The more Ale walked following the route that the communication minion sent her, the more she was sure that there was something very wrong with whatever these sidekicks were doing. More and more evidence of fighting, and more and more evidence of wasted biomass.

She did found a couple of MRE packaging here and there, the same brand as the one that Gloria Blackthorn and Alan Harmonia had gotten for Alexa. But then again, they were quite popular…allegedly.

Ale had no metric to test if that was true or not; all her MRE needs were fulfilled by [Haephestus' Forge]. After all, the evidence she had did imply that this organization and most of the available things she had access to did, like to use those brands, but that was all she had to go by as of now.

"Stop in the name of Justice!" And before Ale could continue ruminating on that, she was stopped by a scream followed by a "Justice Kick!"

Someone screaming a cringe name attack, Ale merely inferred where the attack was coming from the sound and rustling of the wind and jumped out of the area of impact; it was quite easy to do, too. The biggest issue had come when she felt the mana wavelength from within wanted to remain in the same spot.

A very stupid thing to do, Ale had moved even so, and in turn, she had dodged an attack that had aimed at her back.

"....you dodged." The new interloper said; Ale turned to look at her attacker and found…

"...You…." She found Beatrice Starcroft, the Girl with who Alexa had fought in the Dodgeball match, who had awoken a Core that seemed to skirt in the mind core territory.

"How did you dodge that? It was a justice kick, evil doers can't dodge Justice." The Girl stated as she stood up and covered her mouth with a weird red scarf.

The Girl was dressed in what looked to be a blue leotard with a singular star on her chest. She was wearing a pair of boots with very dangerous heels and gloves that went all the way to her shoulders. As for her face, she only had a scarf to cover her face, that is to say, that anyone with eyes could see who she was.

"I took a step to the side," Ale stated looking down at the Girl, what was she even supposed to do? She… wasn't supposed to know who she was, but this Girl, Beatrice, was here showcasing her face to the world…

Should…

"Do you want a spare mask?" Ale asked pulling a hand into one of her pouches, she didn't even waste that much material to make a spare simple face covering, "I have an extra one."

"Why would I use a mask?" The Girl asked confused, "More importantly, if you dodged my Justice kick, it means you aren't evil, but you are wearing one of the Minion masks, are you undercover?"

"...You may want a mask to hide your face…?" Ale asked confused, "Isn't that something sidekicks do? Hide their faces?"

"I am hiding my face!" Beatrice said, pointing at her scarf, "See? Mama always said that heroes use scarves! And it doubles down as a way to cover my mouth!"

….There were so many wrong things with that statement, "Right…" Ale said sighing, "So you are Soul or Body?"

"I am The Beacon of Justice!" Beatrice said, puffing out her chest, "I may have fallen into evil's clutches, but I am doubling my workload to make it up to those I hurt!"

What?

"What?" Ale asked confused, "No, this territory was supposed to be done by a couple sidekicks called Body & Soul, they asked for backup so I came, which one are you?"

"Like I said, my name is Beacon of Justice," Beatrice said once again, "I came answering to the call for justice!"

This was going nowhere, "You didn't ask for reinforcements?" Ale asked, she didn't want to spend more time than needed here.

"No." Beatrice answered, "I am the one that comes to give-"

"Okay, bye." Ale said raising a finger to shut Beatrice, "I am providing support, so I don't have time to deal with whatever this is."

And like that, she started to walk away from the little troublemaker, she had enough with Alexa, and that one was stuck in her head, pampering Alexandra. That is to say, she wasn't making that much of an issue at the moment.

"Wait!" Beatrice said running up to match Ale's pace, "So…you on a double spy secret mission or something?"

"What are you even talking about?" Ale said, moving her right hand to the transmission button on her mask, "Central Command? I have a question, do we have someone registered as 'Beacon of Justiceˋin the mission rooster?"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Yes, she is currently missing, that one was assigned to outer perimeter security. Did you find any traces of her?" The communication minion answered, "Also if you have any clue of where she is we can probably get a couple favors from the Hero side, they want to nurture her as a new SuperForce."

…Her?

Ale…could see it; she was indeed dangerous; if they somehow managed to mold her belief in something more tangible, she could probably be an actual threat…to the people who couldn't resist her Core Power anyway.

"Wait, are you snitching on me?" Beatrice said narrowing her eyes, Ale saw her ball up her fist as if she was preparing to fighit her.

"Yes, she is standing in front of me." Ale said looking back at Beatrice.

"Justice Jab! Justice Run!" Beatrice said as she threw a punch at Ale, Ale merely caught it, and when Beatrice started to try and run away? Yeah, she just kept holding that hand making it close to impossible for her to run away.

"What do you want me to do?" Ale asked to the communication minion, "I was supposed to go and rescue Body & Soul, but if I need to keep her in sight I may not be able to achieve that."

"How are you preventing her from leaving?" The communication minion asked, "We have reports of her attacking other Minions and sidekicks and then running away, no fatalities or grievous wounds. But no one has been able to keep her still."

"....I just sidestepped her attacks and am currently holding her hand so she doesn't run away." Ale answered with a shrug, "It is not rocket science."

"Justice Slip! Justice, let me go! Justice, I don't want to do meaningless work of filler characters!" Beatrice kept complaining while adding the word Justice to her complaints, as if that made them more legit or something.

It was, honestly, very weird. Ale felt the mana wavelengths emanating from her attempting to twist her presence, and could even feel them start to affect her…only to latch into Alexa's consciousness stream and fray away.

Whatever Alexa was made up of, it was helping her resist the effects of this Core Power, to which Ale wouldn't complain.

"I see… I'll just add it to your file as another Core Power that doesn't affect you fully," The communication minion said, "And I sent the notification to the Hero Side….they are asking if you can keep her with you for the rest of the mission, they are willing to increase your pay."

"...Keep her with me?" Ale asked confused, "Are they aware of who I am?"

"Stay with you? Yes!" Beatrice said suddenly stopping struggling, "Yes please! That way, we can deliver Justice to the bad guys! Besides, I always wanted to be an actual sidekick for a real Hero!"

"Yes, it seems you impressed V-8. He is vouching for your fighting prowess. SuperForce is the one who will pay the bill by the way, Vulcanus guarantees you will get the full payment too. But it's up to you." The communication minion left the channel open while Ale thought about that.

Did she want to keep this one near? No. Her power was too unstable, her psyche was even more so unstable, someone like Alexa had managed to break her, Ale did not want to know what would happen if that happened again, her Core was useful yes, but also too much of a wild card.

"First let's get something clear," Ale said letting go of Beatrice's hand and looking her straight to the face, "This mask, this design means that I am affiliated with [Haephestus' Forge], that is to say. I am someone who works for the Villain side of the world."

"Yes, you are working as an undercover agent, right?" Beatrice said nodding, "I get you, I promise to not leak that!"

"No," Ale said shaking her head, "No undercover nothing, I am and always has been a Minion. My line of work is for those that society has deemed Evil."

"...But….you….my Justice attacks didn't work on you, only reason for that would be if you aren't evil!" Beatrice said shocked, as if the mere idea of her flimsy view of the world was being broken.

"You shouldn't think of your own [Core Power] as something infallible," Ale said shaking her head, "It doesn't work on me, but not because I am not Evil. Merely because it doesn't."

"No!" Beatrice said shaking her head, "Justice will always prevail, it may stumble, it may be defeated, but it's all so it can stand up once again proudly! Mama said so!"

"....And your Mother is?" Ale asked, sighing, "Someone who knows about this because….?"

"Mama is a Hero! She is the Light of Love!" Beatrice said, beaming at the mention of her Mother, "And Mom is even more amazing; even while being a Villain, she is The Promise of a Future!"

….ah right, Ale remembered this. This Girl had two Mothers instead of the usual distribution of male-female parenting model. Ale still wasn't that sure how that worked, as far as she was aware you could only procreate a new spawn of the [Human] genotype if you fused Male and Female cells.

"You aren't surprised?" Beatrice said confused, "Mom is like, very famous! And Mother is feared!"

"Well, they are still only Human." Ale said, shrugging, "Besides, will they come after me?"

"No?" Beatrice said deflating, "Mom only goes after criminals who commit violence against family members, and Mother rescues those that can't fight for themselves or put resistance…"

That sounded more like two people who fought for the common people in the same type of issues, why was one a villain then? It sounded more like they were of the [Good] people if anything.

"There you have it then, they have no reason to go against me." Ale said, shrugging, "I would worry more if they found an issue against me, but since that isn't going to happen, then all is good."

"But…but…they are famous…" Beatrice said deflating even more, "They could help you…or something…"

"Their help is useless at the moment, but fine." Ale said sighing, "You may accompany me, if you are aware of who I am and who I work for."

"Yes!" Beatrice said, nodding quite rapidly, "You work for Justice, and your employer is the goodness and hope for a better future!"

"...wrong." Ale said, sighing; she really didn't want to deal with this, "You will follow my instructions and only enter into combat if I say it's okay."

For now that would be the most important order that Ale could give, she didn't want the little Girl to start a fight that they couldn't deal with, if she was understanding the Core Power of the Little Girl, then it was hard if not impossible for such a thing to happen, but better safe than sorry. More importantly, it is better in one piece than having to explain why Ale could regenerate half her body without any issues or materials.

If she needed to regenerate that much mass she would have a hard time explaining it, better to do that in private if it ever happened.

"Roger!" Beatrice said, saluting Ale, "Also, put this on; if you are working for me, you will need an appropriate mask."

Ale pulled out yet again the mask that she had offered before Beatrice, only this time she modified the design; instead of the regular minion mask, this eye cover shifted in design; it was now closer to a pair of glasses in the form of a five-pointed star. It's color was pink and honestly, it looked somewhat ridiculous, Ale would never be seen wearing such type of sunglasses.

"It's perfect!" And she even felt somewhat guilty because Beatrice had liked her weird design, only for a second of course, "Thank you! Oh, right, what's your name? I already told you I am the Beacon of Justice."

"Rhapsody," Ale answered, sighing, "You may call me Rhapsody."

"Cool!" Beatrice said, putting on the new eye cover, "So is your superpower like music related or something? I think Mother once said that one of her favorite songs was Rhapsody Something Something."

"....No, and I have no idea what song that is." Ale answered as she started walking yet again, "Command, send confirmation that I have taken The Beacon of Justice under my wing….And that I expect an appropriated pay. Do I continue the rescue mission?"

"Yes, you are the closest minion available, and the other nearby have already been redirected to other missions." The communication minion said back to Ale.

"Noted," Ale said sighing, she really had hoped they would let her walk away, but alas, it was what it was. Now she could only hope that Body & Soul would be understanding and wouldn't start an issue with her.

How hard could that be, but if she had found Beatrice…then who would be the next one to find? Maybe they would find [Frank the beetle]? Alexa had been told that he lived in the sewers, right? They hadn't seen that Core User since quite some time ago.

Or perhaps she would find a cockroach core user who had a weird fake accent and wore leather jackets? A secret mafia based upon Spanish words? A rat puppeteer?

Nah, that would be too convenient and probably pointing towards another type of encounter, with some luck Ale would soon find that Body & Soul were a totally not expected and only mentioned in passing people that she saw only once and no one ever expected to see again.

Surely it would be like that.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.