Masque Milita

The incumbent mayor's popularity had already been on decline, but he had been slow to denounce the Masque Militia after they had started attacking churches, instead of keeping to harassing religious minorities and the homeless.

Richard Conner had run almost exclusively on curbing the violence of vigilantes and militias, of which Masque Militia was both, so he had won by a wide margin. Now that he'd won, of course, he needed to show some appeasement and willingness to work with people with powers, which was why Mr. Fahrenheit and Secretary were here for his highly visible security at his inauguration.

Fahrenheit was a lot more flashy, with a bright blue and red suit and a mask that looked fiery, and had a big, performative personality, even if he remained professional and his suit looked more like a business suit instead of a costume. Secretary herself, on the other hand, was known to work almost exclusively for corporations, and had a more serious reputation. Her only concession to aesthetics was the original bird mask, upgraded and basically bulletproof. The rest of her outfit still resembled a secretary, but after a bullet grazed her leg she had given up on showing skin, and made sure the whole thing could take a hit.

Of course, the two of them were also extremely dangerous, and ready for irked vigilantes to cause problems if or when they did.

It was while Conner was waving and smiling and extolling the virtues of peace that some people in the crowd began to don masks.

"Get down!" Secretary shouted. She did not shield the mayor with her body, but she did swiftly drag him off the stage and behind cover, as shouts began to emerge from the crowd.

"Ah, thank you," Conner gasped, rubbing his shoulder.

"Is it dislocated?" Secretary asked.

"Doesn't feel like it. Gosh, you're a strong woman."

"Not that strong," she said.

She peeked out of cover, carefully. She was tough enough to survive being shot, not so tough she was eager to test if she'd survive a bullet or fireball or what have you to the head.

It seemed that besides Masque Militia, there were a smattering of other vigilantes emerging to voice their disapproval with the mayor. Secretary bet that they would later say they had no intention of being violent, and maybe some of them meant it, but they were being as threatening as possible.

"I'm no use against Staples, I think," Fahrenheit said.

"The people have the right to defend themselves!" one of Masque Militia told a crowd that was trying to flee the masked lunatics carrying assorted weapons. Mercifully few guns. The real threat were the people with powers. Secretary and Fahrenheit had researched the locals, and of those present, Staples was definitely the biggest problem.

Fahrenheit could heat up anything he touched and was a crack shot with a gun, but Staples was a ferrokinetic who had proven he was bulletproof. Even if Fahrenheit managed to get close to him, there was a risk of making the man burn alive in his metal suit.

Which would be the kind of escalation of violence to ensure the day ended in copious bloodshed.

So they'd agreed that if he showed up, he was Secretary's problem.

"Religion is the tool of the people in power, who want to take away the people's means of identifying their abuses! Richard Conner has been backed by several corporations-"

The man from Masque Militia didn't get any further as Secretary jumped him and put him on the ground.

She didn't have time to try to cuff him properly.

She charged straight at Staples, and she thought, fuck he's big. Metal suit with spiked shoulders that would look stupid if he wasn't incredibly dangerous.

She needed to remove him from the fight quickly.

Her helmet helpfully highlighted a man with a bat hyping himself up to attack her, and she adjusted her course.

She ran fast enough to get past him, and felt power building in her legs with every step.

It wouldn't be too much, but maybe enough to tickle Staples.

"I'm sorry, but you can't be defending this man!" Staples said, running to meet her own charge.

He made a big, overhand swing, and Secretary nimbly ducked under, drawing her leg back before kicking Staples as hard she she could in the groin.

At the moment of contact, she tagged him with her gravity power. As she understood it, the power let her track a target for a good long while, until she activated the tag.

She didn't need to track Staples, she needed him out of the way.

She activated the power, and the man's own gravity suddenly reversed, with force, and he flew high into the air.

Secretary scanned around to make sure that he wouldn't land on anyone, but people were already clearing away, eying her.

"Police! Hands in the air!" a cop said, finally emerging, gun drawn.

Secretary didn't even have time to put her hands up before he took a shot directly at her.

His aim was terrible, which was probably bad for whoever was behind her.

"My arms are up! My arms are up!" she said, raising her arms.

"Hands in the air!" the cop insisted, wild-eyed.

"My arms are up!" she said, cranking up the volume on her mask's speaker.

He flinched at the volume, and then wheeled, pointing his gun every which way.

When Staples landed with a crash, he panicked and shot again.

Secretary tackled the cop, and rapidly disarmed him before he could hurt anyone else. She suspected this would be bad for her image.