Doctor Rose had a large amount of information to search through in her binder, but some options were quickly rejected. Even so, it took quite some time to go through everything and eventually we had a huge list of things for me to try. Consuming food and drink didn’t do anything except keep me basically functional, and if there were mana infused foods I would either not have access to them or should have already come across something.

I hadn’t tested whether I would recover mana more quickly at the top of a tower, but it didn’t seem entirely unreasonable. Mages did like their towers. Though it wouldn’t provide a real solution I hadn’t actually tested if it were possible for Midnight and I to transfer mana between the two of us, but just using him as a battery was kind of wasted when he could just be an independent caster. Still, if it was possible we could see if other people could willingly share mana without the bond. Everyone could have at least a little bit. I honestly couldn’t tell, since the only time it was obvious inside people was when they were very powerful spellcasters.

“About these possible emergency methods…” I grimaced, “They kind of seem risky and unethical, even if I’m only harming myself.”

“Risky? Definitely. That’s why they’re emergency methods,” Doctor Rose nodded. “However, while bringing harm to one’s self is not something I’d advise, there are times it is appropriate. If the damage is only temporary, then things like exercise or even necessary surgeries are all quite similar. Giving something to gain something.”

I frowned. “I don’t even know how I’d accomplish these anyway. Overtaxing my mana should result in me going unconscious, not… into some sort of mana debt.”

“It could also be a natural defense mechanism against that very thing,” she pointed out. “You might be able to push past it… or perhaps it doesn’t work like that. Unfortunately, from the sounds of it your world has covered up this knowledge. Otherwise given how information seems to have been investigated and laid out, you should have found at least more information on what doesn’t work.”

“Yeah…” There wasn’t much else I could say to that. I hadn’t really realized the information was missing. Maybe if I had not been stuck with Aspect of the Barbarian my higher level would have enticed me to look into such things more deeply and I could have realized the lack. But back to the discussion. “Trading various sorts of physical stamina for mana is also something I don’t know how I would do, or if it’s safe.”

“Right. But I have the feeling something in that category should work. The question is whether or not you want to take the risks of making the attempt. Various media indicate you should recover… eventually. But my practical knowledge is limited to just a few people.”

“You know other mages?”

“Magic users in general, yes. Not from your same world though.”

“Can you just introduce us?”

She shook her head. “Identity privacy stuff, I’m afraid.”

“Then… can you just tell them about me? They could make that choice. As long as they’re decent people I don’t mind my identity being known.”

Rose nodded, “I suppose I could do that. They might not do anything, but none of them would try to capture you and use you for experiments. Though there might be some villains…”

“That’s the same for every super, I bet.”

She nodded. “Unfortunately. Most of those get taken down pretty aggressively though- even by other villains.”

“Most?” I asked.

“Well, rumors are Doctor Doomsday had captured and performed experiments on many supers. Though rumors have him involved with nearly every sort of criminal activity.” She shrugged, “Hard to say which parts are true.”

A tingling sensation in my head got me to look over to a nearby table where Midnight was passed out. I took a look at the time. “Oh wow. It’s pretty late huh?”

“Oh yes, it seems it is.”

“Guess I should be going.” I looked down at my list of things to try. “Maybe I’ll start with the tower thing, and mana crystallization.” I had no idea how I would accomplish the latter without instruction even if it was possible, but then again everything that was done had to be done for the first time by someone. I couldn’t help but think about it. Would it be like… releasing mana without casting a spell? Usually nothing happened, but I could look into it. “Thanks so much for the suggestions, Doctor Rose,” I bowed my head.

“You’re welcome. Please let me know if anything works. I’d like to put together a universal theory of magic.”

“Hah,” I grinned. “Wouldn’t we all? But if even a tenth of that stuff really functions that way somewhere, there’s no way.” I scooped Midnight up in one arm and made my way out. There was one more person I was scheduled to meet eventually, but apparently they were out of the city. Out of the country, even.

-----

Much of my training was currently with Meztli, at least in the mornings. Studying unarmed techniques and weapons and simply using my body was a good use of my time while I recovered mana after using Scrying. Or the training could come after a power spar, depending on when and what I was planning to Scry.

The two of us faced off with sticks that were apparently similar to riot batons. In short, a less lethal sort of melee weapon. Cracking someone on the skull with it might kill them, but it was better odds than being stabbed through the torso, or shot. Controlled use of Shocking Grasp was potentially better, but I wouldn’t always have mana. Even if I did, fending off someone while I cast spells at them was a worthwhile endeavor.

Not that I would be able to pull it off against someone like Meztli. She had the training to wipe the floor with me whenever we sparred. I was okay with that though, and not just because she had the power to fix every bruise I ended up with. Going against someone good gave me more experience, and not just the number. But also the number.

I took some semblance of a stance, tried to block high and got hit in the wrist. Then we went again and my elbow was tapped hard enough to make me know what would have happened if she were serious. The third attempt I managed to parry one blow and almost landed a hit on Meztli’s shoulder before my legs were knocked out from under me.

“Not bad,” she said. “You just have to be a little quicker. You’re bigger and stronger than me, so if you can actually land a blow… well, you’d take out someone without a power at least.”

“You haven’t even been using yours,” I commented.

“How do you know?” she asked. “It’s all internal.”

“Umm…” I frowned, “Well, I feel it when you do the stamina thing. And I’m pretty sure you’re enough better than me that you haven’t needed to make use of your physical boosting.”

“Well, you’re right,” she nodded. “The question is, can you actually feel it when I do it?”

I focused on her. “I’m not sure. Are you doing it now? Because I can’t sense anything.”

“Not yet,” she said. She began moving back and forth, weaving her baton through the air. It took a moment, but I definitely felt something as she began to speed up.

“There. I just felt it.” I thought for a moment, “It mostly focused around your upper body.”

“That’s right,” she admitted. “Interesting. Has this come up before?”

“I mean, I’ve definitely mentioned it once or twice…”

“Can all mages sense power usage?”

“Well, being able to sense magic happening is normal, I think. I guess it also works for powers.”

“That’s good to know,” she nodded. “Sensing is kind of seen as a pretty undesirable primary ability, but as a secondary it’s quite useful. You could even tell where I was using my power, so it’s reasonably specific as well. Does it function in combat?”

“It’s more sensory information to take in, so… sort of. When my squad mates are using their power I can sense it, but not much faster than there are visible flames or ice or whatever. Though for a while I could predict them.”

“I think they just got used to fighting against you,” Meztli pointed out. “They realized they were telegraphing and stopped. Which means you might be able to use it against those unfamiliar with you more effectively.”

“That sounds great,” I nodded. “Unfortunately, it won’t do anything about a gun.”

“The best way to deal with one of those is to never have it come into play to begin with.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know of any sniper ranged object destroying spells,” I shook my head. “Or object grabbing, either. But we’re working on strategy.”

-----

The main part of our plan hinged around one thing- not having Swarm present. Everybody in the squad and that we consulted with all agreed that while one rifle was bad, many of them were worse. There could be some limit on what Swarm duplicated when he split, but it was clear enough from the fight on the docks that he’d only had the original pistols on him but they still worked for each of his clones. Beyond that, we were coming up with a plan of approach that would best make use of our entire team… plus one more.

“Sup, dudes,” said the latecomer. It was a guy with uneven long hair… and shaved sides, which were probably because the sides had been the most messed up by the fire incident. “Man, I can’t believe they just let me down here.”

“Ahem,” Mace cleared her throat behind him. “You’re not exactly roaming around free. You five, I’m sure you already know Rocker. And Calculator probably remembers every mission the Power Brigade has been involved in.”

“Well,” Calculator shrugged shyly, “My power doesn’t actually apply to memory, so I forget some things.”

“Really? What was my third mission?”

“It was… helping the first outbreak of the molemen, right? The little ones.”

“See?” She raised her eyebrows. “Every mission.” Calculator didn’t continue to protest.

“So…” Midnight commented, “Why is this ‘Rocker’ here?”

“Community service, cat dude,” the black leather-clad man replied. “They said if I can use my powers for the benefit of the community I can stay out of the slammer.”

“He mostly caused property damage,” Calculator commented. “And he managed convincing arguments that he wasn’t planning to harm… people.”

“I’m bullet resistant,” he said proudly. “Which uh… apparently you need?”

“We might,” Captain Senan nodded. “Having been appraised of your availability, Calculator and I have been working on a strategy.”

Calculator took the reigns with a nice slide presentation. He covered known entities involved- “Deimos, Sirine, Swarm, and Rodentia, plus mooks,” Calculator showed slides with information about each of them. “Rodentia has not appeared on-site as far as we know, and given the relative lack of large mechanical rats we can assume this is not her hideout. Swarm also seems to come and go more frequently. Sirine has apparently stuck some sort of deal with Deimos, so will likely be present. Thus, the plan is to go when Swarm is otherwise occupied. Rocker can contribute to both defense and offense, though the priority is dealing with that rifle. Acid Man will be assigned to that.”

“Sure,” he said, “I could even try to slip in through some cracks, but I’d run into an issue if Sirine spotted me. I’m still affected by those weird sonic powers.”

“Oh! I know!” Rocker raised his hand, which was clutching a guitar, “That’s another thing I’m here for, right?”

“Correct,” Calculator acknowledged. “You indicated your powers could form some sort of interference pattern.”

“Interference is what I’m all about, man!” He plucked a string on his electric guitar- which I now knew was not a weird lute. The sound was loud, but he palmed the string when Mace glared at him. Then he slowly raised the guitar to cover his face.

“Anyway,” Calculator continued. “Mage has the ability to disguise people, so the team will be making use of that to blend in until you are close. That won’t be a problem, I presume?”

“Might have to split the burden between Midnight and myself,” I pointed out. “Too much mana, otherwise.”

“What will I disguise myself as?” Midnight questioned. “The rest of you can just not look like you’re supers in masks, but being a different cat might not really do much to disguise me.”

“It could,” Calculator mentioned. “Don’t underestimate people’s ability to just let things go, especially without other context. But it might also be viable for you to disguise yourself as, say, a rat.”

“Rats don’t get to my size,” Midnight pointed out.

I answered that comment, “Normal ones, sure, but with Rodentia involved… you saw the ones at the docks.”

“Oh yeah. I guess it’ll work well enough.”

“We were thinking you could sneak in through one of the upper windows,” Calculator mentioned.

“Umm… I don’t think… I can do that…” Midnight answered awkwardly.

I jumped in to save him having to mention being afraid of heights. “With some uses of Disguise he’ll already be low on mana, so if he gets caught he won’t have much left to defend himself solo,” I explained.

“Well, that’s reasonable enough,” Calculator shrugged. “The plan doesn’t hinge around it. Given your latest Scrying successes we have a pretty decent idea of the layout of the warehouse. We’ve set up the training room with a facsimile to allow you all to do a practice run, but be aware that some portions are speculative. For the sake of that, they will be pink. We don’t want you counting on walls that might not actually be there later.”

“So that’s it?” Shockfire asked. “We just go in and take them out?”

“There’s a bit more to it, but essentially yes. Deimos himself is dangerous mostly because of technology, though it is assumed he has combat training. Without a rifle he should be easy to subdue.” Calculator brought up another slide, “Priorities are securing him and the headgear full of stolen technology. Though first is all of you staying alive. If necessary we can bring in another squad but…”

But it was our problem, by virtue of having gotten involved. It wouldn’t reflect well on the squad. Besides, I would rather deal with the guy who tried to kill me with my own hands. First it was off to the training rooms to deal with some possible scenarios.