superpowers and superheroes had been a big part of earth’s culture since before the ENE. There’d always been rumors of caped crusaders flying around under the cover of darkness but it wasn’t till the grand collapse and the fall of the grand curtain that those rumors were substantiated.

Afterwards, during the hundred years or so before the big rebuild most of society was highly reliant on its superhuman saviors. They were the ones who faced off against the horrors of the endless night while most of the ordinary folk could only run or hide.

The term “super” was kind of nebulous. Superpowers could either from training, or from the natural superhuman traits of one’s lineage, or they could come from various anomalous mutations or artifacts. There were even geniuses who created their own superpowers using technology. There wasn’t any one way to be a superhero.

Even mages could be superheroes, it was just that magic tended to be differentiated from superpowers based on its flexibility. A super could generally only do a specific thing while mages were limited only by their talent, knowledge and magical capacity.

In the current age, being a global superpower meant having a standing army of superpowered soldiers. The various factions, families, and groups that ran society from the background similarly made sure to have a force of superhumans and mages.

For everyone else, there was the heroes guild.

The Green Glass Heroes Guild or Heroes Guild for short was an international organization that served as the governing board, and administrative body, for most if not all of earth’s superheroes.

It also happened to be yet another organization run and virtually owned by the Cat Sith (CS) Corporation. The company’s distinctive black and white cats lurked in the background of every superpowered organization.

If you wanted to be a caped crusader and fight crime without risking imprisonment for violating the numerous laws that governed unlicensed vigilantism, you needed to be a member of the guild.

Unlike the players league, there were more requirements and expectations for being a hero. Unless you were joining with experience as a police officer or military personnel, you could expect to spend at least three years in a hero academy before you were made a full member of the guild.

Even if you did have experience in law enforcement or the army, just learning to use your powers appropriately and follow all the special protocols that were in place for heroes would take one year at the minimum.

Becoming a mage was much easier, because one was basically born a mage and only needed to be educated for the sake of preventing harm to oneself and others.

This education could take the form of homeschooling, an apprenticeship to an accredited mage, or enrollment in an academy. In either case, it only had to go as far as basic knowledge. All you needed to know was the basics to get a license a practicing professional mage.

As for the players, you already know how easy that was. Margot and I were literally able to become players on a single afternoon. No tests. No resume. No recommendations. No problem.

Which is why I found it slightly curious that players could technically moonlight as heroes, or rather as hero-assistants.

I suspect it was all down to the fact that the CS Corporation owned both the guild and the league. Their ownership of the two pools of superhuman talents created an irresistible urge to leave open an option of pulling from both if necessity, or convenience, required it.

That was what I was doing on the rooftop that night. Providing Hero Assistance. Cassandra had a niece and nephew. They weren’t related to her by blood but she’d cared for them as if they were her own children.

One had been a former soldier and had become a hero instead of joining the US Elite Guard. The other had been a police officer and was promoted into the ranks of the heroes guild when she started manifesting powers beyond those of your usual kaporka.

Recently, Cass had been having some uncomfortable feelings. Something was triggering her intuition, and certain circumstances were backing those bad vibes. She couldn’t help feeling that something bad was on the horizon.

The kids thought she was worrying for nothing. She hoped they were right. All the same, the woman had felt the need to try and attain some additional assurance. She wanted to make sure that no matter what happened her kids stayed safe. That was why I was there that night.

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There was a moment where none of us said anything. Then the woman in the goggles sighed, turning to the cat masked man.

“It was Aunt Cass who sent you here, wasn’t it?”

I considered how to answer that, and whether it’d be cosher to even acknowledge the question. I eventually decided that it probably wouldn’t hurt to be candid because the secret identities and hero names were more theatre and tradition than anything else.

In today’s information age, it was hard to truly stay anonymous even while wearing a mask and the divide between one’s heroic persona and alter-ego were socially agreed upon things.

The same way “villains” knew not to go after a heroes home and family because it was generally treated the same as going after a police officer's home and family.

A sure fire way to rouse the ire of the law enforcement community. As well as a way to risk the wrath of the CS Corporation and its numerous gray industry associates. Which would in turn make it impossible to put one’s criminal activities behind them after one put down the mask.

“Yes. Ms. Neuville did indeed contract my services for tonight’s events.” I said.

This brought a sigh from both the woman and the Cat.

“And I don’t suppose I can talk you into just leaving?”

“Not really. Even if this was a privately brokered job as soon as the league became involved, my completion of her request became a professional matter.” I said.

“And what if we tried to make you leave?” said the cat.

“You could try, but I would advise against it. Plus, even if you succeeded by some chance I can tell you now that I’m not above tattling to your Aunt should anything happen.” I said. Raising a brow at the pressure the cat was putting out. Answering his pressure with a little pressure of my own.

The woman sighed for a third time.

“Fine ...I'm Ashley Neuville. Formerly of the Prospero Police Department. You can call me Ash...But I guess not here. Here you should probably just call me by my hero name, Math Moth.” said the woman.

“I’m Douglas Neuville-Patterson. I go by Sly Cheshire, while I’m in costume.” said the cat.

“Uh...I’m not a Neuville but I’m glad to have you here anyway. They might not want you here, but honestly I think we’re way understaffed for this job.” said the man in the white mask.

“My friends call me Josh. My hero name is Cloudy Midnight.”

I nodded. Smiling again. Feeling that odd nervousness I always felt when meeting new people. A nervousness that never went away no matter how old I got.

“I’m Montgomery Kalyan. Player Handle... Uncanny Gentleman. I’ll be your hero-assistant for tonight”